Background Release

LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN MEETING IN SUPPORT OF ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE

TO BE HELD IN SANTIAGO, CHILE, 11 – 12 DECEMBER

United Nations Public Forum in Support

Of Israeli-Palestinian Peace Will Follow on 13 December

(Received from UN Information Officer.)

SANTIAGO, CHILE, 5 December -- The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, with the agreement of the Government of Chile, will convene the United Nations Latin American and Caribbean Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace on 11 and 12 December at the Headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Santiago.  The Meeting will be followed by the United Nations Public Forum in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace on 13 December.  The holding of the two events is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly.

The objective of the Meetings, at this time of reinvigorated efforts at advancing the Israeli-Palestinian political process, is to encourage broad international action, including by Latin American and Caribbean States, in support of Israeli-Palestinian peace and for achieving a solution to the conflict based on a shared vision of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.  From the regional perspective, both events will consider how Latin American and Caribbean States can effectively contribute to the current peace efforts through their action in national and intergovernmental mechanisms. 

Invited to the Latin American and Caribbean Meeting are all United Nations Members and Observers, parliamentarians, representatives of the United Nations system, civil society, and the media. 

The opening session will take place on Thursday, 11 December, at 10:30 a.m. in the “Raúl Prebisch Conference Room” of ECLAC.  The Meeting will be opened by Alejandro Foxley Rioseco, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Chile.  Riad Malki, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, will speak as a representative of Palestine.  Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, Executive Secretary of ECLAC and the representative of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, will deliver a message from the Secretary-General.  Ambassador Paul Badji, Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, will address the session on behalf of the Committee.  This will be followed by a segment in which representatives of Governments, intergovernmental organizations and United Nations system entities will be invited to make statements.

Beginning in the afternoon of 11 December, three plenary sessions will address a variety of issues.  Each plenary will have a discussion period.  All sessions of the Meeting will be held in the “Raúl Prebisch Conference Room” of ECLAC.  The official languages of the Meeting will be English and Spanish.

Plenary I will begin at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 11 December.  Panellists and participants will discuss “The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”, including the impact of settlements on the Palestinian population, effects of the construction of the wall on Palestinian communities, and the urgency of strengthening Palestinian Authority institutions.  Speakers will include Ahmad Soboh, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority, Ramallah; Idalmis Brooks Beltrán, Researcher at the Center for African and Middle East Studies, Havana; Pedro Brieger, sociologist and journalist on Middle East affairs, Buenos Aires; and Adi Ashkenazi, Director of the Business and Economics Department of the Peres Center for Peace, Tel Aviv. 

Plenary II, entitled “International efforts aimed at achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the question of Palestine”, will start at 10 a.m. on Friday, 12 December.  The sub-themes of the Plenary will include:  supporting the efforts initiated at the Annapolis meeting; maintaining international legitimacy in efforts aimed at achieving Israeli-Palestinian peace; and the permanent responsibility of the United Nations.  Speakers will include Daniel Levy, Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Policy Initiative at the New America Foundation, Washington, DC; Diego Arria, Senior Adviser to the International Crisis Group, and former Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the United Nations, New York; and Yossi Yonah, Associate Professor at the Department of Education of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Tel Aviv.

Plenary III entitled “Support by Latin American and Caribbean countries for a permanent settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” will take place from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Friday, 12 December.  Panellists and participants will discuss promoting support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people through the United Nations system; action by Latin American and Caribbean States within the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of American States, the Caribbean Community and other intergovernmental mechanisms; and civil society initiatives in the region.  Speakers will include:  Farid Suwwan, Ambassador, Palestinian Embassy in Argentina, Buenos Aires; Farid Kahhat, Professor of Political Science at the Catholic University of Lima, Lima; Ibrahim Al-Zeben, Ambassador, Palestinian Embassy in Brazil, Brasilia; Emir Sader, Executive Secretary of the Latin American Council for Social Sciences, Buenos Aires; Arlene Clemesha, Professor of Arab Culture at the University of São Paulo, and Director of International Relations at the Institute for Arab Culture, São Paulo; Lisa Kaufman, Member of the Israeli/Palestinian Bereaved Families Forum, and Member of Peace Now, Jerusalem; and Fuad Chahin, Vice-President of Federación Palestina de Chile, Santiago.

The closing session of the Meeting will take place from 5:30 to 6 p.m.on 12 December.

The Public Forum on Saturday, 13 December, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will provide representatives of civil society with an opportunity to discuss issues of their common concern, in particular, Latin American and Caribbean solidarity with the Palestinian people, as well as the relationship between civil society in the region and international efforts to support a peaceful solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Government representatives are invited to attend the Forum as observers. 

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

A press conference by Ambassador Badji and representatives of Chile and Palestine will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, 12 December, at the meeting site.  Interested journalists will also have the opportunity to arrange individual interviews with the members of the delegation of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and participating experts.

Participants and observers, including the media, are kindly requested to register with the United Nations Secretariat on Tuesday, 9 December, and Wednesday, 10 December, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Registration on Thursday, 11 December, will start at 8:30 a.m. in the foyer to the conference room. 

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For information media • not an official record