International Meeting on Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Opens in Istanbul
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25 May 2010 General Assembly GA/PAL/1163 Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York INTERNATIONAL MEETING ON ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE PROCESS OPENS IN ISTANBUL SPOTLIGHTS PATH TO ENDING OCCUPATION, BUILDING VIABLE PALESTINIAN STATE With New Round of Proximity Talks Under Way, Secretary-General Urges Parties to Avoid Provocations, Move Quickly to Direct Negotiations on Core Issues (Received from a UN Information Officer) ISTANBUL, Turkey, 25 May — United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today reiterated his support for the revived Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks, saying it was necessary that they lead quickly to direct peace negotiations so that progress could be made on core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, which was vital to both parties, and “should emerge from the negotiations as the capital of Israel and Palestine, with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all.” “As the talks proceed, we must work with the parties to ensure that further steps are taken to build mutual trust and more positive conditions on the ground,” the Secretary-General said in a message delivered by Robert Serry, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, to the opening of the United Nations Meeting in Support of the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process, in Istanbul, Turkey. The two-day meeting, organized by the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, on the theme “Ending the occupation and establishing the Palestinian State,” brings United Nations officials and diplomats together with a diverse group of Middle East experts. Topics include prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace, Jerusalem’s spiritual significance, and ways to reset the political dialogue, including through third-party mediation. The Meeting will be followed on Thursday, 27 May, by the United Nations Public Forum in Support of the Palestinian People to be held at the Istanbul Kültür University. Secretary-General Ban was pleased that the proximity talks, which began on 9 May, were finally underway after a period of prolonged delay and setbacks, and urged the parties to avoid provocations or breaches of the Quartet-backed Road Map or international law, “which would only create new crises of confidence.” Israel must exercise particular restraint in East Jerusalem, where demolitions, evictions and settlement expansion should be halted. The Palestinian Authority must continue positive efforts in fulfilling obligations under the Road Map to promote security and build institutions in the context of its widely supported State-building programme. As for Gaza, he urged all actors to support measures to promote calm, end the closure, prevent illicit weapons smuggling and achieve Palestinian unity within the framework of the legitimate Palestinian Authority and the commitments of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Finally, he reminded everyone that Israeli-Palestinian peace would be bolstered by a favourable regional environment – “a comprehensive approach” that included support from all regional parties for talks between the two sides, a resumed political track between Israel and Syria, and full realization of the Arab Peace Initiative. Nemer Hammad, Special Political Advisor to the President of the Palestinian Authority, said the commitment of President Abbas and of the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to attain peace with Israel through negotiations was “genuine and unwavering.” All efforts to that end were based on the principle of land for peace, ending the occupation, and building a Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side in peace and security with Israel. “The State we will build will be a peaceful State,” he said, adding that the Palestinian Authority would accept any international presence on its territory “but not one Israeli soldier.” On the proximity talks, he expressed the Palestinian Authority’s full support for their aim, but had concerns about Israel’s resolve. The talks were supposed to provide an opportunity, within the agreed four-month timeframe, to pave the way for direct negotiations leading to a comprehensive settlement and creation of a Palestinian State within two years. Yet, from the Palestinians’ viewpoint, nothing had changed. They continued to hear daily provocative statements from the Israeli Government, especially 1 of 13 regarding occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli officials had begun to use religion and a fabricated reality to continue their policies. As a result, Palestinian homes were being demolished, high taxes were being levied, and a racist military policy that allowed people, whether Palestinian or not, to be evicted at the whim of any Israeli military officer, had been put in place. The only answer to all this was increasing pressure to ensure the talks succeeded and a Viable Palestinian State was established. “Let the negotiations begin in earnest and on an equal footing,” he declared, calling on the international community to help the talks proceed quickly but fairly and without preconditions. Indeed, if religion were left to interfere, it would undoubtedly lead to dire global consequences. For his part, Zahir Tanin, Head of the Delegation of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, said the twentieth anniversary of the Madrid peace conference was coming up next year, and all stakeholders needed to take a hard look at what had gone right and, more importantly, what had gone wrong in the two decades since that landmark meeting had ushered in the peace process. “The sovereign State of Palestine, free from occupation, is still just a vision,” he said, emphasizing that the sense of frustration was palpable, among Palestinians and throughout the region, with the “open-ended Israeli occupation” and with the on-again-off-again nature of the peace process. But against that rather bleak backdrop, the United States-mediated proximity talks offered some encouragement, he said. The Committee welcomed the start of those talks and he hoped they would lead to tangible results on the ground, such as unobstructed movement of persons and goods in the West Bank and the end of the blockade of Gaza, release of Palestinian prisoners and enlargement of the Palestinian Authority’s area of control. The Committee also championed the comprehensive blueprint for Palestinian Statehood within two years, unveiled by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad last August. Aiming to end the Palestinian economy’s dependence on Israel, harmonize the legal system and streamline governance, the Fayyad Plan also involved building infrastructure, harnessing natural resources and improving education. “The Plan aims to end the occupation by creating positive facts on the ground,” he said, adding that the State-building agenda also complemented the negotiating process. It was a bold initiative that demanded an equally bold response by the international community, including with the adoption of a resolution in 2011 by the Security Council determining the borders of the Palestinian State based on the pre-1967 lines. Mr. Serry, who is also the Secretary-General’s Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority, delivered today’s keynote address, entitled “The path to a Palestinian State”. He said that while polls continued to show that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians continued to support the two-State solution, they knew that time was not on the side of peace, and that the longer the wound of Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not healed, the harder it would be to find a permanent cure. Moreover, as the only Quartet Envoy based permanently on the ground in Jerusalem, he was acutely aware that Israelis and Palestinians actually had increasing doubts that the two-State solution was achievable. Continuing, he said many Palestinians doubted that Israel had the will or capability to roll back the settlement enterprise, end the occupation that began in 1967 and share Jerusalem. Many Israelis, for their part, doubted that the Palestinians had the will or capability to confer the kind of recognition that Israel sought, to ensure their commitment to peace and security would be maintained, and to put a permanent end to the conflict. “Each side can point to evidence which backs up their claims,” he said. He asked: How do we overcome a situation that is neither acceptable nor sustainable in the long run? How can we build the only future that can work? The answer was through the pursuit and promotion of five vital aims: real negotiations; responsible actions on the ground; relentless Palestinian State-building; effective crisis prevention and intervention in Gaza; and a comprehensive regional approach. “After many setbacks and delays we are now entering into what may be our last opportunity to reach a just, lasting and comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, based on a two-State solution.” And while that path to a Palestinian State would be fraught with challenges, it was still achievable. “But we do not have the luxury of time [and] we cannot afford to waste our time in the 24 months ahead. It is too late for yet another incremental approach to peace.” That was why the negotiations needed to address the core issues and could not be allowed to stagnate. “The consequence of failure is only likely to increase the risk of the region sliding backwards into conflict,” he warned. In his remarks, Ahmet Davutoglu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Turkey, welcomed the participants to Istanbul and hailed the work of the Committee, which was a key United Nations body that 2 of 13 worked tirelessly. He said his region was passing through yet another critical period and the confluence of regional and global dynamics required maximum vigilance and concerted actions by countries in the region and in the wider international community to avert new crises and de-escalate tensions, largely around the issue of the Middle East and the question of Palestine. That complex question had four main dimensions - humanitarian, national, regional and global – and must be approached in a comprehensive manner.