Full Transcript: Abbas Urges UN Security Council to Recognize ‘State of Palestine’
By H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Abbas
H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Abbas
President of the State of Palestine
Before the United Nations Security Council
New York - 20 February 2018
Excellency Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad
Al-Sabah, President of the Security Council,
Excellency Mr. António Guterres,
Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Excellencies Members of the Security
Council,
Seventy years have passed since Palestine’s
Nakba, from which 6 million Palestine
refugees continue to suffer from the cruelty
of exile and loss of human security. They
continue to wander the world after the loss
of their peaceful and stable lives in their
homeland. They are part of the 13 million
Palestinians, whose country has not yet been
recognized as full Member State of the
United Nations, despite the numerous
resolutions reaffirming their right to
self-determination and statehood on their
national land.
We are the descendants of the Canaanites
that lived in the land of Palestine 5,000
years ago and continuously remained there to
this day. Our great people remain rooted in
their land. The Palestinian people built
their own cities and homeland and made
contributions to humanity and civilization
witnessed by the world. They established
institutions, schools, hospitals, cultural
organizations, theaters, libraries,
newspapers, publishing houses, economic
organizations, businesses and banks, with
wide regional and international influence.
All of this existed before and after the
Balfour Declaration issued by the British
Government in 1917, a declaration by which
those who did not own, giving to those who
had no right. The British Government bears
responsibility for the catastrophic
consequences inflicted on the Palestinian
people as a result.
Since then, and although our people remain
under occupation, they continued their
journey in building and developing their
country with the establishment of their
National Authority in 1994. Our national
institutions are recognized by international
organizations for their merit and work,
which is based on the rule of law,
accountability and transparency, and
empowerment of women and youth in an
environment of tolerance, coexistence of
civilizations and nondiscrimination.
Moreover, we continue to strive to unite our
people and land and to ensure one authority,
one law, and one gun, and are determined to
convene parliamentary and presidential
elections.
Mr. President, Excellencies,
Our conviction is deep and our position is
clear regarding the use of arms of any kind.
We not only call for the dismantlement of
nuclear weapons, but are also opposed to
conventional weapons, which have caused such
vast destruction of States in our region and
around the world.
We have thus been committed to fostering a
culture of peace, rejection of violence,
pursuit of sustainable development and the
building of schools, hospitals, industrial
zones, agricultural farms and technological
production, as opposed to establishing
weapons factories and purchasing tanks and
fighter jets, for we wish for our people to
live in freedom and dignity, far from wars
and destruction and far from terrorism and
extremism, which are being relentlessly
combated in all areas of the globe.
Accordingly, we have become party to 83
security agreements with States around the
world, including the United States, Russian
Federation, European countries and others.
Why are we here today?
After a long journey and efforts to create a
political path based on negotiations and
leading to a comprehensive and just peace,
as you are aware, we participated in the
Madrid Conference in 1991 and signed the
Oslo Accords in 1993, which affirmed the
imperative of reaching a solution of all the
permanent status issues before 1999.
Unfortunately, this has not become reality.
Nevertheless, we persisted in our efforts to
attain peace. We engaged in dialogue at Wye
River and Camp David. We participated in the
Annapolis Conference; we engaged in dialogue
with the former Israeli Prime Minister
Olmert, and met with Prime Minister
Netanyahu in the presence of former
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and
George Mitchell; and we accepted President
Putin’s invitation to meet with Mr.
Netanyahu in Moscow, but he has regrettably
evaded participating in such a meeting. We
engaged with all seriousness with former
Secretary of State John Kerry. But the
Israeli Government’s intransigence caused
the failure of all of these efforts.
After all of this, how can it be said that
it is we who reject negotiations?
Confronted with this deadlock, we have
neither given up, nor have we lost hope. We
have come to the United Nations, believing
in the purposes and principles of the
Charter of the United Nations, which
affirms, inter alia, the inadmissibility of
the acquisition of territory by force and
affirms the right of peoples to
self-determination, which are among the
issues this august Council will address
tomorrow. We continue to engage with all of
its agencies and bodies in our search for an
end this occupation of our land and people.
Yet, in spite of all of this, the
international community has failed to
implement the relevant UN resolutions, even
to this day.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Is it logical that, despite the adoption of
705 General Assembly resolutions and 86
Security Council resolutions in our favor,
none of them have been implemented? Is it
logical that Israel violates its obligation
to implement resolutions 181 (II) and 194
(III), the implementation of which Israel’s
admission to the UN was conditioned upon, as
pledged in writing by its Foreign Minister
Moshe Sharett at that time?
Israel is acting as a State above the law.
It has transformed the occupation from a
temporary situation as per international law
into a situation of permanent settlement
colonization and has imposed a one-State
reality of Apartheid. It has closed all
doors to realizing the two-State solution on
the basis of the 1967 borders.
Here, we must reaffirm, as we have done in
the past, our problem is not with the
followers of Judaism. Judaism is a
monotheistic religion as are Christianity
and Islam. Our problem is only with the
occupiers of our land and those denying our
independence and freedom.
Mr. President, Excellencies Members of the
Council,
We met with the President of the United
States, Donald Trump, four times in 2017,
and we have expressed our absolute readiness
to reach a historic peace agreement. We
repeatedly reaffirmed our position in
accordance with international law, the
relevant UN resolutions and the two-State
solution on the basis of the 1967 borders.
Yet this administration has not clarified
its position. Is it for the two-State
solution, or for one-State? And, then, in a
dangerous, unprecedented manner, this
administration undertook an unlawful
decision, which was rejected by the
international community, to remove the issue
of Jerusalem “off the table” and to
recognize the City as Israel’s capital and
to transfer its embassy to the City. It did
so ignoring that East Jerusalem is part of
the Palestinian territory occupied since
1967 and is our capital, which we wish to be
a City open to all faithful of the three
monotheistic religions, Islam, Christianity
and Judaism.
It is also strange that the United States
still lists the Palestine Liberation
Organization on its terror list and imposes
restrictions on the work of our mission in
Washington under the pretext of
Congressional decisions since 1987. And,
most recently, it has decided to punish the
Palestine refugees by way of reduction of
its contribution to UNRWA, in spite of the
fact that it supported the Agency’s
establishment and has endorsed the Arab
Peace Initiative, which calls for a just and
agreed solution for the plight of the
refugees in accordance with resolution 194
(III).
The United States has contradicted itself
and contradicted its own commitments and has
violated international law and the relevant
resolutions with its decision regarding
Jerusalem. So, it has become impossible
today for one country or State alone to
solve a regional or international conflict
without the participation of other
international partners. Therefore, to solve
the Palestine question, it is essential to
establish a multi-lateral international
mechanism emanating from an international
conference and in line with international
law and the relevant resolutions.
Mr. President, Excellencies,
Faced with Israel’s policies and practices
in violation of international law and
Israel’s noncompliance with and
non-implementation of agreements signed, our
Central Council, the highest Palestinian
parliamentary body, decided several weeks
ago to review the relationship with Israel,
considering that we have become an Authority
without authority and the occupation has
become one without cost and that Israel must
uphold its obligations as an occupying
Power.
In spite of this, I confirm to you our
commitment to maintain our institutions and
achievements, which we have realized on the
ground in Palestine as well as in the
international arena. We are determined to
remain committed to the political,
diplomatic, legal path, far from violence,
and through political negotiations and
dialogue, which we have never rejected.
We will continue to extend our hands to make
peace and will continue to exert efforts to
bring an end to the Israeli occupation based
on the two-State solution on the 1967
borders and international legitimacy as per
the relevant resolutions in order to achieve
our national aspirations.
At the same time, we will continue to oppose
any attempts, regardless by whom, to impose
solutions that contradict this legitimacy.
We have been granted the status of
non-member Observer State by the General
Assembly and, on that basis, we have become
a State party to 105 international treaties
and organizations. We have been recognized
by 138 States. All of this has further
strengthened the status of the State of
Palestine, which continues to strive for
recognition by the rest of the States in the
world, among them Member States of the
Council that have not yet recognized the
State of Palestine, even while knowing that
recognition of the State of Palestine is not
a substitute for negotiations, but rather
would enhance the prospects for success of
negotiations.
In the coming period, we will intensify our
efforts to achieve admission to full
membership in the United Nations and to
guarantee international protection for our
people. We hope for your support for these
efforts aimed at ensuring the rights of 13
million Palestinians, who yearn for an
independent homeland just like all other
peoples of the world and yearn for their
State to take its rightful place in the
international community.
Mr. President, Excellencies,
We come here before your august Council in
the midst of the deadlock of the peace
process due to the US decision regarding
Jerusalem, Israel’s ongoing illegal
settlement activities, its violation of the
resolutions of this Council, and its
disrespect of the signed agreements. We are
here because of the Palestinian side’s
desire to continue working positively and
courageously in the building a culture of
peace, rejecting violence, saving the
principle of two-States, and attaining
security and stability for all, to restore
hope to our people and the peoples of the
region, and to find a way out of the
stalemate and crisis we are in.
Driven by our conviction in a just, lasting
and comprehensive peace, which is our
strategic choice for the sake of the coming
generations in our region, including the
Palestinians and Israelis, I present to this
august Council a peace plan that addresses
the core problems that have undermined peace
efforts across the decades. Our plan
includes the following:
First: We call for the convening of an
international peace conference by mid-2018,
based on international law and the relevant
UN resolutions, with broad international
participation and including the two
concerned parties and the regional and
international stakeholders, foremost among
them the Permanent Members of the Security
Council and the international Quartet, as
was the framework for the Paris Peace
Conference and as envisaged for the
conference to be convened in Moscow as per
resolution 1850 (2008). The outcomes of this
conference should be as follows:
a. Acceptance of the State of Palestine as a
full member of the United Nations and a call
on the Security Council to achieve that,
taking into account General Assembly
resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012, and
guaranteeing international protection for
our people.
b. Mutual recognition between the State of
Palestine and the State of Israel on the
basis of the 1967 borders.
c. Formation of an international
multilateral mechanism that will assist the
two parties in the negotiations to resolve
the permanent status issues defined in the
Oslo Accords (Jerusalem, borders, security,
settlements, refugees, water and prisoners),
conduct those negotiations on the basis of
international law and the relevant UN
resolutions, and implement what is to be
agreed upon within a set timeframe and with
guarantees for this implementation.
Second: During the period of negotiations,
all parties must refrain from unilateral
actions, particularly those that would
prejudge the outcome of a final solution, as
set forth in Article 31 of the Oslo Accords
of 1993. Foremost must be the cessation of
settlement activities in the territory
occupied since 1967, including East
Jerusalem, and suspension of the decision
regarding Jerusalem and halting transfer of
the US embassy to Jerusalem, in compliance
with the relevant Security Council
resolutions, including in particular
resolutions 476 (1980), 478 (1980), 2334
(2016), and General Assembly resolution
ES-10/19. At the same time, the State of
Palestine would refrain from further joining
organizations, as we have previously
committed ourselves to. (Namely 22
international organizations out of 500
organizations and treaties.)
Third: Implementation of the Arab Peace
Initiative, as adopted and endorsed, and the
conclusion of a regional agreement upon
achievement of a peace agreement between the
Palestinians and Israelis. In this regard,
we must reaffirm the terms of reference for
any upcoming negotiations and they are as
follows:
1. Respect for international law and the
relevant resolutions, including Security
Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973)
through to resolution 2334 (2016), and the
Arab Peace Initiative, and the signed
agreements.
2. Preservation of the principle of the
two-States, i.e. the State of Palestine,
with East Jerusalem as its capital, living
side by side with the State of Israel in
peace and security on the basis of the 4
June 1967 borders, and rejection of partial
solutions and a State of provisional
borders.
3. Acceptance of minimal land swaps, in
equal value and ratio, with the agreement
between the two parties.
4. East Jerusalem as the capital of the
State of Palestine and an open city for the
faithful of the three monotheistic
religions.
5. Ensuring the security of the two States
without undermining the independence and
sovereignty of either of them through the
existence of an international third party.
6. A just and agreed solution for the
Palestine refugees on the basis of
resolution 194 (III) and in accordance with
the Arab Peace Initiative and, pending a
just solution, continuation of the
international commitment and support to
UNRWA.
Mr. President, Excellencies,
We are ready to undertake the longest
journeys to the farthest places in the world
in order to realize our rights. But we are
not ready to move one inch if anyone wants
us to forsake these rights.
We will present any agreement reached with
Israel to a general referendum among our
people, respecting democracy and reinforcing
legitimacy.
We have knocked on your door today, you who
comprise the highest international body
entrusted with the maintenance of
international peace and security. We have
presented our vision for peace. Hopefully it
will be received with wisdom and justice. We
are ready to begin negotiations immediately
in order to achieve the freedom and
independence of our people, just like all
other nations, and to achieve peace and
security for all in our region and the
world, so that future generations can enjoy
the benefits of this peace, following the
enormous sacrifices by our people of that
dearest to them, among them our martyrs,
wounded and prisoners.
This Security Council is the highest entity
to which the peoples of the world seek
sanctuary and protection; after this
Council, we rest our issue to the Almighty.
For, if justice for our people cannot be
attained here, then to where should we go?
I thank you, Mr. President.
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