Opening remarks by H.E. Mr. Cheikh Niang, Permanent Representative of Senegal to
the United Nations and Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable
Rights of the Palestinian People
2020
International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East
8
December 2020
Excellencies,
Mr.
Secretary-General,
Madam Under
Secretary-General,
Dear
Colleagues,
At the outset, on behalf of the Committee on the Exercise of the
Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, I would like to commend the
Department of Global Communications for organizing this year’s panels on the “Israel-Palestine conflict and challenges of the
new decade” (on 8 December), and - “A tale of two narratives:
misinformation and disinformation” (on 9 December).
Through its General Assembly
mandated advocacy and awareness raising work on the Question of Palestine, our
Committee disseminates and shares information with partners and the public at
large using various tools. The Committee’s social media presence includes
Twitter @UNISPAL, the Facebook page of the Committee @UN.palestinianrights,
Instagram, and its YouTube channel. Its website at www.un.org/unispal, contains
all information on our Committee’s activities and also hosts the UN Information
System on the question of Palestine”- the world’s largest online repository of
UN documents on the Question of Palestine which features over 36,000 documents.
In the course of delivering on its
mandate, the Committee faces many challenges, including that of countering
disinformation on the question of Palestine.
For this reason, we see working together with media as an integral and
important element of the Committee’s work.
The year 2020 will be remembered as
one in which humanity faced a common enemy: the coronavirus pandemic which has
changed our way of life, including how we communicate and interact with each
other. It has affected some far more
than others and especially the Palestinian people.
The burden of
endless occupation and an increasingly fragile economy has pushed to the brink the
public health system in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem
and the Gaza Strip. These are times when the Palestinian people need not only expressions
of solidarity, but also our empathetic action.
And yet, we find that there is
barely adequate coverage of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
in the international media. Media
attention in recent years has been diverted to other conflicts in the region or
has tended to focus on some aspects of the conflict, ignoring the peaceful
efforts of millions of Palestinians to live a life of dignity. We are also seeing incessant efforts to
distract the media from the fact that the only route to peace in the Middle
East is through peaceful resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The responsibility of the media is
not limited to raising awareness and informing public opinion. The media also
plays a critical role in documenting history in progress. As we stand at the
threshold of a new decade, I urge all participants here from the media to
reflect if they are documenting history objectively or are buying into
disinformation on the question of
Palestine.
Dear colleagues,
I urge you in the media fraternity
to seriously consider how history will judge our generation if we were to wrong
the Palestinian people twice over – first by standing aside while their rights
are denied, and then by misreporting or not
reporting what is happening. This would be tantamount to a miscarriage of
justice.
We all have a duty to recommit
ourselves to reporting truth, and to speak truth to power. And the truth is
that General Assembly resolution 181 (ii) of 1947 called for carving two States
out of mandate Palestine. Yet, more than
73 years later, one of the States – the Palestinian State, is yet to be established.
The truth is that since 1967, millions of Palestinians have found themselves
living under siege on their own land or as refugees unable to return home. They are constantly facing violations of their
human rights, confiscation of their land and property, and constant affronts to
their dignity. International law is
clear on the fact that the occupation and settlement by Israel of Palestinian
land is illegal and that it must end. We urge colleagues in the media to never
lose sight of these truths.
I sometimes hear friends in the
media say that there are always two sides to a story. I could not agree more.
The occupation has extracted a heavy social and economic price on Israeli
citizens too. This is yet another reason
why the untenable situation in Israel and Palestine must end. The illegal
blockade on Gaza, now entering its 13th year, is neither legally
sustainable nor morally justifiable. The unrestrained plans for settlement
expansion and construction amount to blatant disregard for international
opinion by Israel as the occupying Power. Hence, it is time for us to recognize
that the time for finger-pointing has passed. It is incumbent on all of us to not let
international readers and viewers lose sight of what is happening in Palestine,
to report accurately what is taking place, and ensure a truthful historical
account.
The President of the State of Palestine has called for an
international peace conference in 2021 to resolve the question of Palestine.
The Committee fully supports this proposal. We would vastly appreciate your
efforts to positively highlight the ongoing attempts to encourage the parties
to reach a just and lasting solution to the question of Palestine, including by
holding of the conference.
The road ahead is not easy. What we
want for the Palestinian people is exactly what we want for any our own people
– a life of peace, justice and dignity. I look forward to the support of media
in this endeavor and wish the seminar all success.
Thank you.
![THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
-
MESSAGE TO UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL MEDIA SEMINAR ON PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Geneva, 3 November 2022
[[MORE]]I am pleased to greet the 2022 United Nations International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East.
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