Studium

Delegation Of The Palestinian National Authority
Represented By California State University, Chico
By Bob Ray and Rhonda Pearson

The topics before the Group of 77 are: Access to Fresh Water, The Terrorist Threat in the Developing World, and South-South Cooperation. The Palestinian National Authority considers these topics of great importance and concern. The Palestinian National Authority speaks on behalf of the occupied, displaced, and oppressed people of Palestine. We look forward to joining the Group of 77 and addressing these important issues.

The Palestinian National Authority (PA) recognizes and applauds the ongoing work of the United Nations to promote and protect access to precious water resources throughout the world and in Palestine. We realize that water must serve as an element in the construction of universal peace. The People of Palestine call on Israel to negotiate a lasting peace agreement that includes Palestinian access to fresh water and other resources. Access to water resources is a serious element in resolving the question of Palestine because water directly affects the ultimate survival of every Palestinian family. The Palestinian Authority recognizes that our access to secure water resources are a fundamental basic human right guaranteed in the Declaration of Human Rights, Article 17, Section (2), which clearly states that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property,” as the Palestinian people have been since 1948. Currently, under the internationally recognized illegal occupation of Palestine, thousands of Palestinian families are suffering from severe water shortages as the Israeli government continues to inhumanely prohibit reasonable amounts of water from being transported to Palestinian cities and refugee camps. The current illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories has left the people of Palestine beholden to Israeli water interests and further prohibits the Palestinians participation in the decision-making process concerning the question of our water. The Israeli government uses water as a tool for oppression and has clearly violated A/RES/56/204 which, “calls upon Israel, the occupying power, not to exploit, to cause loss or depletion of or to endanger the natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.” The Israeli government is in violation of A/RES/48/212 that, “reaffirms the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the population of the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources, including land and water.” We desperately call attention to A/RES/17/1803 which grants the, “right of peoples and nations to permanent sovereignty over their natural wealth and resources.” We call attention to Israel’s violation of A/RES/17/1803 through the taking by force of our right and access to these resources. Israel’s continued violations of S/RES/242 and S/RES/338 clearly demonstrate these resources have been taken by force and not returned as called for the international community. The Palestinian Authority calls on the United Nations to support the Palestinian people by helping establish and secure our rightful statehood including access to water resources that have been taken by force. We urge the international community to participate in the peace process by sending an international peace-keeping force into Palestine. The Palestinian Authority acknowledges the work done in the Second World Water Forum and looks forward to working with the international community on the 2003 Third Water Forum held in Japan. We recognize that water is a scarce resource all around the world and nations must cooperate to preserve peace though sustainable uses of water. We applaud the work done by the United Nations’ Millennium Summit Article IV, and declare our resolve “to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources by developing water management strategies at the regional, national and local levels.” The people of Palestine recognize the importance of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and call attention to the plan of implementation in Article II, Section(c) involving poverty eradication. We acknowledge the need for programs to help with implementing sustainable development by increasing access to productive resources, and the protection of those resources. The Palestinian Authority calls attention to Agenda 21, Chapter 18, and calls for regional cooperation and the implementation of strategic water management plans to meet sustainable water goals for 2025.

The people of Palestine fully reject terrorism in all its forms and stand firmly against terrorism whether committed by a single person, occupation, state, or country. Our democratically elected chairman, Yasser Arafat, said at the Arab Summit in 2002, “We are against killing civilians on both sides.” He further points out that, “Israeli occupation of our land, collective punishment, and the military escalation adopted as an official policy against our people is the worse kind of terrorism.” We recognize the position of our friend Mr. Wehbe (Syria) and join him in calling for an international conference under the auspice of the United Nations to define terrorism and to distinguish between terrorism and a people's struggle for freedom. The PA calls attention to the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense as recognized by Article 51 in the Charter of the United Nations and reiterated in S/RES/1368 which created the international Counter Terrorism Committee. The Palestinian Authority firmly believes that the roots of terrorism are embedded in poverty, oppression, and injustice. We call on the developed world to support Agenda 21 and all major international agreements with regard to sustainable development with particular attention to implementing commitments to education, good governance, and natural resources. The Palestinian Authority observes that the best way to fight terrorism is by accomplishing the goals listed. In agreement with our friend in peace Mr. Kasuri (Pakistan) when he says that a “greater effort is necessary to identify those acts of terrorism which are the consequence of incorrigible fanaticism or criminal intent, and others which arise from a sense of political or economic injustice.” The Palestinian people are highly concerned that some nation-states have misused the campaign against terror to suppress peoples’ right to self-determination. We applaud our partner in peace; Mr. Tang Jiaxuan (China) for noting that, “it is imperative to foster a new security concept that emphasizes mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation toward solving hot-spot issues in places such as the Middle East that will promote international cooperation in the fight against terrorism.” The Palestinian people are subjected to the harsh realities of terrorist threats, acts, and occupation daily. We recognize the good work and just intentions of the Counter Terrorism Committee and call attention to the fact that occupation has been a terrorist weapon of mass destruction. We support the work of the quartet (Russia, United States, E.U. and the UN), and appeal to them to send international peace-keepers in the effort to enforce current and past UN resolutions with regard to Palestine. This important step will initiate peace through the securing of our borders and the alleviation of the burden of poverty through the Palestinians involvement in their economic restructuring, which is the greatest weapon in combating terrorism. We must work internationally to combat terrorism and secure a just and lasting peace for all men, women, and children in the world. We wish to see an end to the deaths of innocent people, whether it is a Christian, a Jew, or a Muslim. We recognize The Madrid Conference as a successful attempt at bringing peace to the Arab world. We call attention to A/RES/57/515 Operative (7), which “encourages Mediterranean countries to further strengthen their cooperation in combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.” The Palestinian Authority also calls attention to clearly stated UN resolutions such as: S/RES/242 and S/RES/338 which outline the United Nations’ demands and vision for settling the question of Palestine. Israel must adhere to international law and the United Nations overwhelming vision for justice in the Palestinian Territories by reverting to the 1967 borders. We call on the Security Council to send in UN peace-keepers and monitors to help resolve the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel and to ensure the return of occupied lands and refugees following an immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from all Palestinian territory. The proud, steadfast Palestinian people urge the Security Council and the UN to enforce their resolutions in order to secure peace and success for the people of Palestine and Israel. We will continue to work for peace and justice while securing our ties with the United Nations, the Arab League, and Group 77.

The Palestinian Authority fully recognizes the need for developing countries to cooperate and achieve common goals for development and betterment. The Palestinian Authority recognizes that regional South-South cooperation must continue and succeed for the question of Palestine to be answered. We call on the South to support an economic boycott of Israel as a response to Israel placing itself above international law, reneging on resolutions S/RES/242, S/RES/338, and S/RES/425, the Declaration of Human Rights, and the Fourth Geneva Conventions. We call attention to Paragraph 62 of the Ministerial Declaration of the Twenty-second Annual Meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77, which expressed deep concern at the stalled peace process in the Middle East, the persistence of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territory, and the negative affect occupation has on the regional efforts to achieve sustained economic growth and sustainable development. We call on all southern nation-states to work collectively to end the occupation in Palestine by participating in the deployment of a South-South peacekeeping force in Palestine. Palestine supports peace-keeping forces and international monitors with the goal of establishing a lasting peace and independent Palestinian statehood. The PA calls for attention and urges support for the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD). We call on African countries to unify and implement the Abuja Treaty (AEC Treaty) toward establishing an African Common Market (ACF), tariff and non-tariff systems that increase harmonization among Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the stabilization of tariff and other barriers to regional trade, and the establishment of a free trade area and a customs union. The Palestinian people support and call desperate attention to the goal of protecting the vulnerable presented in the Section VI of the Millennium Declaration (26). It is urgent that the international community take immediate steps “to strengthen international cooperation, including burden sharing in, and the coordination of humanitarian assistance to, countries hosting refugees and to help all refugees and displaced persons to return voluntarily to their homes, in safety and dignity and to be smoothly reintegrated into their societies.” The Palestinian people are profoundly grateful for the support of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and Paragraph 102 of the Final Document of the XII Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which occured on the Second and Third of September in 1998 at Durban, South Africa. The Heads of State or Government “strongly condemned ongoing brutal suppression of the legitimate aspirations for self-determination of peoples under colonial, alien domination and foreign occupation in various regions of the world.” The PA stresses the need for developing countries to cooperate in partnership to insure environmental, economic, and humanitarian priorities are met and incorporated into international trade development and agreements. The Palestinian people are highly concerned with the continued problem of HIV/AIDS and call on regional cooperation toward the implementation of the Nairobi forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, the Beijing Platform for Action, and the special session of the General Assembly entitled "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century." As called for in CN.6/2002/L.2, on behalf of the Group of 77, the PA recognizes the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and Implementing Technical Co-operation among Developing Countries (TCDC) and supports the objectives, action to be taken, and recommendations contained in the plan. The Palestinian Authority fully supports the Group of 77 Tehran Consensus - South-South Cooperation: A Common Imperative and urgently calls for “consolidating of a South-South platform, the building stronger south institutions at the global level, bridging the knowledge and information gap, the building of broad-based partnerships, and mobilizing global support for South-South cooperation.” The Palestinian people recognize the important steps made at the Group of 77 2000 South Summit in Havana and the adoption of the Havana Programme of Action and look forward to “shaping the future through the establishment of a world order that will reflect our needs and interests while also laying the foundations for a more effective system of international development cooperation."