Statement made by Ambassador George Saliba, Permanent Representative of Malta at the United Nations, during the Special Emergency Session of the UN General Assembly on Palestine

Mr. President,

The convening of this emergency special session is in itself a reminder of the commitment of the international community to international peace and security. It reaffirms the understanding of the permanent responsibility of this organisation to the question of Palestine and of even more crucial importance it underpins the desire of the international community to re-instil confidence into the Middle East peace Process.

Mr. President,

The item under consideration has been the focus of attention for some time. The different organs of this Organisation have grappled with it. Member States of the United Nations have pronounced themselves on the difference occasions and demonstrated their concern with the developments in the Middle East. Notwithstanding such pronouncements, activities on the ground have continued to evolve.

The events which have edged us to convene this session cannot be viewed in a vacuum. The implications are not to be assessed solely as events impacting on a particular site or region. It is the thwarting of efforts to build peace and actions which threaten to derail a recently rooted process, that will have to be assessed by the international community.

The Middle East has been blessed with a hope of a different future, one in which communities and generations can live together in confidence and mutual trust. We witnessed positive developments with the recent Hebron Agreements as a signal of the Parties' willingness to build peace.

The construction of new housing units in the Jabel Abu Ghneim area of East Jerusalem stands in stark contradiction to this spirit and is deplorable. It has led to a spiral of violence and reversed a delicate process of confidence-building that had until recently become the hope on which communities of Palestinians and Israelis had envisaged a future.

Actions that seek to change the physical character, demographic composition, institutional structure or status of the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem can be interpreted as contravening relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions as well as the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. The status of East Jerusalem remains subject to the principles enshrined in Security Council resolution 242 notably the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force.

The Government of Malta joins the international community in calling for the immediate and full cessation of the construction in Jabal Abu Ghneim and other Israeli settlement activities and illegal measures and actions, in and around Jerusalem, that militate in one way or another, as a result of fact or through perception, against the general thrust of the peace process.

Mr. President

As stated by my Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. George Vella during the Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference held in Malta last week, "The Middle East Peace process is passing through a most critical and delicate phase". He expressed that whereas the Euro-Mediterranean partnership was not to intrude directly in the peace process, it could contribute to its progress in "finding how best to act in the spirit of the Barcelona understanding". It is the hope of my Government that contacts made and understanding reached during this event, between the political leaders of the parties concerned, will help to instil a basis for the renewal of the Peace Process in the Middle East.

Mr. President

The respect for the principles of international law and those to which the Parties have agreed to in the Peace Process are crucial if a just and long-lasting solution to the question of Palestine is to be achieved. Malta joins others who have called on the Leaders in the region and beyond for a re-commitment to the objectives of peace. It is through the committed courage of leaders that peoples may come to reap the benefits of peace. A peace which we augur can become a reality for generations of Israelis and Palestinians who have lived under the shadow of mistrust for far too long.