Reaffirming its firm support to the Palestinian cause, Pakistan on Thursday underscored the need for implementing relevant UN Security Council resolutions to pave the way for a sovereign state of Palestine, living side-by-side in peace with all its neighbours.
“We again call upon the Security Council to transform its words into resolute action,” Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, told the 15-member body, the world body’s power centre.
The Council, he said, should ensure mechanism for implementation of its decades-old decisions on Israel and Palestine. “Otherwise it will further undermine its own credibility,” he said while participating in an open debate on the Middle East.
“While we deliberate endlessly in the Security Council,” the Palestinians continue to suffer at the “cruel hands” of an occupation force.
Departing from his text, the Pakistan ambassador pointed out that Islamic countries were so often the topic of discussion in the Security Council that they might eventually account for 70 percent of its work. He then posed the question: “Shouldn’t we get a permanent seat as well?”
“How often do we mention Iran, Syria, Nigeria, Libya, Sudan,” Haroon asked. “We wonder and I wonder with them, should I be afraid of being a Muslim as all of these countries seemingly come from that category… So I wonder if we are doing right in frightening the world into religious ethnicities. I don’t think it is beneficial for the Council or the institution. Meanwhile, having said that, I am confident that this sort of scare will not be encouraged by this Council. We will be, as was mentioned by people in various aspects referring to other situations in the world under discussion here in a fashion that promotes democracy, promotes representative government etc…”
Ambassador Haroon said Israel’s settlement activity continued apace, the Quartet remained frozen in a state of “suspended promises” and the Palestinians seemingly had no recourse to address the matter.
He also stressed that life in the Gaza Strip could not return to normal without free movement of persons and goods, including those essential for reconstruction.