Background Release

United Nations African Meeting on Question of Palestine to Consider Boosting

 

African Support for Just, Lasting Solution, in Rabat, Morocco, 1–2 July

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene the United Nations African Meeting on the Question of Palestine in Rabat, Morocco, at the conference centre of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, from 1 to 2 July.

The theme of the Meeting is “Strengthening the support by African States for a just and lasting solution of the question of Jerusalem”.

The objective of the Meeting, at this time of intensified efforts at resuming the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, is to promote broad international support, including by African States, for a solution of the conflict based on a shared vision of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.  The Meeting will discuss the current status of Jerusalem, including the religious and cultural significance of the Holy City, and its status in international law and United Nations resolutions.  The Meeting will consider the question of Jerusalem in the context of the permanent status negotiations.  Participants in the Meeting will also look into the importance of building an international consensus on a just and viable solution of the question of Jerusalem and the role of African States and other actors in that regard.

The opening session, on 1 July from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., is expected to feature Taïb Fassi-Fihri, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco; Bader Al-Dafa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, representing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Zahir Tanin, Head of Delegation, Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People; and Ahmed Qurei (Abu Ala), Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.  Mr. Qurei will also deliver the keynote address, following the opening session.

Plenary I, on the status of Jerusalem, will run from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on 1 July.  The sub-themes of the session will be:  “The current situation in Jerusalem”; “The religious and cultural significance of Jerusalem”; and “ Jerusalem in international law and United Nations resolutions”.  Expected speakers include:  Albert Aghazarian, Professor of History, Jerusalem; Daniel Ben Simon, Member of the Knesset, Labour Party, Jerusalem; Abdelouhab Maalmi (to be confirmed), Professor of International Relations, Casablanca; Thabo Cecil Makgoba, Archbishop, Anglican Church of Southern Africa, Cape Town; John B. Quigley, Professor of Law, Ohio State University, Columbus; and Driss Dahak (to be confirmed), Professor of International Law, Rabat.

Plenary II, on Jerusalem as a permanent status issue in the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on 2 July.  The sub-themes of the session will be:  “ Jerusalem as a key to Israeli-Palestinian peace”; “Solving the question of Jerusalem:  Lessons learned from previous negotiations and other conflict situations”; and “Promoting peace in Jerusalem — views from the Middle East region”.  Expected speakers include:  Abdelkebir Alaoui M’Daghri (to be confirmed), Professor of Law, Université Mohammed V, Rabat; Moshe Ma’oz, Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem; Markus Kaim, Head of the Research Division International Security, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin; Amer Hadmi, Chief Executive Officer, The International Peace and Cooperation Centre, Jerusalem; Ahmad Tibi, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, Arab Movement of Change, Taibeh; Meron Benvenisti, Former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Jerusalem; and Ahmed Soboh, Ambassador of Palestine to Morocco, Rabat.

Plenary III, on building an international consensus on a just and viable solution of the question of Jerusalem, will run from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on 2 July.  The sub-themes of the session will be:  “The role of African States in promoting peace in Jerusalem”; “International approaches to resolving the question of Jerusalem”; and “The role of non-State actors, including parliamentarians and civil society”.  Expected speakers include:  Seydina Oumar Sy, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Senegal, Dakar; Philip Wilcox, President, Foundation for Middle East Peace, Washington, D.C.; Abdelaziz Aboughosh, Ambassador of Palestine to Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur; Taj-Eddine El-Husseini (to be confirmed), Professor of International Relations, Université Mohammed V, Rabat; Soyata Maïga, Commissioner and Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Bamako, Mali; and Lucy Nusseibeh, Director, Middle East Non-Violence and Democracy, Jerusalem.

The closing session, on 2 July, from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., is expected to feature Mohammed Ouzzine, Secretary of State to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco; Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer for Palestine to the United Nations; and Zahir Tanin, Head of Delegation, Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

All sessions of the Meeting will be open to the media.  The official languages will be Arabic, English and French.

Updated versions of the programme, as well as information on previous Meetings, will be available on the website of the Division for Palestinian Rights, United Nations Secretariat, at http://www.un.org/depts/dpa/qpal/calendar.htm.

The report on the Meeting will be issued, in due course, as a publication of the Division for Palestinian Rights.

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For information media • not an official record