Statement delivered by
Ms Aishath Fareena, Second Secretary
on Question of Palestine
29 November 2018
Thank you, Madam President,
My Delegation would like to express its appreciation for convening this important meeting on the Question of Palestine and we would like to reiterate and renew our full support and solidarity with the State of Palestine and the Palestinian people.
Madam President,
It has now been seventy-one years to the date, since this Assembly, adopted the historic Resolution 181, which sets out the framework for establishing a sovereign and independent State of Palestine.
That Resolution remains historic, because of its failure in realising its own promise of creating two separate independent States, living side by side, in peace and harmony. It is historic, too, because of its failure to protect the fundamental rights of Palestinians to live in their homes with dignity and respect. The result of this historic failure is there for all to see in its entirety; decades of oppression, illegal occupation and the denial of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms to the Palestinian people.
The “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People”, taking place today, is an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine is still unresolved and that the Palestinian people have not attained their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly. The right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right of Palestinians to return to their homes and property from which they had been expelled. We urge the international community to make every effort to protect these rights.
The Maldives condemns the continued violation of human rights and the disregard for international law in the Occupies Palestinian Territories, including in East Jerusalem. The Secretary-General has noted in his Report, the demolition of homes and the forced eviction of Palestinian families, punitive arrests, unfair trials, torture of detainees, and the use of excessive or lethal force against nonviolent demonstrations.
The Government of Maldives, therefore, urges Israel to return to the right side of international law, to restart the negotiations with the leadership of the State of Palestine in good faith and to bring an end to the seven decades of occupation. The Maldives appeals to Israel to create the necessary conditions for the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the Palestinian lands with pre-1967 borders, living side by side with Israel. That is the solution that the un Security Council Resolutions have advanced. And that is the only viable solution.
The international community has a special responsibility to ensure that the decisions we make, the Resolutions we pass in this Assembly, are implemented in full, and in good faith. Obstacles in implementing such Resolutions have to be identified and necessary instruments have to be deployed to ensure the decisions of the United Nations are fully respected by all.
Madam President,
We have a shared responsibility—a responsibility towards sustaining peace and promoting fundamental human rights. To be able to do that, there is a need to create an environment of respect for the human rights of Palestinian people, a situation where there are no incitements or provocations, and where the fundamental freedom of people is neither suppressed, nor oppressed, by anyone. We can all take the very first step of fulfilling that responsibility by granting full membership of the United Nations to the State of Palestine. The Maldives and its people will always be with you, Palestine.
I thank you.
