UNITED NATIONS MEETING IN SUPPORT OF MIDDLE EAST PEACE TO CONVENE IN KYIV, 13-14 MAY; PUBLIC FORUM TO BE HELD ON 15 MAY

UNITED NATIONS MEETING IN SUPPORT OF MIDDLE EAST PEACE TO CONVENE

IN KYIV, 13-14 MAY; PUBLIC FORUM TO BE HELD ON 15 MAY

NEW YORK, 7 May (UN Department of Political Affairs) -- The United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations International Meeting in Support of Middle East Peace in Kyiv, on 13 and 14 May.  The theme of the International Meeting is:  “Promoting a comprehensive dialogue on the political, security and economic factors critical for resolving the current crisis and resuming the peace process”.  The Meeting will be followed, on 15 May, by a Public Forum in Support of Middle East Peace.  Both events will be held in accordance with General Assembly resolutions 57/107 and 57/108 of 3 December 2002.

The Committee is sponsoring these events at a very important and hopeful time for the Israelis and the Palestinians, who, after almost three years of devastating violence and complete stalemate in the peace process, are now facing a real opportunity to bring their decades-old conflict to an end.  Since September 2000, the Committee has expressed increasing concern over the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem.  The international community has been much alarmed by the deepening humanitarian crisis and the rapid deterioration of the living conditions of the Palestinian people.

Now, with the presentation by the Quartet (Russian Federation, United States, European Union, United Nations) of the “Road Map”, the international community has to redouble its engagement with the parties and assist them with the implementation of the plan so as to ensure the success of this new initiative.  The Committee firmly believes that the international community has a moral responsibility towards achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region, based on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 1397 (2002).  The United Nations should maintain its permanent responsibility towards all the aspects of the question of Palestine, until it is resolved in a satisfactory manner, in conformity with relevant United Nations resolutions and norms of international law, and until the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people are fully realized.

            The meetings in Kyiv will focus on promoting support for international efforts aimed at the cessation of violence and revitalization of the political process.  Experts will assess the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem; discuss the Road Map, its significance and potential for resuming the peace dialogue; and exchange views on modalities for a peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Invited to the International Meeting will be eminent personalities, including high-level officials from the Host Government and the Palestinian Authority; internationally renowned experts, including Israelis and Palestinians; representatives of United Nations Members and

observers; parliamentarians; representatives of the United Nations system and other intergovernmental organizations; the academic community; representatives of non-governmental organizations, as well as the media.

The delegation of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will consist of Ambassador Papa Louis Fall (Senegal), Chairman; Ambassador Bruno Rodríguez Parilla (Cuba), Vice-Chairman; Ambassador Victor Camilleri (Malta), Rapporteur; Ambassador Valery P. Kuchinsky (Ukraine); and Ambassador Nasser Al-Kidwa, Observer of Palestine.

The Meeting will be opened by Anatoliy Zlenko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.  The opening session will start on Tuesday, 13 May, at 10.00 a.m. in the Conference Room on the 5th floor of the Ukrainian House.  Statements will also be made by the representative of the United Nations Secretary-General; Danilo Türk, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs; Papa Louis Fall, Chairman of the Committee; a representative of Palestine and other eminent personalities.  This will be followed by a segment in which representatives of governments, intergovernmental organizations and United Nations bodies and agencies interested in and active on the issue will be invited to make statements.

Plenary I, entitled “The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem”, starts on Tuesday, 13 May, at 3.00 p.m.  Speakers include:  Issam Makhoul, Member of the Knesset from Haifa; Geoffrey Aronson, Editor, Foundation for Middle East Peace, Washington, D.C.; and Grigor Hovhannisyan, Deputy Head of the Jerusalem Office of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.  The presentations will be followed by a discussion period.

Plenary II, entitled “Prospects for resuming the political process” starts on Wednesday, 14 May, at 10.00 a.m.  Speakers include:  Ziad Abu Zayyad, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council from Jerusalem; Yossi Katz, former Member of the Knesset (Labour); Henry Siegman, Senior Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, New York; Jon Hanssen-Bauer, Managing Director of the Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science, Oslo; and Ihor Semyvolos, Executive Director of the Association of the Middle East Studies, Kyiv.  The presentations will be followed by a discussion period.

      Plenary III, entitled “Working for a peaceful settlement of the Question of Palestine”, starts on Wednesday, 14 May, at 3.00 p.m.  Speakers include:
Lucy Nusseibeh, Director of Middle East Non-Violence and Democracy, a
non-governmental organization from Jerusalem; Daniel Levy, Policy Director of the Israeli Peace Coalition, Tel Aviv; Oleg Ozerov, Deputy Chief of the Middle East Peace Process Division in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Moscow; Said Kamal, Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine Affairs of the League of Arab States, Cairo; Theocharis Papamargaris, President of the Greek Committee for International Democratic Solidarity, Athens; and
Yuri Skorohod, Professor at the Institute of International Relations, Kyiv.  The presentations will be followed by a discussion period.

The Closing session will take place at 5.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 14 May.

The official languages of the Meeting will be English, French and Russian.

Invitations to attend the Meeting have been sent to all United Nations Member States and observers, United Nations agencies, bodies and programmes, as well as interested intergovernmental organizations.  Non-governmental organizations accredited to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and a number of other non-governmental organizations interested in the subject, have been invited to attend the Meeting as well.  Representatives of civil society will have an opportunity to discuss in greater detail the role of civil society as regards the question of Palestine at the Public Forum in Support of Middle East Peace, to be held at the Institute of International Relations in Kyiv on Thursday, 15 May, at 10 a.m.

The report of the Meeting will later be issued as a publication of the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat.

Participants including media representatives are requested to register and to obtain photo ID badges prior to entering the conference room.  Kindly present a valid photo ID.  A registration area will be set up in the foyer of the Ukrainian House.  Registration will be held on Thursday, 8 May, and Monday, 12 May, both days from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.  Registration on Tuesday, 13 May, will start at 9.00 a.m.  Representatives of civil society, including the media would have to register on either Thursday or Monday.  On Tuesday, registration is reserved for participating delegations only.

      The Conference Secretariat will open its office at the Ukrainian House from Tuesday, 6 May.  The main Secretariat is located in Office 12 on the 4th floor.  The telephone number of the Secretariat at the Ukrainian House is
(38-044) 228-2053.

For further information, please contact Yuri Gourov at (212) 963-3851.

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