Excellency, distinguished delegates, it is a great honour for me to address this meeting on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). I would like to express sincere appreciation to you, Mr Chairman, and to your fellow members of the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for your tireless efforts to assert the rights of a people who continue to be subjected to an illegal military occupation.

Allow me to express also our gratitude to the Kingdom of Morocco for hosting this important meeting. As we all know this is a critical time for the Palestinians because the Israeli army is intensifying its assault on the institutions and infrastructure of the Palestinian National Authority. There has never been a more appropriate occasion for governments, non-government organisations and civil society in Africa to reaffirm their solidarity with the people of Palestine. In fact the Non-Aligned Movement has taken a number of steps in solidarity with the Palestinian people since the second intifada broke out in September 2000.

Mr Chairman,

On 2 June 2002 Minister Dlamini Zuma of South Africa led a NAM Ministerial delegation to Ramallah in an expression of solidarity with President Arafat and the Palestinian people. President Arafat briefed the NAM Ministers on the latest developments, including the new restrictive measures against the Palestinian people, which are effectively resulting in the balkanisation of the occupied territory. The NAM delegation reiterated the movement’s outrage at the intensification of the illegal Israeli occupation, the killing, vast destruction, the economic strangulation and other atrocities committed against Palestine and its people; including the continuation of settlement activities in and around East Jerusalem.

The visit was an expression of the NAM’s long-standing principled position in support of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of their own independent State with East Jerusalem as its capital. The NAM has always believed that any lasting solution to the Middle East crisis can only be based on an end to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese territory and the complete withdrawal of Israeli soldiers and settlements to the 1967 borders.

South Africa has, in accordance with the mandate bestowed on it at the NAM Committee on Palestine Ministerial Meeting in Pretoria in May 2001, undertaken many initiatives to engage with all interested parties to the Middle East conflict. At the beginning of the year President Mbeki invited leading members of the Israeli and Palestinian peace camps to join him and a delegation of current and former South African ministers at a Presidential Peace Retreat at the Spier Estate near Cape Town. The meeting allowed the Israeli and Palestinian delegations to share South Africa’s experience in negotiations, peacemaking and transition to democracy. The meeting is part of an ongoing process aimed at creating a favourable environment to restart negotiations and to support the strengthening of the peace coalition in Palestine and Israel, as well as the general dynamic towards peace.

Mr Chairman,

The Non-Aligned Movement is deeply concerned that Israel seems to have developed a culture of acting with impunity when it comes to the United Nations. Israel has consistently ignored resolutions of both the Security Council and the General Assembly. Most recently Israel has failed to implement Security Council resolutions 1402 and 1403 (2002), which call for a cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Palestinian cities. The Security Council also welcomed the Secretary-General’s Decision to deploy a fact-finding team to Jenin through the adoption of resolution 1405 (2002) only to have Israel deny the team access to the occupied territories.

The NAM has repeatedly called on the Security Council to discharge its duties with respect to the maintenance of international peace and security and to ensure that Israel complies with its resolutions. Unfortunately, the Security Council has failed to take any action, which has given Israel a green light to continue with its acts of aggression against the Palestinian people.

When it became clear that the Security Council would not take action to ensure compliance with its resolutions, the NAM and Arab Group called for the reconvening of the Tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly. The result of the meeting was that the overwhelming majority of UN members insisted that the Secretary-General should prepare a report on the events at the Jenin refugee camp based on available information. The NAM looks forward to the release of the report in the near future.

Mr Chairman,

An international consensus exists on the need to establish an independent State of Palestine, living side-by-side with Israel with both States enjoying secure and internationally recognised borders. This vision of a two State solution, as enshrined in Security Council resolution 1397 (2002), and the principle of land for peace must therefore underpin any permanent settlement of the Middle East conflict.

In this regard, Mr Chairman, the Non-Aligned Movement reiterates its support for the Arab peace initiative, as well as for the ongoing work of the Quartet and other international efforts towards reducing violence and establishing a clearly defined political horizon.

We are particularly grateful to the United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, for his balanced and principled approach towards the Middle East crisis and share his conviction that the political, security and economic dimensions of the conflict must be pursued urgently, in parallel and without preconditions.

In his most recent statement to the Security Council the Secretary-General alerted us to the fact that two-thirds of the population of the Gaza Strip and half of the residents of the West Bank now live below the poverty line. These startling figures attest to the devastating impact that Israel’s military incursions and acts of collective punishment are having on the Palestinian people. These repressive measures by Israel constitute a gross violation of international humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention and will serve only to ferment further hatred and resentment against Israel by the Palestinian population.

Mr Chairman,

The NAM deplores the Israeli government's decision to seize Arab land in retaliation to the most recent suicide attacks and to construct a wall around the West Bank. Such provocative actions threaten to further escalate the conflict and will not bring peace and security to Israel. Only a politically negotiated settlement acceptable to both parties and under international supervision will bring peace. It is therefore the NAM’s belief that the UN should remain seized with this issue and that the presence of a credible, multinational monitoring mechanism is required on the ground.

In conclusion I would like to thank the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and in particular the Kingdom of Morocco, for supplying the resources and support that have made this meeting possible.