Address by Mahmoud Abbas
United Nations
General Assembly
Sixty-fourth session
25 September 2009, 9 a.m. New York

http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N09/524/63/PDF/N0952463.pdf?OpenElement

The President (spoke in Arabic): The Assembly will now hear a statement by
the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation
Organization and President of the Palestinian Authority

Mr. Abbas (Palestine) (spoke in Arabic): I congratulate you, Sir, on your
election to the presidency of the General Assembly. I wish you every success
in your noble mission and recognize your long experience in international
political affairs. I also extend our greetings and thanks to former
President, His Excellency Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, whose positions
and active efforts reflected the spirit and principles of this international
organization, which is headed by His Excellency Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon, whom I also salute. I express our appreciation for everything he
has done personally and through the organs and agencies of the United
Nations, notably the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), to assist the Palestinian people and
defend their rights.

During this session we have a full agenda before us. The peoples of the
whole world are looking to this body to determine what can be done to save
our planet from the effects of climate change and global warming and to
address the world financial crisis. Many countries, including small and
developing countries, see the need to reform the United Nations, including
the Security Council, so as to reflect the reality of the current
international situation and to ensure more comprehensive representation of
the international community.

These common concerns must not overshadow the fact that serious problems
face the Middle East region in particular, first and foremost the lack of
commitment to the Charter of the United Nations and the extent to which the
resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council are actually
being implemented without the application of double standards. Everyone
agrees on the need to achieve peace in the Middle East, to counter extremism
and violence, and to establish the region as a zone free of nuclear weapons
and other weapons of mass destruction. Yet the larger wound and deeper
tragedy remains the suffering of our Palestinian people since the Nakba -
the catastrophe - more than 60 years ago, to which the United Nations is a
living witness. Its archives contain not dozens but hundreds of resolutions
that have not been implemented.

The suffering of the Palestinian people as a result of Israel's settler
occupation is crystal clear to the world. Since the occupation of the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip, including East Jerusalem, in 1967, Israel has
continued with its settlement policy on all Palestinian land, especially in
holy Jerusalem, where that policy is being accelerated and escalated by many
means, including the seizure of the homes of Palestinians in the city, the
imposition of restrictions, even preventing Palestinians from building and
sometimes from repairing their homes while new settlement neighbourhoods are
established. Jerusalem is becoming completely isolated from its surroundings
because of the illegal settlements and the apartheid wall.

We now face a unique situation. If international law stipulates the
inadmissibility of the acquisition of the territory of others by force, how
can we then deal with the current situation where Israeli settlement
policies are undermining the goal of establishing a geographically
contiguous Palestinian State in implementation of the will of the
international consensus? That consensus is reflected in the many resolutions
and principles, including the Road Map, which we all agreed upon and which
is based on the principle of land for peace and on an end to the occupation
that began in 1967.

Immense efforts have been exerted and many conferences have been held over
the years, particularly since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Yet
all of this has not led to an end to the conflict. President Barack Obama
gave much hope to our people and the peoples of the region when he announced
his vision for a peace agreement on the basis of a two-State solution and
the cessation of all settlement activities. We welcomed the active American
diplomacy to revive the peace process and all efforts of the international
Quartet and its members: the United Nations, the European Union, the Russian
Federation and the United States.

All these active efforts and initiatives, which have been welcomed and
supported by us and by the Arab States, are however confronted by the
intransigence of Israel, which refuses to adhere to the requirements for
relaunching the peace process. How is it conceivable that negotiations can
be held on the borders and on Jerusalem while Israeli bulldozers are working
to change the reality on the ground with the aim of creating a new reality
and imposing the borders that Israel desires? How can one conceive of
holding negotiations without agreement on the terms of reference and the
objective of those negotiations, which the whole world has unanimously
agreed upon, namely ending the Israeli occupation of the territories
occupied in 1967, establishing the State of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its
capital, reaching a just and agreed upon solution to the question of
Palestinian refugees on the basis of resolution 194 (III) of 1948, and
achieving peace on all the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese tracks, as
affirmed in the Arab Peace Initiative, which provides a precious opportunity
that must be seized to achieve peace?

In this regard, I should like to express our deep appreciation of the
important speech delivered to the Assembly by President Obama two days ago
(see A/64/PV.3), in which he affirmed the necessity of ending the occupation
that began in 1967 and the illegitimacy of the settlements. He also stressed
the need to establish an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian State
and to address all the final-status issues in the negotiations, foremost
among these Jerusalem, refugees, borders, water and settlements, along with
others. We reiterate that adherence to these principles, in addition to a
complete freeze on all settlement activities, can salvage the peace process
and open horizons for its success.

I reaffirm the eagerness of the Palestine Liberation Organization to achieve
a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in accordance with the resolutions
of international legitimacy. At the same time, I caution that the settlement
policy and the building of the separation wall, which continue to be pursued
by the Israeli occupation, will abort opportunities to relaunch the peace
process. Time is running out and the risks are becoming greater as a result
of the continued suffering of the Palestinian people under the last
remaining occupation in the world.

We call upon the international community to uphold international law and
international legitimacy and to exert pressure on Israel to cease its
settlement activities, to comply with the agreements it has signed, to cease
its policies of occupation and colonial settlement, to release the
approximately 11,000 prisoners and detainees and to lift the unjust siege
imposed on the Gaza Strip, which was subjected months ago to devastating
aggression claiming thousands of civilian casualties among and causing
unprecedented destruction of infrastructure and public facilities, including
hospitals, mosques, schools and even United Nations facilities.

Our people, which continues to demand its rights and to be determined to
remain in its homeland despite all of the suffering caused by the
detentions, the blockade and the killings, is also keen to end internal
division and to restore national unity. Our sister, Egypt, is making
commendable efforts to achieve that goal.

In spite of all our suffering from the occupation and its practices, we
continue to work to build and develop our national institutions. We have
made significant progress in this regard both in upholding the rule of law
and public order and in promoting economic and social development, despite
the harsh conditions of the occupation and the blockade. We continue to make
every possible effort for the success of the efforts of our brothers in
Egypt to end the ongoing coup in the Gaza Strip and to restore our national
unity by resorting to the ballot box and holding presidential and
legislative elections on their constitutional date under the supervision and
control of Arab and Islamic countries, the United Nations and the
international community. In that way, democracy will be firmly
institutionalized in our political life.

Hope will remain alive in our souls and we will not despair of regaining our
rights on the basis of relevant resolutions of the United Nations, the
historic role of which we reaffirm for attaining peace and upholding the
principle of "might for right" and not "right for might".

From this rostrum, I conclude by reaffirming our commitment to the Road Map,
the Arab Peace Initiative and to all terms of reference of the political
process. We call upon all parties to respect and abide by them to provide
the opportunity to launch a successful and effective peace process. We are
confident that all our brothers in sisterly Arab countries will adhere to
the Arab Peace Initiative as a basis for safeguarding our rights and opening
the way towards genuine peaceful relations with Israel once the occupation
is ended and the independent State of Palestine is established.