"Slicing and separating" occupied Palestinian Territory turning it into isolated reservations, impeding quest for statehood

VIENNA, 27 June -- The United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace today heard that Israeli settlements and the related network of “slicing and separating” the Occupied Palestinian Territory, political ambiguity, and the collapse of the Palestinian private sector under the “hammer of sanctions”, were blocking attainment of Palestinian statehood.

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Before turning to the first plenary discussion this afternoon, NORMA GOICOCHEA ESTENOZ (Cuba) said that Israel, instead of implementing the resolutions of the General Assembly and Security Council, was designing new policies that were far from contributing to a just and lasting peace in the region. Those policies perpetuated the status quo and nullified the efforts undertaken by the Palestinian people for decades. As long as the Government of Israel had the support of the United States Government, Israel would maintain its attitude of open defiance to the United Nations resolutions, as well as the norms of international law.

She said that, immediately after the 25 January Palestinian elections, Israel, the United States and Europe had exercised their “typical two-faced morality”, denying the validity of the elections and implementing a cruel financial blackmail against the Palestinian people. Today, they were deprived of nearly $1 billion per year, which was seriously eroding their development, the payment of the salaries to public officers and the provision of direct food aid for the population. Freezing the funds was creating a humanitarian crisis of unpredictable proportions in the illegally Occupied Territory. Essential services, such as health, education and the provision of food, were seriously affected.

The Israeli people had also been victim of their Government’s policies, she said. It should not be forgotten that important sectors of the Israeli population did not support the actions against the Palestinian people. Instead, they were developing efforts in favour of peace and the recognition of Palestinian rights. But, Israel’s State terrorism, supported and financed by the United States, and Israel’s illegal occupation, were the real causes of the conflict. It would not be possible to attain a lasting peace in the Middle East, until the illegal Israeli occupation came to an end and the Palestinian people could exercise their right to independence.

(http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/gapal1013.doc.htm)