[...]

"Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, we must increase all our efforts

until the arrival of the new millennium in many places and spheres and not

just in the Middle East. In this respect, we have observed some positive

developments which are reassuring. There is tangible improvement in the

area of conflict resolution on the African Continent on the path towards

achieving abetter economic and social development in this great continent.

There is the international attention given to Kosovo and other measures in

the Balkans.

There is also the adoption of the statute of the International Criminal

Court, as well as the additional consideration being given to the four

Geneva Conventions on the occasion of the 50th anniversary." [...]

SEPTEMBER 23, 1999, THURSDAY

SPEECH BY YASSER ARAFAT

CHAIR, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY

U.N. HEADQUARTERS NEW YORK CITY

Mr. President,

it gives me great pleasure to see you presiding over this new session of the General Assembly after your long struggle to gain freedom along with Sam Nujoma, Nelson Mandela and other strugglers who have striven to bring an end to the era of colonialism, apartheid and foreign occupation.

Your presence here today leading this session is an embodiment of the

victory achieved by the people of Namibia in the battle for freedom and

independence. It strengthens the hope of the Palestinian people that a

dawn of their freedom and independence of their homeland of Palestine is

near. Further, the victory of your friendly country, Namibia, affirms the

constructive role played by the United Nations in the eradication of

colonialism that has burden oppressed peoples, enabling them to get their

national independence. I call upon the United Nations to continue to

undertake this historic role; to eliminate all forms of occupation,

colonialism, and to strengthen the foundations of peace throughout the

world.

As I congratulate and welcome you, I would be remiss if I did not extend

our gratitude to your predecessor, His Excellency Mr. Didier Abreti (sp).

It also gives me great pleasure to express of deep appreciation to His

Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, the secretary-general of the United Nations, for

his distinguished role in leading this international organization and in

promoting world peace.

Here, I also want to congratulate the three new members of the United

Nations, the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of -- (Nauru ?), and the

Kingdom of Tongo. Their membership is an important step towards the

realization of the universality of this organization.

Mr. President, and ladies and gentlemen, I come to you today, the

representatives of the international community, for the second- consecutive

year, seeking for the continuation of your support for the realization of

the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, particularly at this

crucial and sensitive stage, which lies between us and the declaration of

our independent Palestinian state and sovereignty over our liberated land.

This requires the strength of international efforts in order to actually

achieve a just solution of the question of Palestine, the crux of the

Middle East conflict.

The coming millennium summit, with all the renewed hope it represents for

the people of the Earth, for a new and promising beginning for all of us,

must represent a decisive deadline for the achievement of peace in the

Middle East. We should all work with all our strength to achieve this look

forward to the participation of Palestine as a member state in the United

Nations in the deliberations of this millennium summit. And I trust in

your support of this Palestinian determination to achieve independence so

that Palestine will take the position it deserves within the family of

nations.

Mr. President, as you know, we concluded -- Mr. Barak, the new prime

minister of Israel, the Sharm el-Sheikh memorandum on the 4th of September

under the auspices of President Hosne Mubarak and in the presence of King

Abdullah II, Secretary Albright, and Mr. Moratines (sp) representing the

European Union and Mr. D'lassen (sp) representing Mr. Kofi Annan.

The memorandum aims at the implementation of all obligations of the

interim period under the Oslo agreement, the Wye River memorandum and the

Hebron protocol and for the resumption of the permanent status

negotiations. This was done with the hope of bringing to an end to the

practice of delaying and freezing implementation that was pursued by the

former Israeli government, which completely paralyzed the peace process and

almost dashed the ambitious hopes created by this process for all the

countries and peoples of the Middle East.

The Sharm el-Sheikh memorandum serves as a source of new hope for

restoring the peace process to its right track, because it reaffirms the

implementation of our existing agreements and of all obligations within a

specific time line. In this connection, I extend my gratitude and thanks

to all those who contributed to the conclusion of this memorandum,

particularly our host at Sharm el-Sheikh, President Hosne Mubarak and also

King Abdullah II and the Secretary of State Albright, who undertook

tangible and concrete efforts as representative of President Clinton, and

the European leaders and their representatives and envoys to the peace

process.

The continuous involvement of these friends in this process has been an

essential matter necessary for pushing it forward. International

sponsorship for the Middle East process is the guarantee for its definitive

and final success.

The absence of such an international role would reverse the fragile

situation in the region to point zero. I, therefore, call upon the

international community to accelerate and strengthen its efforts and

participation to push the peace process forward and revitalize it on all

tracks. A common peace in the Middle East as a just and comprehensive one,

this peace will last if it is guarded by international legitimacy and if

efforts are undertaken to implement all of the resolutions pertaining to

the Middle East conflict on the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese tracks.

We should work so that the signing of this memorandum will succeed in

bringing an end to the stagnation of the peace process and in opening the

door that the former Israeli government closed in the face of all serious

efforts aimed at achieving a real peace.

As we reaffirm once more our commitment to the peace process and the

implementation of the agreements reached, we hope that this time the

Israeli side will undertake the implementation of these agreements

scrupulously and honestly, including the phases of redeployment,

redeployment, the Wye River agreement, and also agreements, the release of

prisoners and the implementation of the other obligations of the

transitional period, such as the safe passage between the West Bank and the

Gaza Strip and the construction of the Gaza seaport.

The Israeli government is called upon forthwith immediately and decisively

to cease all measures aiming at violating international resolutions, laws

and covenants, and which destroy the chances for achieving peace. At the

forefront of these are the settlement activities and the confiscation of

lands, especially in al-Quds al- Sharif and Jerusalem regions and its

surroundings, the siege of the city of (Bethlehem ?) and the rest of the

Palestinian territories.

The continuation of these settlement policies and practices has severely

diminished the hopes and expectations generated by the signing of the Sharm

el-Sheikh memorandum and destroyed prospects for the final settlement

negotiations which began on the 13th of September.

The cessation of all such measures is needed so that we can, together with

my new partner, my new partner, Mr. Barak, continue the march of the peace

of the brave that began with my partner, the late Yitzhak Rabin, who gave

his life for this peace, and also my partner, Shimon Peres, for a new

Middle East.

Hence, we look forward to seeing new, real and tangible changes in the

positions and actions of the Israeli side that will open the door in word

and deed for the achievement of a just and comprehensive peace, a peace of

the brave that will lead to the realization of the right of the Palestinian

people to self-determination and the establishment of its independent

state, with al-Quds al-Sharif, Jerusalem, as its capital and the

realization of the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their

homeland in accordance with Resolution 194, which affirmed the right of the

refugees to return to their homes and for compensation for those who do not

wish to return.

Mr. President, the realization of the right of the Palestinian people to

establish their independent state, of al-Quds al-Sharif, Jerusalem, as its

capital, will provide a definitive guarantee for the establishment of a

permanent peace in the Middle East and will also be a validation of the

charter of the United Nations and its numerous resolutions for all the 50

years, beginning with Resolution 181, which called for the establishment of

two states in Palestine -- one Jewish, which is Israel, and one Arab, which

is Palestine.

The rights of peoples do not diminish with the passage of a statute of

limitations or with oppression. And our people have proven throughout the

long years that they deserve life, freedom, and deserve their own

independent state. The time has come for the international community,

represented by the General Assembly, to reaffirm this right and work for

its realization.

The goal of the current peace process is the implementation of Security

Council Resolutions 242, 338 and 425 and the principle of Land for Peace --

that is, the total Israeli withdrawal from all the Palestinian and other

territories occupied in 1967, including al-Quds al-Sharif, the holy city of

Jerusalem, the first of the two Qiblas, and third, the only sanctuary of

Islam, the place from which the prophet Mohammed -- peace be upon him --

ascended to heaven, and the cradle of Jesus Christ -- peace be upon him.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, the catastrophe that befell our

people, the Palestinian people, 51 years ago and uprooted them from their

homeland and dispersed them into exile, stripping them of their rights as

humans and their dreams, and attempting to negate their existence, is one

of the greatest human tragedies witnessed by the 20th century. The

question of the Palestine refugees is the oldest and largest refugee

question in our contemporary world. We must recognize the legitimate right

of those refugees to return to their homeland, in accordance with the U.N.

resolutions.

Four million Palestinians live in exile and in refugee camps, awaiting the

time of their return to their homeland, from which they were expelled by

force. There is no way to achieve peace, stability, and security in the

Middle East without a solution for the question of the Palestine refugees

and the implementation of Resolution 194, which states their right to

return to their homeland.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, for peace to be complete, two

essential issues must occur.

First, it is necessary to reach a final settlement on all tracks -- the

Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese -- on the basis of the complete and

accurate implementation of international legitimacy, especially Security

Council Resolutions 242, 338, and 425.

The second is the provision of support and economic assistance by the

international community, sufficient for the achievement of a better

economic situation and for achieving prosperity in this region. What is

required foremost in this regard is the lifting up of the Palestinian

economy from the miserable situation within which it lies as the result of

long years of occupation, so that the building of cooperative economic

relations in the region will become possible.

Here I wish to thank the donor countries that have provided and continue

to provide important assistance to the Palestinian people and to the

Palestinian Authority. This assistance is imperative to enable us to

overcome the immense difficulties that we have been confronting since the

establishment of the Palestinian Authority, as a result of the closures and

sieges imposed by the previous Israeli government on the Palestinian

territory for long periods, which further worsened the miserable situation

of the Palestinian economy. The shadows of poverty, unemployment still

threaten our abilities and plans to reconstruct, build, and develop.

The achievement of all the above necessitates the continuation of the

constructive efforts of the United Nations, which has the permanent

responsibility towards the question of Palestine until the question is

resolved in all its aspects.

We will also remain in need of our Arab brothers, the Islamic countries

and our friends in the Non-aligned Movement. We will remain in need of the

two co-sponsors of the peace process, the United States and the Russian

Federation, and also of the European Union, China, Japan, Norway and other

friends from all places in the world.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, we must increase all our efforts

until the arrival of the new millennium in many places and spheres and not

just in the Middle East. In this respect, we have observed some positive

developments which are reassuring. There is tangible improvement in the

area of conflict resolution on the African Continent on the path towards

achieving a better economic and social development in this great continent.

There is the international attention given to Kosovo and other measures in

the Balkans.

There is also the adoption of the statute of the International Criminal

Court, as well as the additional consideration being given to the four

Geneva Conventions on the occasion of the 50th anniversary. We refer here,

with -- (inaudible word) -- to the convening of the conference of the high

contracting parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention last July regarding the

Israeli occupation of our land. There are also the follow-ups and

reviews that have been undertaken of the international conference five

years since the first convening, in addition to the preparations for

important issues such as the culture of peace and the dialogue among

civilizations.

All of the above are important developments, but perhaps not enough for us

to begin the new millennium with a new situation, particularly if we take a

look at some events and worrisome developments at several levels.

There is the continuation of the situation of siege in Iraq and the

deepening of the suffering of its brotherly people. There is also the

continuation of internal conflict in many countries, such as Afghanistan

and others. Recently there has also been the recent worrisome development

in East Timor, but I would like in particular to refer to the rise of

extreme poverty and the widening of the gap between the haves and the

have-nots on the individual level, on the level of countries and regions.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, perhaps we, the poor people of the

South, are mostly concerned by the way to bridge the gap between us and the

North, particularly in this era of globalization, of world economy, the

challenges and consequences of which we all must face. Here we must exert

serious efforts and seek creative means beyond hasty and temporary

remedies. While it is time for the South to be more prepared to strive for

this achievement, the North should also be more prepared for partnership

and more realistic and just sharing.

In addition, two economic matters. We must also strive to achieve some

necessary improvements at the political level, particularly with regard to

international political relations. It is here in which the importance of

ascribing greater significance to the United Nations where all of us

arises. This must be done in order for this body to truly become the

effective center for international political relations and the source of

international legitimacy.

It is also necessary to be wholly committed to upholding the principles

and provisions of the charter of the United Nations and international

humanitarian law, ensuring that it is applicable to all. We should apply to

others the same moral values that we accept for ourselves. There should be

one set of criteria and one standard for all classes and all places. All

this will lead to a more credible international relations system in which

the incentive to commit wrongs will be lessened, and the collective

capability to confront and prevent these wrongs will in turn be enhanced.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, I speak now with great pride of the

Bethlehem 2000 celebrations.

The Palestinian city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ -- peace

be upon him -- is where we are making preparations to celebrate the end of

the second millennium and the beginning of the third, and where the past

and the future will meet in Palestine, in a global vision of hope for all

peoples. It is a religious and spiritual occasion of high importance, not

only for people and peoples of the region, but also for the faithful around

the world and the entire international community.

I appreciate your unanimous adoption last year of the resolution

concerning this matter of great importance, and invite you to continue to

grant it your attention and consideration this year.

Here I wish to extend once more the invitation by our Palestinian people

to you and to all leaders of the world to visit us during this important

historical and religious occasion in Bethlehem, and Al-Quds Sharif,

Jerusalem, and the rest of the religious places, so that we can live

together in these fleeting times and in these immortal times that we all

cherish.

Mr. President, as I approach the end of my statement, I would like to

extend my gratitude to the committee on the exercise of the inalienable

rights of the Palestinian people and its chairman, Ambassador Imbraka (sp),

as well as the special committee to investigate Israeli practices, and to

all the staff members of this international organization working with

programs related to the question of Palestine. They all provided

immeasurable support to the just cause of the Palestinian people and have

undoubtedly contributed in pushing the peace process forward on the path

towards the achievement of a just, permanent, and comprehensive peace, a

peace of the brave, which will secure justice and freedom for the

Palestinian people and sovereignty over the land, with security and

stability and peace for all countries and peoples of this region.

Mr. President, once more I express my congratulations to you and my

gratitude to all members of the international community, reiterating to you

the appeal of Palestine, the appeal of righteousness, justice, and peace.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.