I thank H.E. the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania for presiding over this meeting, and thank H.E. the Secretary-General for his briefing.
Promoting and strengthening the rule of law at the national and international levels is of utmost importance to the State of Palestine. In recent years, our country has progressively built and continues to build its State institutions, specifically regarding the rule of law and governance at the national level. Currently, this effort is supported through the 2014-2016 Development Assistance Framework concluded between the State of Palestine and the United Nations, of which governance, rule of law, justice and human rights are one of the six pillars of the agreement. While we continue to progress in promoting and strengthening the rule of law nationally, the rule of law internationally continues to regrettably founder. This is what the international community, specifically this Council must address based on the conviction that the rule of law at the international level is the key to the maintenance of international peace and security, its Charter mandate. We hold that the rule of law is also the key to ending Israel’s nearly 47- year military occupation.
The challenge for the State of Palestine is that this Council too often protects the powerful and deflects the weak, evident in that Israel, the occupying Power, continues to colonize Palestinian land, carry on with illegal practices and commit war crimes setting back our development, curtailing our rights and sabotaging the possibility of peace and the credibility of the international legal system.
Mr. President,
In the case of the question of Palestine, the shelving of international law has only lead to chronic failure to achieve peace and the compounding of the conflict and the human suffering it is inflicting. Today’s debate concerns a broader theme, and we welcome that, yet it is imperative to be realists, as there is a simple reality: without justice you cannot have peace and without law you cannot have justice. Further, without compliance with the law, it is chaos that will prevail with outcomes difficult to fully predict.
Mr. President,
If we are to succeed in our endeavor of building and institutionalizing a culture of law, we must ensure that the Israeli occupation will end and the conflict is resolved on the basis of law. In the case of the State of Palestine, the law has at best been sidelined and, at worst, it has been transgressed in the most egregious manner. The rights of the Palestine refugees have been ignored. The human rights of the Palestinian people have been systematically violated. The humanitarian rights of the Palestinian people as protected persons continue to be trampled. The rights under the Charter are perpetually denied, particularly the right to self-determination.
It is accurate to say that this is an unprecedented case of a lack of rule of law. The Security Council has failed to implement its own resolutions; failed for over 46 years to prevent the insidious and active colonization of Palestinian land and the constant attempts to change the status of Jerusalem, a city of international importance; and failed to be faithful to the purposes and principles of the Charter. Through the Council’s failure to uphold the law it has created an environment of impunity, allowing a State to continue acting above the law.
Mr. President,
It was stated in the “Declaration of High Level Meeting on the Rule of Law” (A/RES/67/1): “We commit to ensuring that impunity is not tolerated for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity or for violations of international humanitarian law and gross violations of human rights law, and that such violations are properly investigated and appropriately sanctioned, including by bringing the perpetrators of any crimes to justice, through national mechanisms or, where appropriate, regional or international mechanisms, in accordance with international law, and for this purpose we encourage States to strengthen national judicial systems and institutions.”
Time is of the essence for the international community to act to prevent Israel’s settlement annexation enterprise from destroying the viability of and the prospects for a negotiated two-State solution based on the pre-1967 borders and the longstanding international consensus. We urge all States to take concerted, collective action to disassociate their economies and institutions from Israel’s illegal practices, specifically settlements, and to insist on the respect for the rule of law, as enshrined in the Charter, international covenants and conventions and UN resolutions, for justly resolving this decades-long conflict. In this regard, we welcome initiatives by the European Union and other States to deny any funding to Israeli entities in the occupied Arab territories, and those States, such as South Africa, that have begun labeling Israeli settlement products as such and we encourage others to follow with the hope of salvaging the prospects for a just and peaceful two-state solution strengthened by the rule of law.
Mr. President,
The Palestinian people continue to wait for the international community to fulfill its pledges and not continue to be the exception to the rule, but be an example of achieving freedom, peace and justice through the rule of law.
I thank you.
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