Kuwait renews its commitment to Palestinian cause

In a speech at the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East on Wednesday, Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi, the Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations, said that the State of Kuwait, which is about to join the Security Council as a non-permanent state member for the period 2018-2019, would like to stress the importance of making practical progress that would be led by the concerned international authorities and the Security Council, in particular the five permanent state members as well as the Quartet on the Middle East and international partners.

He added that these efforts should focus on setting a clear timeframe to complete the negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides in order to reach a two-state solution. This would result in the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on the 4 June, 1967 borders.

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He also mentioned that for more than 50 years ago and since the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, we have only witnessed the continuous series of violations of the most basic rules of international law and Israel’s continuous non-adherence to its legal obligations that are defined by international covenants and treaties.

Al-Otaibi explained that the illegal Israeli policies and plans, which aim at judaizing the Holy City, distorting its Arabic identity, disarranging its demographic structure and isolating it from its Palestinian surroundings, are still continuing, along with the expansion of illegal and illegitimate settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

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He stressed that these violations come despite all the Security Council resolutions over the past years that condemned the Israeli practices and affirmed its illegality and illegitimacy, the latest of which is Resolution No. 2334. Al-Otaibi added that in contrast, the international community is unfortunately unable to force the occupying power to implement its resolutions. What is more troubling is the occupying power’s disrespect of the Security Council and its resolutions, which are supposed to be binding in accordance with Article 25 of the Charter of the United Nations.

He also stressed that the State of Kuwait rejects all the unilateral Israeli steps, which aim at changing the facts on the ground and undermining the two-state solution on the 1967 borders, and insists that the desired peace must begin with the end of occupation, which has completed its 50th year. This should be based on the resolutions of international legitimacy, the principle of the land for peace, the road map and the Arab peace initiative adopted by all Arab countries at the 2002 Beirut summit.