Mr. President,

I am honored to address the General Assembly in this important debate and on this day of International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People – the 38^th observance of this solemn day since the Assembly proclaimed it in 1977. I reaffirm the gratitude of the Palestinian people and Government for the support to the just cause of Palestine from every corner of the globe and for the moving expressions of solidarity for our people today and through the long decades of their plight.

We renew our appreciation to the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which for 40 years has exerted efforts in support of the Palestinian people’s rights and national aspirations to live in freedom, peace, and security in their homeland. We thank Ambassador Fode Seck of Senegal for his skilled chairing of the Committee and introducing the draft resolutions on the “Question of Palestine”. We also thank the Rapporteur, Ambassador Christopher Grima of Malta, for presenting the annual report, and thank the other Bureau members – Afghanistan, Cuba, Indonesia, Namibia and Nicaragua – along with all of the Committee Members and Observers for their principled, strong support. We also thank the Division for Palestinian Rights and DPI Special Information Programme on Palestine for their efforts and support to the Committee in the past year. [Read more…]

H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations,

H.E Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, President of the United Nations General Assembly,

H.E. Mr. Matthew Rycroft, President of the Security Council,

H.E. Mr. Fodé Seck, Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People,

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset, I wish to convey to you greetings from the State of Palestine and the Palestinian people to all of our friends around the world participating in the commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. We commemorate this occasion, two months after we all participated in the momentous ceremony that took place in the Rose Garden at the United Nations to raise the flag of the State of Palestine. We are proud that, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and in other UN offices, the flag of the State of Palestine is flying alongside the flags of the countries of the world. [Read more…]