Khalifa: Time now to act on just peace for Palestinians

New York: The UAE has expressed hope that international political initiatives undertaken at the Annapolis peace conference will push the peace process ahead in line with the legitimate international resolutions and Arab peace initiatives.

A comprehensive, permanent and just peace solution will see an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and Arabs and Israel live side by side in peace and security. This was expressed in a message of solidarity sent by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan yesterday to Paul Badji of Senegal, the current chairman of the United Nations Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Shaikh Khalifa sent the message to mark the Palestinian solidarity Day observed by UN.

In his message, the President thanked the committee for its efforts to support the Palestinian issue at regional and international bodies. He said that the Palestinian Solidarity Day personifies the continuing support of the international community to the Palestinian struggle to end the Israeli occupation, gain independence and establish the state of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.

"Although 60 years have passed after the UN passed its resolution No. 181 dividing Palestine into two separate states, Arab and Israeli, and in spite of all the initiatives, deals, international political and diplomatic moves, which were made during the last six decades, Israel still continues to occupy the Palestinian state.

"It also perpetrates the worst war crimes, carry out killings, arrests, closure of utilities, putting the people of Palestine into starvation in organised ways, isolating and besieging them. Above all this, Israel imprisons thousands of Palestinians and systematically destroys the Palestinian institutions. Moreover they cut off food supplies, power and fuel for the Palestinian people in violation of all the laws of human justice in the most arrogant way the humanity has seen during the past centuries, the message read.

"Israel's policies of racial discrimination, ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, its construction of separating walls in the deep of West Bank and its continuous violation of all the international rules and resolutions and the abuse of the Islamic and Christian holy sites; all these point out to the enmity of Israeli government and its plans to force tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes."

It also proves the intentions of Israel to widen its occupation on the Arab lands which it usurped using military power; the message said.

This made all the regional and international peace initiatives become ineffective during the last two decades. It also continues, even until today, to pose threats to all peace efforts of the international community as it meets in Annapolis in quest for a permanent peace, Shaikh Khalifa said in his message sent to UN.

Shaikh Khalifa said international community's inability to stop Israel from violating international day, the UN charter, the international legitimacy resolutions and the international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Convention for 1949, "have, not only increased the feelings of despair, disappointment and violence among the Palestinian people, but also among all peoples of the region. Therefore, the UAE calls on the international community, particularly the UN and the Quartette members, to provide an appropriate mechanism to protect the Palestinian people".

Pressure on Israel

"The UAE also calls for exerting political and economic pressure on Israel to immediately stop its aggressive and colonial activities in the Palestinian and Arab territories."

We affirm that peaceful, just and permanent settlement of the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East, would not achieved unless Israel has fulfilled its all obligations, starting by ceasing its blockade and aggressive policy against the Palestinians, dismantling settlements, ending its occupation of the Palestinian territories and respecting their unity, including East Jerusalem."

Shaikh Khalifa also called for resuming the final settlement negotiations with the Palestinian National Authority, specially the matters related to the return of Palestinian refugees, defining the status of occupied Jerusalem and Palestinian-Israeli borders demarcation, based on the international legitimacy principles such as resolutions 242 and 338 and the Arab peace initiative approach, launched during the Arab summit in Beirut 2002 which calls for immediate Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian and Arab territories occupied in 1967, including occupied Jerusalem and Golan Heights.

Shaikh Khalifa renewed UAE's support to the Palestinian people and to their struggle to regain freedom and legitimate rights, including the right for self determination and independence.

"We hope that the optimistic mood which prevailed during the Annapolis peace conference would contribute in ending the stalemate in the Middle East peace process on all Arab-Israeli tracks, in accordance with the international legitimacy's resolutions, the road map and the Arab peace initiative, to reach a peaceful, just and comprehensive settlement and to establish the independent Palestinian state with [occupied] Jerusalem as its capital, to live side by side with Israel," he said.