Ambassador and Charge d'Affaires of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the UN Gholamhossein Dehghani’s address is a general and urgent call on addressing the Palestinians’ suffering in a ‘stagnant peace process’ where the fate of an ‘entire people’ had been mired on a vicious circle of being killed and homelessness in the hands of a government, irresponsible and bullying.
The address before the Security Council on “Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question” was delivered to the UN General Assembly by Iran’s envoy:
Mr. President,
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), and convey the Movement’s appreciation to Uruguayan Presidency for convening this open debate at this critical juncture for the Palestinian people and the Middle East. I also thank the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his briefing.
We regret that the Palestinian people have begun yet another year under Israel’s belligerent occupation. We are fast approaching the 49th year of this illegal and brutal occupation that is causing so much suffering to Palestinian civilians and further inflame tensions and provoke more anger and frustration with far-reaching and serious consequences for the peace and security in the Middle East and beyond. The dangerous prevailing circumstances reaffirm that this issue must remain a priority for the Security Council, in line with its Charter duties, and that action is urgently required to halt the deterioration, protect the Palestinian civilian population and salvage the prospects for peace.
Yet the Security Council continues to be paralyzed and, as the international community fails to hold Israel accountable, the situation in the occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, continues to deteriorate at an alarming rate as a result of Israel’s crimes and violations. NAM, once again urges the international community, particularly the Security Council, to take a decisive and historic step towards ending the occupation of the Palestinian land and paving the ground for fulfillment of the rights and independence of the Palestinian people and a just and peaceful settlement to the conflict. The status quo is unsustainable and we cannot accept another year of stagnation in the political process and continued suffering and hopelessness in the lives of an entire people.
Reflecting on the current period, NAM deplores the depraved killing and injuring of so many innocent civilians that has inflicted so much loss and grief among Palestinian families, as well as the occupying power’s continued demolition of Palestinian homes and seizure of land, depriving Palestinians of their property and shelter. Such acts of collective punishment constitute blatant breaches of Fourth Geneva Convention. Moreover, the humanitarian disaster, deliberately inflicted on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip by the occupying Power, remains without redress. Since the Israeli military aggression in the summer of 2014, nearly 100,000 Palestinians remain displaced and homeless as the illegal Israeli blockade continues to obstruct the reconstruction of the thousands of damaged and destroyed homes; and socio-economic conditions continue to deteriorate as Gaza continues to be suffocated by the blockade and isolated from the rest of Palestine and the entire world. The situation of youth in Gaza is especially critical as they hope and opportunity are absent, with over 63% youth unemployment, as reported by the World Bank, with all of the attendant social, economic and psychological consequences in this regard.
Mr. President,
The Security Council must also act to address Israel’s ongoing illegal colonization of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in line with international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention and the Council’s own resolutions. How can the Council remain silent as Israel continues deliberately and systematically its settlement and wall construction and confiscation and de facto annexation of Palestinian land, including the most recent, namely: Israel’s announced intention to declare 370 acres in the West Bank as so-called “state land”, globally condemned as violating international law? These and other systematic violations, including demolition of homes, forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, the arrest and detention of Palestinians, including children, and incessant violence, terror and provocations by Israeli settlers and extremists, including at sensitive religious sites, particularly Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied East Jerusalem, have persisted unabated, worsening the extremely-fragile situation on the ground, and must be addressed immediately and seriously to avert further destabilization and salvage the two-State solution based on the pre-1967 borders. It is unacceptable that Israeli impunity persists without consequence. There can be no justifications for such criminality and time is past due to act, in line with United Nations resolutions, international law and our moral responsibilities towards the question of Palestine.
NAM position, as reflected in its Summit and Ministerial Declarations over the decades, vis-à-vis the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is crystal clear: it is high time to end this abhorrent Israeli occupation and impunity that has brought so much suffering and that has caused so many crises, sown so much instability and anger throughout the Middle East, and continues to undermine regional and global peace and security. We call upon the Security Council to act in accordance with its Charter duties, its resolutions and the applicable provisions of international law that provide the solution to the conflict.
At a time when the Palestinian people are facing rising Israeli aggression and rapidly declining hope in the possibility for peace and justice, the Non-Aligned Movement seizes this opportunity to reaffirm its longstanding solidarity with the Palestinian people, recognizing their decades of resilience despite so much suffering and injustice, and reiterates its support for the realization of their legitimate national aspirations and inalienable rights, including to self-determination and freedom in their independent State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as well as a just solution for the plight of the Palestine refugees in accordance with resolution 194 (III).
Mr. President,
Lebanon continues to suffer from consecutive Israeli violation of its borders and incursion against its territory, followed by subsequent years of occupation and aggression. Unfortunately, Israel still continues to violate Lebanese airspace, intensifying its incursions over Lebanon. Such activities are a blatant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and the relevant international resolutions, in particular resolution 1701 (2006). The provisions of that resolution should be implemented in a manner that guarantees the consolidation of the foundations of stability and security in Lebanon and prevents Israel from undertaking its daily violations of Lebanese sovereignty.
With regard to the occupied Syrian Golan, the Movement condemns all the measures taken by Israel, the occupying Power, to alter the legal, physical and demographic status of the occupied Syrian Golan, which have intensified after the outbreak of Syrian crisis. The Non-Aligned Movement demands once again that Israel abide by resolution 497 (1981) and withdraw fully from the occupied Syrian Golan to the borders of 4 June 1967, in implementation of resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973).
I thank you, Mr. President.
Reply to Israel
Let me, Mr. President, add a few words in response to the baseless statement made by the representative of the Israeli regime against my Government. He accused Iran of destabilizing the region and he did so as the representative of a regime that has been a major root cause of instability in the region for more than 6 decades; a regime that the continuation of its policy of occupation and its criminal policies and practices in the occupied territories have always been one of the major root causes that drive people towards violent extremism.
It is also ironic that a regime that threatens its neighbors and is the only obstacle in the way to establish a nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East calls on this Council to be brave and vigilant about Iran's peaceful nuclear program. This is nothing other than a new sabotaging line that they undertake following their resounding defeat in their all-out exercise to derail the talks between Iran and the 5+1 for a nuclear deal.
SH/PR