Archives for June 2019

25 June 2019 – Statement by Ms. Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, Ambassador, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the Ad Hoc Committee of the General Assembly for the Announcement of Voluntary Contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)

Mr. Secretary-General, President of the General Assembly, Commissioner-General of UNRWA,

Excellencies,

On behalf of my delegation, I express our appreciation to the Secretary-General and President of the General Assembly for convening this annual Pledging Conference, recognizing UNRWA’s crucial role in providing vital humanitarian assistance to the Palestine refugees and the urgent need to mobilize support to once again address the Agency’s funding shortfall to ensure uninterrupted implementation of its General Assembly mandate. We are grateful for their strong support.

We renew our appreciation as well to Commissioner-General Pierre Krähenbühl for his most able and dedicated leadership of UNRWA in these extremely difficult times. We commend his active outreach and engagement with the host countries and donor countries around the world aimed at securing needed resources and support for UNRWA, as well as his principled advocacy aimed at alleviating the plight of the Palestine refugees and ensuring respect for their rights and dignity, so inspiringly represented by the testimonies of the UNRWA student parliamentarians we heard today – Hanan and Hatem – and we deeply thank them for their messages of hope. [Read more…]

11 June 2019 – Letter on Jerusalem and Israeli Rep Statements

Excellency,

I write to you regarding recent statements made by the Israeli Representative, in interventions at the Security Council and in an official letter on 6 June 2019, concerning the City of Jerusalem.

These statements are not only provocative and inflammatory, but directly contravene Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, the United Nations Charter and the longstanding international consensus on the question of Jerusalem in specific and question of Palestine as a whole.

With the repeated pronouncement of such statements based solely on religious edicts and distorted narratives, Israel stands in absolute contempt of the Security Council and must be held accountable. Such defiance of the Council’s decisions and authority cannot go unanswered.

We call on Security Council members for immediate redress of this matter. These are not ‘just words’; Israel’s aggressive and shameless assertions of such arguments in the international arena are matched daily by illegal actions on the ground violating the rights of the Palestinian people, entrenching the occupation, and destroying peace prospects. This offensive narrative must be rejected with robust action to protect Palestinian rights, reverse negative trends, and salvage the chances for a just peace.

This requires serious efforts to implement the relevant resolutions, in full and without exception, including accountability for any violations.  Action is equally urgent to restore the Council’s credibility and uphold the integrity of its resolutions. This requires explicit reaffirmation that resolutions are valid until implementation and cannot be negated by such narratives. [Read more…]

3 June 2019 – Israeli provocations and raids on Al-Haram Al-Sharif

Excellency,

As we somberly approach the 52nd year since Israel’s occupation in June 1967 of Palestinian and Arab lands, we must draw the international community’s urgent attention to the escalating tensions and deteriorating situation on the ground in Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, as a result of intensifying illegal Israeli policies and practices, including rising provocations, incitement and aggression by the Israeli occupying forces and extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians.

In recent days, such provocations have once again involved raids and aggression against holy sites and Palestinian worshippers in Occupied East Jerusalem, in violation of the historic status quo at Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which houses the holy Al-Aqsa and Dome of the Rock Mosques. Such actions further inflaming religious sensitivities and dangerous destabilization of an already volatile and fragile situation.

Israel, the occupying Power, must be demanded to cease forthwith all such illegal and destabilizing actions and to respect its legal obligations, in accordance with international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions and to respect the decades-long historic legal and religious status quo at Al-Haram Al-Sharif, including the custodianship of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan over the Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

Yesterday, 2 June, witnessed raids by the Israeli occupying forces on the compound, as well as by more than one thousand extremist Israeli settlers, who marched to the compound in an aggressive manner, blatantly inciting against Palestinians, to mark what Israelis call “Jerusalem Day”, which coincides with the anniversary of Israel’s seizure and occupation of East Jerusalem in the June 1967 war. More than 45 Palestinian civilians were injured as the Israeli occupying forces violently assaulted and forcibly dispersed Muslim worshippers, detained several worshippers, and even locked the doors to the mosques preventing the faithful from entering for prayer. [Read more…]