‘We May Have a Better Chance in 2015’ to Address Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Deputy Secretary-General Tells Rights Committee, Disappointed at Inaction

Despite the collective failure of Israelis, Palestinians and the international community to advance a political solution during the 2014 International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People aimed at catalysing global action, “all good forces must now be mobilized”, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson urged today in a message from the Secretary-General.

“At a time when the entire region is facing the threat of terrorism and violent extremism, resolving this conflict is clearly a matter of international security,” he said, calling on the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People to exert all efforts to enable the Palestinian people to exercise their rights.

“With the Quartet and other stakeholders engaged, we may have a better chance in 2015 to address issues that seem intractable,” he added.

Indeed, said Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, “we failed collectively in 2014”.  To avoid descending into more confrontation and a religious war, he voiced hope that 2015 would see advances towards peace and agreement on a Security Council resolution that included a timeframe to end the occupation, as well as a new negotiating mechanism that would join the two sides, the body’s five permanent members, Arab countries and other States.  “The task before us is huge and our resolve should be very sharp in trying to have a breakthrough,” he said.

To move forward, Israel must stop constructing settlements, he said, underlining that Palestine’s membership with the International Criminal Court was aimed at ending that illegal practice.  “We need to move in the direction of complete results,” he said, pledging Palestine’s support for the work of the Committee.  “Maybe in the fortieth anniversary of the Committee, we can see a light at the end of the tunnel and an end to the occupation.”

Fodé Seck, re-elected today as Committee Chair, introduced the draft programme of work for the year (document A/AC.183/2015/CRP.1).  He said that the Committee would build on the momentum of the International Year to continue to work for an end to occupation and a final agreement between Israel and Palestine.  The Committee would also address obstacles to peace requiring urgent action, such as illegal Israeli settlements, the situation in Jerusalem, the Gaza blockade, prisoners and the humanitarian situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  International regional and national action would be mobilized in all those areas.

Events planned this year, he said, included a United Nations seminar in Cairo focused on assistance for Gaza’s reconstruction, a round table on legal aspects of the accession of the State of Palestine to international covenants and treaties, an international meeting in Moscow to support Israeli-Palestinian peace and a meeting on Jerusalem, jointly held with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. 

On developments since the submission of the Committee’s report, he conveyed members’ concern about continued settlement expansion and the grave financial crisis besetting the Government of the State of Palestine.  He also called for the release of Palestinian political prisoners.  Supporting the December 2014 call of the High Contracting Parties to the fourth Geneva Convention for the investigation and prosecution of all serious violations of international humanitarian law, he urged Member States to align their national regulations with regard to  Israeli settlements.  He also called for the fulfilment of pledges to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Zahir Tanin (Afghanistan), re-elected today as Vice-Chair, reported on the International Conference of Local Governments and Civil Society Organizations in Support of Palestinian Rights, held in Seville, Spain, in December 2014.  He said that the participation of the Committee in that Conference, which garnered some 90 attendees and heard from five panels, facilitated cooperation with crucial partners and outreach to local governments, parliaments and aid organizations.  He recommended that the Committee continue to build those relationships.

At the outset of the meeting, the Committee adopted its programme of work and agenda and re-elected the Bureau:  Rapporteur Christopher Grima (Malta) and Vice-Chairs Rodolfo Reyes Rodríguez (Cuba), Desra Percaya (Indonesia), Wilfried I. Emvula (Namibia) and María Rubiales de Chamorro (Nicaragua).  The Committee also approved a provisional programme of the United Nations Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People to be held in Cairo on 23 and 24 February.

Also speaking today were representatives of Ecuador, Malaysia and Venezuela.