Nov 13 , 2015
News
Pakistan points out threat of third intifada, demands viable Palestinian state
Dr Maleeha says mental, physical persecution of young people to engender more violence, aggravate sense of despondency
APP
NEW YORK – Underscoring the forecast of a third and more intense intifada, Pakistan called for a settlement of the Middle East conflict through an independent, contiguous and viable State of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.“We believe that durable peace can only be achieved through political solutions, not through heavy-handed tactics and use of live ammunition against unarmed civilians,” Ambassador Dr Maleeha Lodhi, permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, told the General Assembly's Fourth Committee, which deals with special political decolonisation matters.
Speaking in a debate on the report of the Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories, she stressed the need for an immediate end to the Israeli blockade of Gaza, now in its eighth year. She expressed alarm over rising incidents of violence. “A third and more intense intifada is being forecast,” she said.
Dr Maleeha noted that Israel continued with its policy of non-cooperation with the Special Committee and persisted in refusing access to international bodies seeking to investigate and verify the situation on the ground. She said that innocent Palestinian civilians, including women and children, continued to suffer brutal repression. “We cannot continue to ignore the long struggle for self-determination of the Palestinians,” she said.
She said that a long-term solution would also require the withdrawal of occupation forces from all Arab lands, including from Lebanon and the Syria’s Golan Heights. The ambassador said the devastation of Gaza had exacerbated the suffering of the Palestinian people and the illegal eight-year-old blockade was seriously hampering rebuilding efforts. She said that the practice of meting out collective punishment also continued, despite its obvious futility.
The tragic case of Abdel Rahman, a 13-year-old ninth grader at a UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) school who had been shot dead by Israeli forces on October 5 was just the latest grim reminder of heavy-handed practices by the occupation forces, the envoy said. “New discriminatory legislation targeting Palestinian minors imposed a mandatory minimum penalty of four years' imprisonment for stone-throwing,” she said.
Such mental and physical persecution of Palestinian youth would only engender more violence and aggravate their sense of despondency, the ambassador warned.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk