PARLIAMENTARIANS VOLUNTEER COORDINATING ROLE IN IMPLEMENTING JUST PEACE IN MEDITERRANEAN REGION

Press Release
GA/PAL/796

PARLIAMENTARIANS VOLUNTEER COORDINATING ROLE IN IMPLEMENTING JUST PEACE IN MEDITERRANEAN REGION

ROME, 19 February -- The Bethlehem 2000 International Conference concluded today at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), following presentations from parliamentarians from different regions. Before the afternoon's session, a delegation of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which is sponsoring the Conference with the support of the Italian Government, was received by Pope John Paul II, at the Vatican.

Addressing the Conference, Miguel Angel Martinez, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Council, put the holding of the Conference in the context of the ongoing process of cooperation between the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the United Nations.

He said the Conference was a means of implementing the agreement between the two organizations with concrete, tangible content. Parliaments had understood that they must get actively involved in international matters. He stressed that the United Nations should play a more influential role in the new world order, with more respect and support, including financial assistance. The United Nations and its universe must open up in a process of democratization, he said, calling for a growing participation of parliaments in its activities.

The Bethlehem 2000 initiative provided a significant opportunity to fruitfully develop the IPU's relationship with the United Nations, he said, expressing its readiness to give it priority in their cooperation. He called upon the individual parliaments to give their support to the Bethlehem 2000 Jubilee and to reaffirm their commitment for the ongoing peace process, in favour of all rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to their own State, and in favour of the social and economic development of the Palestinian territory.

In a message delivered by Senator Domenico Fisichella, Vice-President of the Italian Senate, Nicola Mancino, President of the Italian Senate, told the Conference it was unacceptable that on the eve of the third millennium the majority of the people in the Mediterranean region were deprived of economic justice, peace and security.

He said the cold war in the northern hemisphere had rendered such regional conflicts as the Arab-Israeli one practically unresolvable. No longer protected by the umbrella of the super-Powers, the peoples of the Middle East must learn to become the masters of their own destiny.

There could be no peace without democracy and economic development, but, at the same time, there could be no economic development without peace and stability. Solidarity was, therefore, called for to prevent the present power vacuum resulting in a highly dangerous and unstable climate of social Darwinism, where market forces prevailed. The Bethlehem 2000 project embodied such solidarity.

Humayan Rasheed Choudhury, Speaker of the Bangladeshi Parliament, said the historic town of Bethlehem, perennially viewed as the embodiment of Christ's message of love and reconciliation, was deserving of greater attention as the Palestinian people came nearer to their cherished goal.

The town had been buffeted relentlessly by cruel fate, and bore the scars of decades of fierce struggle, yet, these injuries had not eroded its splendor. Today, more than ever before, the people of Bethlehem and the Palestinian people as a whole needed to be spoken up for, and the Bethlehem 2000 Project was an appropriate means of attracting attention to their plight, as well as of regenerating the town's monuments and boosting the region's economy.

Parliaments were in direct contact with the populations of their constituencies and played an essential role both in implementing international decisions at the national level, and also in explaining and forging support for them. The Bethlehem 2000 Project was an appropriate response to the millennium and represented an opportunity for such cooperation in the furtherance of a common aim.

In a message delivered by Nehad Ibrahim Abdel Latif, Speaker of the People's Assembly, Ahmed Fathi Sourour, President of the Arab Parliamentary Council, said the Bethlehem 2000 Project expressed the aspirations of the peoples of the Middle East.

He said all peace-loving peoples should form a strong international presence to support and implement those noble goals. He called for the convening of a peace conference in Bethlehem in the year 2000 to put the peace process back on track.

Egypt had clearly opted for the restoration of peace, and other countries had followed, and it was frustrating to witness such a big reversal in the peace process. The current Israeli Government was placing impossible obstacles in the path of peace, and its uncompromising approach was doomed to failure.

- 3 - Press Release GA/PAL/796 22 February 1999

He called for Israel's withdrawal from all the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem, and said he hoped to see greater tolerance and the end to a conflict that had gone on too long. For his people, the choice was clear: to opt for peace and the truth rather than hatred.

In the closing remarks to the Conference, Rino Serri, Senator and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, said the City of Rome and the Italian Government were deeply honoured to have hosted the event.

The Senator added that two days of high-level dialogue had reaffirmed support for the objectives of the project. The Palestinian people needed to be able to restore the peace process and the guiding principles of Oslo: the right to social and economic development and to a homeland.

To enhance the cultural heritage, full access to the holy places was required, as was collaboration between institutions. It was for this reason that Italy had undertaken a joint initiative with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The Italian Government was aware of the close connection between the Bethlehem 2000 Project to celebrate the millennium and the Jubilee celebrations in Rome, and was committed to achieving full collaboration.

Nabeel Kassis, Minister, Coordinator-General of the Bethlehem 2000 Project Authority, thanked Committee Chairman Ibra Deguene Ka (Senegal) and the Italian Government and people of Italy for hosting the Conference.

He said the Conference had contributed a great deal to putting the Bethlehem 2000 celebrations on the map and was in the spirit of General Assembly resolution 53/27 of 18 November 1998. The Palestinian Authority was determined to make the millennium celebrations a success and believed that the project would need a strong launch if it was to achieve its long-term objectives. It looked forward to seeing the international community in Bethlehem at Christmas 1999.

Ibra Deguene Ka (Senegal), Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, concluded the Conference by saying that the delegates had come to Rome to support the Palestinian people and the Bethlehem 2000 Project, but also to recall the city's eternal message of peace, tolerance, reconciliation and forgiveness. Government representatives, parliamentarians, representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations had made a genuine contribution towards the assistance of the Palestinian people.

* *** *