LOC21:29
18:29 GMT
UNITED NATIONS, March 12 (KUNA) -- Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday
informed the General Assembly in a report the steps the UN Secretariat took to
change Palestine's status to a non-member observer State, in accordance with
the body's decision last November, and stressed that the year 2013 will be
"decisive" in the peace process.
He indicated that the Permanent Mission of Israel and the Permanent
Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the United Nations were
consulted in the preparation of the report.
Ban said that since the Assembly took the decision in late November,
"Palestine has been treated as a non-member observer State by the Secretariat,
and consequently, Palestine has been treated as such."
He said the designation 'State of Palestine' is now used in all UN
documents and on nameplates to be used in UN meetings, but does not enjoy the
right to vote and cannot submit its own candidacy for any election or
appointment.
The State of Palestine may, however, place items on the provisional agenda
of the Security Council and the General Assembly.
As a UN non-member observer State and a member of UNESCO, he noted, the
State of Palestine may participate "fully and on an equal basis" with other
States in conferences that are open to members of specialized agencies or that
are open to all States.
The Assembly accorded the State of Palestine its new status in the UN on
November 29, that coincides with the International Day of Solidarity with the
Palestinian people, by a majority of 138 votes in favour, following a period
of prolonged stalemate in the political process.
That vote, Ban said in his report "symbolized the growing international
impatience with the long-standing occupation and clearly endorsed Palestinian
aspirations to live in freedom and dignity in an independent State of their
own, side by side with Israel in peace and security."
"The end to the occupation and to the conflict and the achievement of the
two-State solution on the ground is long overdue. This can only be achieved,
however, through negotiations to solve all final status issues," he added.
That's why, he stressed, "the year 2013 will be decisive in the peace
process."
He described the situation on the ground as a "cause for serious concern,"
adding that the continued settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian
territory, including East Jerusalem, is "illegal under international law and
runs contrary to Israel's obligations under the road map.
"Israel should heed the repeated calls of the international community and
stop such activity," he urged.
He said the "parties need our collective support to create an environment
conducive to a resumption of talks, as on both sides of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict there is too much pain and anguish,
disillusionment and dismay, for the parties to be able to overcome their
genuine fears and dispel tensions on their own."
He called on the international community to "foster synergy among the
various ideas and initiatives being discussed to permit decisive progress
towards a return to negotiations."
He said the Arab Peace Initiative needs to be encouraged and nurtured as an
"important basis" for ending the Arab-Israeli conflict and achieving regional
peace.
He also said that the parties "must not only remain open to new initiatives
to overcome the current impasse, but must now demonstrate their seriousness
and refrain from actions and negative steps that undermine the situation on
the ground and complicate a return to meaningful negotiations in the critical
period ahead."
"We cannot afford another year without courageous action for the purpose of
achieving the two-State solution," he concluded. (end)
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