Refugee Returns Possible 'Doorway' to Resolving Arab-Israeli Conflict, Say Fourth Committee Delegates, as Israel Touts 'Cynicism' of Israeli Practices Committee
Source: United Nations General Assembly
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2010/gaspd470.doc.htm
Date: 08 Nov 2010
Full_Report (pdf* format - 83.6 Kbytes)GA/SPD/470 Sixty-fifth General Assembly
Fourth Committee
22nd Meeting (AM)
As Long as Special Committee Prejudges Israel's Culpability, Says Speaker, Israel Will Refuse to Cooperate; Others Say 'Logic of Force', Not 'Force of Law' Prevails
The international community needed to prevent a total collapse of the direct negotiations on the Palestinian track, and an end to the occupation and the return of refugees could serve as a "doorway" to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, delegates told the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) today as it concluded its general debate on Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
Israel's representative said this year's report offered another one-sided narrative, submitting a wide-ranging and harsh criticism of Israel, while failing to mention attacks by Hamas on Israeli villages and towns. He said the Special Committee instead sought to advance a cynical political agenda, with the goal of vilifying Israel and the right of its citizens to live in peace and security.
While explanations that discussion about Hamas or human rights violations committed by other Palestinian groups did not fall within the mandate of the Special Committee's report were "convenient", they excluded the Committee from its basic obligation to pursue impartial and objective fact-finding, that speaker said. So long as the Special Committee predetermined its conclusion and findings, Israel refused — and would continue to refuse — to cooperate with a body that prejudged its culpability.
It was "absurd", he went on to say, to hear condemnation and criticism of Israel's judiciary system and human rights record from several countries in the region and beyond — countries where the majority of human rights activists were in prison, where there was no freedom of press, and where there was no independent judiciary. He called on Israel's Arab neighbours to join in taking concrete steps to pursue peace instead of engaging in futile rhetoric, and hoped that the Palestinians would join in direct negotiations without delay.
There had meanwhile been many positive developments in the West Bank and in Gaza over the past year, as had been acknowledged by the diplomatic Quartet and other relevant bodies that sought to promote peace, he said. Israel was engaged with several United Nations agencies, international organizations, and partner countries, to move forward and substantially improve the West Bank economy, including the removal of hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints. "Those significant steps should not be taken lightly," he said.
The representative of Lebanon said that while the Israeli Government continued to ignore international consensus and resolutions on a two-State solution, the end of the occupation and the return of refugees, whether now or later, would remain a "doorway" to resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the necessary avenue for Israel to be accepted by all those who adhered to the rule of law in the international community. However, the Israeli "logic of force", rather than "force of law", persisted. The crimes committed by occupying soldiers were "endless", he said, adding that no peace could be imagined as long as the blockade was imposed.
Egypt's representative said that the international community needed to prevent a total collapse of the direct negotiations on the Palestinian track. Serious negotiations, he warned, could not occur while Israel continued to carry out illegal actions in the occupied Arab territories. He expressed concerned over the detainment of more than 6,200 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, where torture and ill-treatment were reportedly widely used.
Turning to the Syrian Golan, that representative echoed the sentiments of several other delegations before the Committee when he reaffirmed that all unlawful actions by Israel, the occupying Power since 1967, constituted a clear violation of international law.
The planned expansion of Israeli Jewish settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan, agreed Malaysia's Representative was a matter of serious concern. The illegal expansion would forever change the physical and demographic composition of the occupied Syrian Golan and deprive the inhabitants of precious and scarce resources, especially water. The unlawful practices that violated the human rights of Palestinians must stop, and Israeli authorities must be made accountable. The international community and the United Nations Security Council must act on its resolutions and sanction Israel for non-compliance.
Iran's representative expressed deep concern over the increase in the number of illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied Syrian Golan, as well as the grave deterioration there of human rights. The Golan was an integral part of Syria, and he condemned all measures taken by the "illegitimate occupying Power" to undermine the territorial integrity of Syria.
The fundamental problem of the longstanding crisis was not the lack of peace plans, but the illegal occupation of the Palestinian and other Arab territories, he said. All the plans were doomed to failure because, in one way or another, they all failed to tackle the crisis from its root cause, including the occupation itself. All Palestinians who had a legitimate stake in the Territory of Palestine, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, and especially among them, the Palestinian refugees who had borne for years the ordeals of exile, had to freely decide on their own future in general referendum.
Algeria's representative said that despite the appeals of the international community and the outlook for peace and security, Israel refused to stop the settlements, and the annexed Syrian Golan continued to suffer the same unacceptable attacks against its identity and its Arab nature. Israeli identity was being forced on the area, and the living conditions worsened daily in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including arbitrary detentions and arrests.
Also speaking in the debate on Israeli Practices were the representatives of Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco, Sudan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Jordan, Libya, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
The representative of Syria spoke in exercise of the right of reply, as did the representative of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations.
The representative of Bahrain delivered a statement to conclude the general debate on UNRWA.
The Fourth Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, 10 November, to take action on the draft resolution on atomic radiation, and a draft decision on the Committee's programme of work for 2011.
Background
The Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) met this morning to continue its general debate on Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, and to conclude its debate on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
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