Address by President Nelson Mandela at the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
4 December 1997, Pretoria
Mr. Chairman;
Mr. Suleyman al-Najab,
Special Emissary of President Yasser Arafat;
Members of the diplomatic corps;
Distinguished Guests,
We have assembled once again as South Africans, our Palestinian
guests and as humanists to express our solidarity with the people of
Palestine.
I wish to take this opportunity to congratulate the organisers of the
event, particularly the United Nations Information Centre and the UNISA
Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies for this magnificent act of
compassion, to keep the flames of solidarity, justice and freedom
burning.
The temptation in our situation is to speak in muffled tones about an
issue such as the right of the people of Palestine to a state of their
own. We can easily be enticed to read reconciliation and fairness as
meaning parity between justice and injustice. Having achieved our own
freedom, we can fall into the trap of washing our hands of difficulties
that others faces.
Yet we would be less than human if we did so.
It behoves all South Africans, themselves erstwhile beneficiaries of
generous international support, to stand up and be counted among those
contributing actively to the cause of freedom and justice.
Even during the days of negotiations, our own experience taught us
that the pursuit of human fraternity and equality - irrespective of race
or religion - should stand at the centre of our peaceful endeavours.
The choice is not between freedom and justice, on the one hand, and
their opposite, on the other. Peace and prosperity; tranquility and
security are only possible if these are enjoyed by all without
discrimination.
It is in this spirit that I have come to join you today to add our
own voice to the universal call for Palestinian self-determination and
statehood.
We would be beneath our own reason for existence as government and as
a nation, if the resolution of the problems of the Middle East did not
feature prominently on our agenda.
When in 1977, the United Nations passed the resolution inaugurating
the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people, it was
asserting the recognition that injustice and gross human rights
violations were being perpetrated in Palestine. In the same period, the
UN took a strong stand against apartheid; and over the years, an
international consensus was built, which helped to bring an end to this
iniquitous system.
But we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the
freedom of the Palestinians; without the resolution of conflicts in East
Timor, the Sudan and other parts of the world.
We are proud as a government, and as the overwhelming majority of
South Africans to be part of an international consensus taking root that
the time has come to resolve the problems of Palestine.
Indeed, all of us marvelled at the progress made a few years ago,
with the adoption of the Oslo Agreements. Leaders of vision, who saw
problems not merely from the point of view of their own narrow
constituency, had at least found a workable approach towards friendship
and peaceful co-existence in the Middle East.
I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to these Palestinian
and Israeli leaders. In particular, we pay homage to the memory of
Yitshak Rabin who paid the supreme sacrifice in pursuit of peace.
We are proud as humanists, that the international consensus on the
need for the implementation of the Oslo Agreements is finding expression
in the efforts of the multitude of Israeli and Palestinian citizens of
goodwill who are marching together, campaigning together, for an end to
prevarication.
These soldiers of peace are indeed sending a message to
us all, that the day is not far off, when Palestinian and Jewish
children will enjoy the gay abandon of children of God in a peaceful and
prosperous region.
These soldiers of peace recognise that the world we live in is rising
above the trappings of religious and racial hatred and conflict. They
recognise that the spurning of agreements reached in good faith and the
forceful occupation of land can only fan the flames of conflict. They
know from their own experience that, it is in a situation such as this,
that extremists on all sides thrive, fed by the blood lust of centuries
gone by.
These Palestinian and Israeli campaigners for peace know that
security for any nation is not abstract; neither is it exclusive. It
depends on the security of others; it depends on mutual respect and
trust. Indeed, these soldiers of peace know that their destiny is bound
together, and that none can be at peace while others wallow in poverty
and insecurity.
Thus, in extending our hands across the miles to the people of
Palestine, we do so in the full knowledge that we are part of a humanity
that is at one, that the time has come for progress in the
implementation of agreements. The majority of the world community; the
majority of the people of the Middle East; the majority of Israelis and
Palestinians are suing for peace.
But we know, Mr. Chairman, that all of us need to do much much more to ensure that this noble ideal is realised.
As early as February 1995, our government formalised its relations
with the State of Palestine when we established full diplomatic
relations. We are proud of the modest technical assistance that our
government is offering Palestine in such areas as Disaster Management,
women`s empowerment and assistance to handicapped children. But the
various discussions with our counterparts in Palestine are an indication
that we can do more.
We need to do more as government, as the ANC and other parties, as
South Africans of all religious and political persuasions to spur on the
peace process. All of us should be as vocal in condemning violence and
the violation of human rights in this part of the world as we do with
regard to other areas. We need to send a strong message to all concerned
that an attempt by anyone to isolate partners in negotiations from
their own mass base; and attempt to co-opt tes is bound to hurt the
peace process as a whole.
We must make our voices heard calling for stronger action by world
bodies as well as those states that have the power, to act with the same
enthusiasm in dealing with this deadlock as they do on other problems
in the Middle East.
Yes, all of us need to do more in supporting the struggle of the
people of Palestine for self-determination; in supporting the quest for
peace, security and friendship in this region.
But at least we can draw comfort from the fact that, our meeting today is yet another small expression of our empathy.
We hope that, by this humble act, we are strengthening the voice of
peace and friendship in Israel and Palestine; so that, as we enter the
new millennium, we shall all have taken a giant stride towards a world
in which our humanity will be the hallmark of our relations across
colour, religious and other divides.
I thank you.
***
The date of 29 November was chosen because of its meaning and
significance to the Palestinian people. On that day in 1947, the General
Assembly adopted
, which came to be known as the Partition
Resolution. That resolution provided for the establishment in Palestine of
a “Jewish State” and an “Arab State”, with Jerusalem as a corpus separatum
under a special international regime. Of the two States to be created
under this resolution, only one, Israel, has so far come into being.
The Palestinian people, who now number more than eight million, live
primarily in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967,
including East Jerusalem; in Israel; in neighbouring Arab States; and in
refugee camps in the region.
The International Day of Solidarity has traditionally provided an
opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the
fact that the question of Palestine remained unresolved and that the
Palestinian people are yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined
by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination without
external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty,
and the right to return to their homes and property from which they had
been displaced.
