Saudi representative at the European headquarters of the United Nations in Geneva, Dr Abdulwahab Abdulsalam Attar, said that he hopes the peace process in the Middle East will enable the Palestinian people to gain their legitimate rights, adding that the question of Palestine is still a major source of concern at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
Speaking on behalf of the Arab Group during a meeting currently in progress in Geneva by the Commission on the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination, its application to peoples under colonial or alien occupation, and the situation in Palestine and Arab occupied territories, Dr Attar expressed his hope that resolutions adopted by the Commission on the Palestinian question would mitigate the terrible suffering to which the Palestinian people are subjected. He said that the Israeli occupation had deprived the people of Palestine of the most basic, internationally recognized right to establish an independent state with Al-Quds (Jerusalem) as their capital.
Dr Attar said that the Wall that Israel is currently building is a Wall of racial segregation that further complicates the issue that had been extensively discussed in the Commission and other international forums for many decades. He condemned the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, which violates of the rights of the Palestinian people, disregarding international norms, including the Fourth Geneva Convention; violations aggravated by the construction of a separation wall, which hinders the creation of a Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital.
The peace initiative launched by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, in Beirut in 2002, and adopted by the Arab Summit, showed that there is a sincere will to resolve the conflict. Israel has thus far rejected all peaceful initiatives to overcome the problem, which is deplorable, Dr Attar said.
The wall that Israel is currently building for purposes of racial segregation on Palestinian land that was manifestly usurped by force, clearly illustrated not only the extent of the violations committed by Israel but also its expansionist intentions, he said. The wall also further complicates the question that has been discussed extensively by the Commission and in international forums for many decades. Israel is attempting to deprive the Palestinian people of their right to exercise self-determination and establish their independent state by implementing its unilateral segregation plan on the basis of the borders demarcated by the separation wall, constructed within Palestinian territory, he said.
However, neither Israel’s attempts to disregard UN resolutions and the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, nor its ongoing murder of innocent civilians, would induce the Palestinian people to relinquish their right to establish their sovereign independent state, he concluded.
Source: SPA
