Maldives calls for UN to recognize an independent sovereign Palestinian State

The Maldives yesterday reaffirmed its support for the fundamental freedoms and rights of the Palestinian people by calling on the UN to recognize an independent sovereign Palestinian State. Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva against a backdrop of change across the Middle-Eastern region, Liusha Zahir, the Maldives’ Deputy Permanent Representative, asserted that the Palestinian people were no less deserving of international support in the furtherance of their human rights than of people in Cairo, Benghazi and Tunis.

The struggle of the Palestinian people to gain peace, security and prosperity in their own independent State is an aspiration that the international community must support, argued Zahir.

“Frequent violence by Israeli settlers in an atmosphere of impunity; the occupation or demolition of thousands of Palestinian homes; arbitrary detentions by Israeli security forces; and mass displacement of men, women and children - the Maldives concurs with the OIC's conclusion that such acts represent a gross and systematic violation of human rights. We call on those responsible to be held accountable and brought to justice” said Zahir.

“What is more, such acts push any prospect of a strong and durable peace, a two-State peace with Palestinians and Israeli's living together side-by-side, further and further away. We therefore call on Israel to immediately stop all settlement activity as an essential and unconditional precursor to the resumption of comprehensive peace negotiations.”

Deputy Permanent Representative Zahir concluded her statement by reminding UN Member States that the Palestinian people have been waiting for a State of their own for 43 years and should not have to wait any longer. The Maldives therefore called for “the UN Security Council to immediately recognize Palestine as an independent sovereign State with East Jerusalem as its capital in line with relevant UN resolutions”.