NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS PALESTINIAN EXHIBIT 'BETHLEHEM 2000' TO BE ON DISPLAY AT HEADQUARTERS, 30 NOVEMBER-6 DECEMBER

Press Release

NOTE TO CORRESPONDENTS PALESTINIAN EXHIBIT 'BETHLEHEM 2000' TO BE ON DISPLAY AT HEADQUARTERS, 30 NOVEMBER-6 DECEMBER

A cultural exhibit presented by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, will open at 6 p.m., Monday, 30 November 1998, in the Public Lobby of the General Assembly building. Entitled "Bethlehem 2000", the exhibit will be on view until Sunday, 6 December, and is associated with the annual observance on 29 November of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

The theme Bethlehem 2000 commemorates the 2,000th anniversary of the Nativity and the onset of the new Millennium, and stresses a global vision of peace and reconciliation. It highlights international support for the Palestinian Authority's Bethlehem 2000 project aimed at celebrating the event in Bethlehem.

The cultural exhibit will be composed of a photographic exhibition and artifacts display. Scenes from the picturesque landscape of Bethlehem, as well as age-old buildings and relics from the old town centre, will highlight the photographic exhibit. The artifacts display will offer traditional art and handicraft from a long tradition of Palestinian craftsmanship.

The exhibit will be opened by the Chairman of the Palestinian Rights Committee, Ibra Deguène Ka (Senegal). A statement will also be made by an observer for Palestine. The President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General, the President of the Security Council, all permanent representatives to the United Nations, and high-level Secretariat officials have been invited to the opening ceremony, which is expected to last approximately 45 minutes. Following the statements, the Chairman of the Committee and the observer of Palestine will escort invited guests through the exhibit. The annual observance on 29 November of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People was called for by General Assembly resolution 32/40 of 2 December 1977. On that day in 1947, the Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine. A representative of the Committee for Information Service of the Palestinian Authority will be available during the week of the exhibition to provide information about the Bethlehem 2000 project. For additional information, call Liza Morales, Political Affairs Officer at the Division for Palestinian Rights, at (212) 963-5162. * *** *