DOHA/ New York: Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani yesterday called on the international community to act decisively to end the continuing Israeli occupation in Palestine saying the options are narrowing for Israel.
“Israel has either to go for the two-state solution or to opt for establishing a system of apartheid. And does Israel really think that it could maintain a system of apartheid in the 21st century?” the Emir asked, giving a speech at the General Debate of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly.
The Emir, calling for an immediate end to the bloodshed in Syria, pointed out that the Syrian regime continues to violate the redlines, “but those who demarcated those lines have not felt provoked to raise a finger.”
“Israel’s leaders may believe that they succeeded in their endeavour. But in fact they have failed to resolve any issue. The Palestinian people are more devoted to their rights than ever. Besides, what could Israel do with the millions of Palestinians living in their own land and are increasing in number and resourcefulness?,” asked the Emir.
The Government of Israel has not only rejected the resolutions of international legitimacy and the comprehensive Arab peace initiative, but seeks to impose a fait accompli through long-term plans to build settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem. It has founded its occupation on discrimination and racial segregation, and established two legal systems under its sovereignty — one for the occupiers and the other for those languishing under the occupation.
“The Security Council bears a special responsibility to impose international legitimacy and consensus regarding the negotiations on the basis of the two-state solution, including the establishment of a Palestinian State with its capital in East Jerusalem, on the borders of 1967,” said the Emir.
Coming to the Syrian crisis, the Emir said: “Here we meet again more than five years after the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, and in the aftermath of the destruction of the majority of Syrian cities by the regime. As a result the numbers of refugees have doubled, and seeking refuge has become trans-continental. Syria now is importing terrorists and sectarian organisations and militias, which pose a regional and international threat.”
Theoretically, the majority of the countries of the world stood by the Syrian people, but practically they were left alone supported only by some loyal friends.
“Red lines were set for the regime who has violated them, yet those who demarcated those lines have not felt provoked to raise a finger. The red line continued to be shifted until the regime became aware of the fact that there is no ceiling for what it could perpetrate without accountability,” said the Emir.
It is true that violent radical forces, which have nothing to do with the objectives of the Syrian revolution, have entered the Syrian arena and refused to fly its banner, and fought against the rebels more than against the regime.
There were many violations, but these phenomena, which marred the revolution could not be understood in isolation from the barbaric policy of repression applied by the Syrian regime and the inability of the international community to protect the civilians against the chemical weapons, bomb barrels and policy of torture.
Emir said that Daria City has presented an epitome of the peaceful revolution which started by tossing flowers to the soldiers. But after major massacres such as the one (on August 25, 2012) which claimed hundreds of lives, mostly women and children, the city was forced, like other cities, to defend itself.
Henceforth, Daria was reeling under non-stop shelling and starvation siege, although it has not been controlled by any radical or Takfiri organization, and its revolutionaries have not committed any violations.
“So why its inhabitants ended up just being watched by the international community while being subjected to displacement in a blatant demographic cleansing process? Why no warning was issued against its shelling and depopulation similar to the warning against the bombing of other forces in Hasaka province recently?,” asked the Emir.
“Putting an end to this humanitarian disaster has become a political and moral necessity that imposes a historical responsibility on the Security Council to stop the bloodshed of the Syrians by halting the barbaric bombing and blockade on cities - staged under the slogan “starvation or kneeling” - and to repatriate the displaced, and to take measures for the resumption of the political process within the framework of the Security Council Resolution (2254) and on the basis of the Geneva (1) decisions, which stipulate forming a transitional ruling body with full powers to meet the aspirations of the Syrian people and maintain the unity and sovereignty of Syria, on the basis of equal rights for all citizens of Syria, without discrimination on the basis of faith, creed, ethnicity, and race,” he added.
The Emir called for a constructive dialogue to find solutions for the crises facing the Gulf region.
“Dialogue between countries must be based on the principles of good neighbourliness, mutual respect and non-interference in the internal affairs, in order to reach the desired results,” said the Emir.
Regarding Yemen, the Emir reiterated Qatar’s support for the return of legitimacy as the only way to ensure its security, unity and stability.
“No doubt that the negligence of the international community in implementing the Security Council resolutions, especially resolution 2216, had given some political forces in Yemen the opportunity to carry out coup-related actions that hampered the desired political solution which achieves the interests of the Yemeni people in unity and stability…..We will continue our support for the task of the Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Yemen, and the international efforts for resuming the political consultations among the Yemeni parties to reach a political settlement according to the Gulf initiative, the outputs of the national dialogue and the Security Council Resolution 2216,” said the Emir.
Although the situation in Libya is still turbulent, “we look forward to restoring stability through the efforts of the Presidential Council and the present government backed by the international community and to confronting terrorism and tackling its serious effects.”
“We are surprised that some countries have supported forces that reject the international solution and act to thwart the security council’s resolution by force despite the fact that the resolution provides for imposing sanctions on such forces. And at the time when the forces which have placed themselves under the authority of the Presidential Council are engaged in combating terrorism, other forces that reject the international solution took advantage of the situation to occupy oil export terminals against the backdrop of a tight-lipped world. Is this a proper way to encourage the Libyans to combat terrorism?,” said the Emir.
The Emir said, the fight against terrorism must not be confined to the security dimension, which per se is essential, but must also go far beyond that to promote the values of tolerance, culture of plurality and dialogue, while taking into consideration the right of the peoples to resist occupation.
“For the education of the youth and mobilization of the communities against terrorism to gain credibility, we must be diligent in defining terrorism and standing against it. This definition must not be altered depending on the identity of the perpetrator or the victim or on account of a certain political interest. We saw cases when a certain organization had been branded as terrorist when it was a political foe, but later the same organization was embraced when it suddenly became a temporary ally,” said the Emir.
“There must not be a discrimination between the lives of civilians whether in Istanbul or Gaza, New York or Aleppo, etc. There is no life that is more qualitatively valuable than another life. The double standards handling of this phenomenon or linking it to a certain faith or culture, or absolving governments who practice terrorism from being described as terrorist, would complicate the efforts to uproot the phenomena and reinforce the pretexts used by the terrorists,” he added.
In this respect, one of the important challenges that is incumbent upon all of us to counter at the moment, is the one related to protecting refugees, said the Emir.
“ That challenge imposes cooperation and joint action on us in order to overcome the causes of refuge, that is the most important…Our developmental and relief contribution has reached out to more than 100 countries around the world, and we are still coordinating with the governmental and non-governmental agencies to provide developmental and relief aid. Qatar supports over ten million children around the world in addition to promoting the potentiality of 1.2 million Arab youth to empower them to be active and productive in their communities. In the last five years, since 2011, the value of assistance provided by the State of Qatar has increased three folds to reach QR13bn,” he added.
The Emir said, it is no longer possible to ignore the weakness of the United Nations’ legal and institutional system and its inability in many cases to apply standards of justice and fairness to the mechanisms of its functioning. “However, there is a persistent recurring pattern that marks all these crises, and that is the selectivity of the Security Council in addressing the problems, especially when it comes to the use of force by countries in international relations,” he added.
Later, Emir left for Los Angeles for several days’ working visit.
QNA
