“Together, let us reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the Palestinian people in their quest to achieve their inalienable rights and build a future of peace, justice, security, and dignity for both Palestinians and Israelis.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres
Die Vereinten Nationen erklärten im Jahr 1977 den 29. November zum Welttag der Solidarität mit dem palästinensischen Volk, um an jene UN -Resolution 181 (II) aus dem Jahr 1947 zu erinnern, mit welcher Palästina geteilt wurde.
In Wien fand heuer die offizielle Zeremonie am 29. November im UNO Center (aufgrund der derzeitigen Covid-Situation) in virtueller Form statt.
Den Vorsitz der Veranstaltung führte I.E. Botschafterin Nada Kruger, Ständige Vertreterin der Republik Namibia bei den Vereinten Nationen (Wien).
Die Botschaft des Generalsekretärs der Vereinten Nationen Antonio Guterres wurde von Dennis Thatchaichawalit, dem stellvertretenden Generaldirektor des Büros der Vereinten Nationen in Wien, vorgetragen. Gerold Vollmer, Leiter der Abteilung für den Nahen Osten und Nordafrika des österreichischen Außenministeriums, übermittelte seine Ansprache als Videobotschaft.
Folgende Organisationen gaben Erklärungen (virtuell oder vor Ort) ab:
- Liga der Arabischen Staaten (Erklärung des Generalsekretärs der LAS, Ahmed Aboul Gheit), vorgetragen von S.E. Mohamed Samir Koubaa, Leiter des Ständigen Beobachterbüros der Liga der Arabischen Staaten bei den Vereinten Nationen (Wien)
- Arabische Gruppe, vorgetragen von S.E. Sultan Salmeen Almansouri, Ständiger Vertreter des Staates Katar bei den Vereinten Nationen
- Bewegung der Blockfreien Staaten, vorgetragen von S.E. Rovshan Sadigbayli, Ständiger Vertreter der Republik Aserbaidschan bei den Vereinten Nationen
- Afrikanische Gruppe, vorgetragen von S.E. Faouzia Mebarki, Ständige Vertreterin der Demokratischen Volksrepublik Algerien
- Organisation der Islamischen Zusammenarbeit, vorgetragen von Nassima Baghli, Ständige Beobachterin der Organisation der Islamischen Zusammenarbeit in Genf
- International Progress Organization: "Palestine and the International Rule of Law", vorgetragen von Dr. Hans Köchler, Präsident IPO
Abschließend wurde die Erklärung von Mahmoud Abbas, Präsident des Staates Palästina, durch Botschafter Salah Abdel Shafi vorgetragen:
Unofficial English Translation
29 November 2021
Message of H.E. President Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine
Commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
H.E. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
H.E. Abdulla Shahid, President of the General Assembly,
H.E. H.E. Mr. Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez, President of the Security Council,
H.E. Cheikh Niang, Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the
Palestinian
people,
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Allow me at the outset, in my name and on behalf of the Palestinian people, to extend my thanks
and gratitude to all those around the world who believe in our just and historic cause and its
centrality, and to all the peoples and nations that have expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian
people and supported their legitimate struggle, bearing witness to their resilience and steadfastness
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and at its heart Jerusalem, and to the struggle and suffering
of our people in the refugee camps in our homeland and in exile.
We also express our gratitude to the overwhelming majority of States that have reiterated their
support to the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and their commitment to
international law and UN resolutions. The steadfastness of our people in their land and across the
world, and your unwavering solidarity with our people are what have kept the cause of Palestine
alive and present despite the passage of time and the succession of generations.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
The international community decades ago determined its vision for peace, and that vision is the
two-State solution on 1967 borders. This vision was enshrined in the resolutions of this
organization. United Nations resolutions have identified the terms of reference and the basis for a
settlement to the conflict, as well as the mechanisms to achieve it within a defined timeframe,
including through the adoption of Security Council resolution 2334 that aims primarily at
salvaging the two-State solution on 1967 borders. These resolutions have also determined the
obligations of the parties as well as the obligations of third parties not to recognize illegal unilateral
actions, non-assistance to such actions, to distinguish in their dealings with Israel between the
Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and the territory of the Israeli
occupying Power, to ensure respect for international law and to provide international protection
for our defenseless people.
We caution the States that have established trade or diplomatic offices in Jerusalem or those which
have concluded agreements with companies or education institutions operating in settlements or
buy products from these settlements, that all such actions are in violation of international law and
encourage the Israeli occupation authorities to persist in the commission of crimes against the
Palestinian people. We tell these countries that through such actions you contribute to the suffering
of our people as you help entrench the occupation of our land and you do not contribute to regional
peace, security and stability.
The international community has long rejected Israel’s policies of colonial annexation and
settlement expansion on our land, its violation of the rights of our people, its assaults against our
Christian and Islamic holy sites. This stance needs to be accompanied by concrete measures that
translate the international consensus on the ground and allow our people to exercise their
inalienable right to self-determination, realize their freedom and independence in their land and
achieve a just and comprehensive peace in our region. We call in this regard on all States that
believe in the two-State solution and have recognized Israel to also recognize the State of
Palestine.
Israel’s blatant rejection of the two-State solution and its insistence to entrench its occupation
rather than end it, combined with the policy of waiting for the parties to be ready for dialogue and
the achievement of peace, mean in practical terms allowing Israel, the occupying Power, to finalize
annexation through its illegal actions and its altering of the facts on the ground, which only render
the situation more complex, and the possibility of achieving the two-State solution more remote,
if not impossible.
That is why we have put forward alternatives and proposals in my speech to the General Assembly.
Israeli authorities are jeopardizing the two-State solution and entrenching a reality of racial
discrimination, a reality of apartheid, and its military forces continue to exert their control over
our people, which we cannot accept. They have to choose between the two-State solution in
accordance with UN resolutions or a one-State solution for all, as we cannot tolerate occupation
forever.
This is a defining moment. Either the international will prevails and with it the two-State solution
or we leave the two-State solution hostage to the occupier's will, which effectively means
abandoning this solution. No one can reasonably await from the Israeli occupying Power that is
advancing settlements and allowing settlers’ violence to rampage; that is persisting in its
aggression against our people in Jerusalem, in the Old City, in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, and
against our holy sites; that is besieging our people in the Gaza Strip; an occupation that kills, that
subjects our prisoners to ill-treatment, that detains the bodies of our loved ones, that destroys our
homes and forcibly displaces our children; to awaken one day and choose on its own peace. This
will not happen in the absence of serious and intensive international efforts that include deterrent
steps to put an end to such policies and crimes.
Excellencies, dear friends,
Thirty years after the Madrid Conference for Peace, we are more convinced than ever that
international auspices are a necessity to achieve peace. Some may consider that the time is not ripe
to launch ambitious international initiatives for peace or to revive the peace process because of the
rejection of one party. This compromises the prospect of a solution. My question here is the
following: what prospect for peace was there before the Madrid Conference was held? How far
apart were the parties? How long did the international community have to wait until the parties
became ready for dialogue?
We are ready to work with the international community, including the Quartet and the Security
Council, to salvage the two-State solution on 1967 borders before it is too late. We reiterate here
that our hand remains extended for a just and comprehensive peace and stress once again the
importance of convening an international conference under the auspices of the Quartet, as a
Security Council mandated body, for this very purpose, with the participation of concerned parties
to advance a genuine peace process guided by and in accordance with United Nations resolutions,
with the objective of ending the occupation and resolving all final status issues, with a package of
guarantees to ensure implementation of what has been agreed upon within a defined timeframe, so
as to achieve the just and comprehensive peace that ends the occupation, realizes the freedom of
the Palestinian people and their independence within their own State on the borders of the 4th of
June 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.
From our side we will spare no effort upholding our commitments under international law, and we
will continue working to unify our land and people and to hold presidential and legislative elections
as soon as they can be organized in Jerusalem, and to form a national unity government whereby
all components of which are committed to UN resolutions. We will exert more efforts to put our
Palestinian house in order and to achieve reconciliation and end division, and to consecrate the
rule of law and human rights, and democratic principles and the freedom of expression, and to
empower women and youth and to revive our economy. We will pursue all this in partnership with
civil society organizations and the private sector.
Excellencies, dear friends,
What Israel is seeking is to devour the maximum extent of Palestinian land with the minimum
Palestinian demography at a time where in historical Palestine, from the Mediterranean Sea to the
Jordan River, live around 13.5 million people, half of which or more are Palestinian and the other
half are Israeli Jews. Today more than ever the choice is clear and unequivocal, as stated by
President Carter: Peace or Apartheid. Can the world tolerate a new apartheid?
The Palestinian people will not tolerate oppression and injustice, and will continue to pursue their
struggle against the colonial occupation of our land and people. We will not abandon the culture
of peace that is deeply rooted within us and we will continue to pursue peaceful popular resistance.
We will not accept a future of walls, blockade, racial discrimination, oppression, hatred and
colonialism.
The question of Palestine will remain the litmus test for the credibility of the international
community and the effectiveness of the order that it established for upholding international law,
maintaining international peace and security, prohibiting the acquisition of territory by force and
supporting the right of peoples to self-determination, according to the pledges undertaken in the
resolutions and international instruments it adopted. Our people do not ask for more than what
international law has granted other peoples around the world, but will not accept less. The destiny
and fate of our people is to live in freedom and dignity on the land of Palestine and there is no power on earth that can deny them from achieving this goal.
- Link: 2021 International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People at the UN