Addressing the General Assembly session, HH the Emir said that all efforts to reach just and durable peace in the Middle East had stumbled because of Israel’s “obstinate position”.
“As the Palestinian cause has hit a cul-de-sac and the Palestinian people continue their suffering under occupation, and as their human rights continue to be violated, we urge all the members of the UN to listen to the voice of right and respond to the Palestinians’ legitimate request for a Palestinian state with full membership at the organisation, on an equal footing with other people in order to prepare the way for the realisation of peace in our region.”
The Emir reiterated the necessity for updating and developing the order of the UN to cope with the new global conditions and changes “which are not linked by interests alone but also through the ruling principles of the civilised behaviour side by side with the unity of interests”.
He said it was a great pleasure to address the General Assembly this year at a time “when it is headed by one of the sons of the State of Qatar, Nasser bin Abdulaziz al-Nasr”.
He thanked al-Nasr’s predecessor, Joseph Deiss, for his hard work during his presidency of the previous session. He congratulated Ban Ki-moon “for the trust that all member states expressed in him by reappointing him secretary-general of the United Nations for a second term”.
“I come to you from a region abound with great expectations and which is navigating through strong currents, a region whose people are calling for reform so that they would achieve their goals and assume their responsibilities and take their place in partnership of the future of mankind with all its challenges and prospects for humanity,” he said.
“We have been aware of our role from the very beginning and we have acted within its boundaries,” he noted.
The Emir pointed out that the State of Qatar had always championed the promotion of dialogue among cultures and civilisations and the strengthening and consolidating of relations among people.
“We are for the consolidation of rapprochement among powers, on the basis of the principles of right and justice, within the framework of rightful co-operation governed by principles, laws and international charters and covenants that have been developed by humanity over the centuries to serve a better future of the world.”
In reference to the Arab Spring, he said that it had placed everybody with heavy responsibilities to assume and with positions that they have to take.
“We were among those who have made their choice. On the one hand we have always had a clear policy with regard to the rules governing our Arab, regional and international relations; rules that are based on understanding, reconciliation and harmony among peoples and nations.
“On the other, we, as well as others, have been unable to turn a deaf ear or a blind eye to the calls of the wounded seeking help from near and far, against an entrenched oppression,’’ he said.
“For our part, we have exhausted each and every means until the only option left for us was to hear and sympathise, to see and help. We knew that that was not a solution, but rather an emergency in the context of one of the most critical causes of the Arab world today, and by that I mean the cause of ‘change’.”
He said: “We know that our choices of principle are stable and strong. We also know that our subsequent response to the prevailing situations stems from urgency, and that it is a situation that needs to be settled on the basis of the rules and charters that govern international relations in modern times; a situation that should shift from the responsibility of individually-acting states to the responsibility of an international community acting in accordance with its charters.”
He recalled that Qatar had previously expressed its views at the UN that the United Nations system needed to evolve in line with situations that reflected the realities of a new world, “a world not linked with interests alone, a world where it is imperative to have an agreement that confirms the principles that govern civilised behaviour, while preserving the unity of interests”.
HE the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al- Thani , HE the Deputy Premier and Chief of the Emiri Diwan Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah as well as members of the official delegation accompanying HH the Emir also attended the 66th UN General Assembly session.
