The United Nations’ (UN) International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is annually observed on November 29 to continue to give the widest support and publicity to the observance of the Day of Solidarity.
The day is also known as Solidarity Day. It is an UN-organised observance. Events are held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York as well as at the United Nations offices at Geneva and Vienna. It is generally held on November 29 each year to mark the anniversary of resolution 181 observed on December 1 in 2003.
The Solidarity Day has traditionally provided an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine is still unresolved and that the Palestinian people are yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to national independence and sovereignty, and the right to return to their homes and property from which they had been displaced.
The United Nations Information Centres (UNICs) worldwide assist governments, NGOs and others wishing to organise special activities in connection with the observance by providing information and documentation.
At United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People each year holds a special meeting to observe the Solidarity Day.
Speakers include the secretary-general, the president of the General Assembly, the president of the Security Council, and representatives of relevant United Nations bodies and intergovernmental organisations.
NGOs are invited to attend and a representative of the international community of NGOs accredited to the committee addresses the meeting.
Other activities organised in connection with the observance of the Day of Solidarity include a Palestinian exhibit or a cultural event sponsored by the Committee and presented by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, and the screening of a documentary film.
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is a moment to mark our support to the Palestinian people in their quest for a more peaceful future.
Pakistan and Palestine have a very close and cultural relationship. During Israel’s War of Independence (1947–1949), Israel’s diplomatic mission in Washington received information that Pakistan was trying to provide military assistance to the Arabs, including rumors that a Pakistani battalion would be sent to Palestine to fight alongside them. Pakistan bought 250,000 rifles in Czechoslovakia that apparently were meant for the Arabs. Also, it became known that Pakistan bought three planes in Italy for the Egyptians. The Pakistan Air-Force participated in the 1967 and 1973 Arab–Israeli wars, Pakistani pilots flying Jordanian and Syrian planes downed some Israeli planes,whereas in the 1982 battle for Beirut between Israel and the PLO, fifty Pakistani volunteers serving in the PLO were taken prisoner by Israel. After the 1973 war, Pakistan and the PLO signed an agreement for training PLO officers in Pakistani military institutions. Pakistan and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) had developed close ties.
The PLO was first recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinians at an Islamic summit in Lahore in February 1974.
This was approved six months later at an Arab summit in Rabat. PLO missions in Karachi and Islamabad (Pakistan’s capital since 1960) received full diplomatic recognition in 1975. Also in 1975, Pakistan had supported and voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 3,379 which had equated Zionism with racism (the resolution was later revoked with Resolution 4,686 but Pakistan voted against revoking it). During the First Intifada that began in 1987, pro-PLO rallies were held in Pakistan and the government sent the organization food and medical supplies. After the Palestinian Declaration of Independence on November 15, 1988, Pakistan then recognized the State of Palestine on 16 November 1988 and had established full diplomatic relations with it by the end of 1989.
