LOC00:38
21:38 GMT
state solution"
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 29 (KUNA) -- Blaming Israel, Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon on Monday said he "understands" the Palestinian people's despair that
peace with Israel will be achieved next year, at a time Libya is seeking a
General Assembly resolution calling for the "One State Solution."
Marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
observed yearly, Ban said "few Palestinians are optimistic that anything
decisive will be achieved next year, or even at all. Looking at the situation
on the ground, I understand this despair."
He recalled that direct talks on final status were undermined by the
expiration of Israel's settlement moratorium, the construction of hundreds of
new units throughout the West Bank, and approvals to build new settlements in
East Jerusalem.
This development is a "serious blow to the credibility of the political
process. The obligation remains on Israel to meet its responsibilities under
international law and the Roadmap to freeze settlement activity," he said.
He stressed that it is both Israel's interest and its duty to begin rolling
back the measures of occupation, particularly with respect to movement, access
and security actions.
On the situation in Gaza, he said he remains "very concerned," about
conditions in Gaza and called on Israel to enable broader civilian
reconstruction, free movement of persons and the export of goods, and to
facilitate the swift implementation of projects. He also demanded that rocket
fire from Gaza "must stop."
"I challenge the two leaders to show statesmanship and political courage in
reaching a historic peace," he said and to take advantage of the overwhelming
international consensus on the need to end the occupation, address the
security concerns of both parties, find a solution to the refugee issue and
see Jerusalem as the capital of two States.
In the meantime, Libya circulated a draft resolution by which the General
Assembly would decide that "there is no viable option other than the
establishment of a single democratic, multiracial and multicultural State for
both the Jews and the Palestinians, based on equal rights and equal
obligations, which shall be disarmed and shall live in peace with its
neighbours."
Libya also wants the Assembly to call on the two parties to start, without
delay and with support from the international community, negotiations for the
realization of such a State.
The vote on the Libyan and other related draft resolutions is expected in
the next few days.
In a message to the meeting read out by Palestinian Ambassador Ryadh
Mansour, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said "we strongly reject all
unilateral actions by Israel ... and demand its immediate cessation because
they affect the final status issues and are a clear attempt to unilaterally
determine the map of the final solution".
"We must draw lessons from the results of the past failures of
international efforts to compel Israel to end its settlement policies and
practices of aggression, which have caused so much damage to and undermined
the credibility of the peace process with our people," he added.
He said he was "completely confident, as we are on the threshold of
celebrating a new year that the suffering of our people is coming to an end".
"I am also sure that the renewal and confirmation of your solidarity and
support for our people, especially at this time, will bolster our ... sincere
efforts to establish a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region
- ... a peace that will turn the page on the past with all its agonies, ... a
peace that opens a new era of cooperation and coexistence in the region," he
stressed.
At the same time, he renewed his message to the Israeli people that "our
hand is still able to carry the olive branch, from the rubble, and will remain
stretched for a just peace in order to secure a safe future for our children
and their children".
He recalled that the Palestinian Authority was not elected to "improve the
ugly face of the occupation but to bring an end to that occupation".
Peace, he added, requires bringing a decisive and final end to the "vicious
Israeli colonial settlement campaign" in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,
including East Jerusalem, which constitutes a "time bomb that could destroy
everything we have accomplished on the road to peace at any moment".
The meeting was also addressed by the Presidents of the Security Council,
the General Assembly, other diplomats and representatives of the civil
society. It also received messages from Heads of state and government.
On November 29, 1947, the General Assembly adopted the Partition resolution
which provided for the establishment in Palestine of a "Jewish State" and an
"Arab State".(end)
sj.bs
KUNA 300038 Nov 10NNNN