Delegation Contact Email Page number

Saudi Arabia nina.rossiter@dc.edu.hk 1

United States of America aine12@lpcuwc.edu.hk 2

Brazil xs0818@student.cis.edu.hk 3

Russia Federation kwik.andrew@gmail.com 4

Nigeria lingene@gmail.com 5

Australia lingene@gmail.com 6

China 11clachersmj1@student.wis.edu.hk 7

Iraq priscillaymy@gmail.com 8

Argentina emmanuel.hui@gmail.com 9

United Kingdom 140023@hkis.edu.hk 10

Kenya integrationsucks@gmail.com 11

Israel yankusarah@gmail.com 12

France sundakaramgm1@webmail.sis.edu.hk 13

Italy rchanyinhong@gmail.com 14

PLO rachael_chung@student.aishk.edu.hk 15

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

likhork@hotmail.com 16

Somali Republic tangchihojustin@ymail.com 17

Philippines tomhohph@me.com 18

Spain tomhohph@me.com 19

Turkey lukvacek@gmail.com 20

Singapore rachael_chung@student.aishk.edu.hk 21

Mexico MISSING POSITION PAPER --

Norway MISSING POSITION PAPER --

Delegation Contact Email Page number

Germany MISSING POSITION PAPER --

Serbia MISSING POSITION PAPER --

Indonesia MISSING POSITION PAPER --

Somalia MISSING POSITION PAPER --

South Korea MISSING POSITION PAPER --

India MISSING POSITION PAPER --

Japan MISSING POSITION PAPER --

From: Saudi Arabia

Honorable Chairs, Distinguished Delegates,

Saudi Arabia has always had an early interest in the Palestinian issueever since the founding of Israel. Since the continued conflictbetween Israel and Palestine, Saudi Arabia is closely monitoring thesituation by conducting peace-making conferences among the twocountries. Seeing that Palestine refused to communicate in King Fahd’sprevious initiations to discuss during his visit in Washington D.C.Saudi Arabia is obliged to assist when both countries are ready todiscuss.

From: United States of America

United States of America: Israel-Palestine

The United States of America has been long committed to the creation of a longlasting peace between Israel and Palestine, a peace in which the strength andsecurity of both states can be assured, a peace which we are sure many othermember states present here also strongly desire. The road towards this peacehas been long and arduous, but we must not tire.

On this road, efforts are being taken to resolve the issue of Palestinian borders,Israeli security and settlements- only when this has been done can peace beachieved. We remain at a crucial juncture in these efforts and extreme cautionmust be exercised to avoid a hardening of goodwill on either side. Whilst theUnited States appreciates the important role played by international bodiessuch as the United Nations in resolution of conflicts such as these, it is our strongbelief a meaningful agreement between Israel and Palestine can only be realizedthrough direct negotiation between both parties. Outside intervention, no matterhow well intentioned, will serve only to complicate these negotiations and willnot move us closer to achieving a just peace. As such, to accord Palestine fullmember status in the United Nations would be a grave mistake, and one whichwould seriously impede both nations on their road to peace. The United Stateswill veto any resolution to accord member status to Palestine.

In addition, both Israel and Palestine must refrain from inflammatory actions.Israeli settlements in territories occupied by Palestinians since 1967 haveserved to heighten tensions and to destroy trust between both countries, andmust not be continued. It is for this reason that the United States has opposedany resolution which aims to legitimize Israeli settlements in Palestine, and forwhich we will continue to do so.

Above all, the United States will support both parties in their road towardsstatehood for their peoples and towards a better peace, as a defender andcreator of peace worldwide.

From: Brazil

The delegate of the Federative Republic of Brazil is honored to be able to be present at this event today and have the opportunity to discuss the Israel-Palestine issue with other delegates.

Brazil supports what Mahmud Abbas, the current president of the Palestine Liberation Organization, suggested, and recognizes the state of Palestine on the 1976 border.

In a letter addressed by former president Lula Da Silva, Brazil expressed “legitimate aspiration that the Palestinian people would one day live in a secure, united, democratic and economically viable state coexisting peacefully with Israel.”

This country believes that the Palestinian people deserves the right to sovereignty and self determination, and that through the recognition of the Palestinian state and the creation of secure permanent boundary lines freely agreed upon and negotiated by the neighboring states, there would be a larger possibility for a lasting peace in Middle East.

In the past, Brazil has offered to help mediate Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and supported resolutions that gave Palestine the right to self-determination. Brazil has also voted for a resolution that condemns Israeli for constructing settlements in Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which undermines the peace process.

At this conference, Brazil will support the recognition of Palestine as a state, and meanwhile still hopes to maintain its optimum relationship with Israel. This delegate hopes that the conference will run smoothly and a resolution can be passed, with delegates working together to come up with an effective resolution on dealing with the situation.

From: Russia

For over 60 years, Israel has been a hotbed of tensions between Palestinians and Israelis, and has undergone an era of continuous turmoil and fighting. While the International Community has taken numerous actions to address this ongoing question, progress has, regrettably, been slow and erratic, and conflict still pervades the area. As a member of the Diplomatic Quartet, the Russian Federation welcomes fellow states to come together and cooperate on this issue, and formulate a strategy that will help solve this pressing concern. We believe that the principles of equality and fairness should be applied to both the Jewish and the Palestinian peoples when solving this conflict. The Russian Federation realizes the complexity and multifaceted nature of this problem and thus urges fellow nations, when formulating a resolution, to view the situation from all perspectives in order to ensure a secure and lasting peace.

From: Nigeria

The Federal Republic of Nigeria deeply believes we share a mutual agreement to themembers of United Nation, and that is our goal to maintain the well being and safety ofour global community. And we stand by this notion regarding our view on this issue.Although we still, and will, maintain a peaceful relationship with Israel, Nigeriaencourages the establishment of two-state solution regarding the issue betweenPalestine and Israel; we believe that by allowing a place for Palestine in United Nationis one step forward to achieve a platform of equal and peaceful compromise betweenthe two states.

Nigeria also needs to state we are fully aware of the difficulty and tension betweentwo sides in terms of water rights, borders and religion. Yet meanwhile Nigeriaafraid such situation shall not be allowed to persist, as we can no longer ignore thedramatically severe influence of such relationship on civilians in both Israel andPalestine, which we regard as preventable.

We believe Palestine and Israel requires a mutual gateway, in which both has equalright to express their statement, to come to an agreement in terms of their conflict,history and religion in order to establish a solution to this issue. We also urge suchmovement to be established as soon as possible.

As we mentioned above, our agenda is to maintain the peace and security of globalcommunity, which means if any form of resolution regarding this issue that consists ofjustified violence is undeniably intolerable.

From: Australia

A clear vision towards peace between Israel and Palestine isone of Australia’s major goals in achieving. The destination of aroadmap towards peace between the two nations is to end the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and to erase obstacles and roadblocks, whichresembles current on going issues. It is important for our country aswe follow our nation’s public opinion, and it has been confirmed thatour government have full support for Palestine.

Israel has been at conflict with Palestine for many decades, such asborder disputes, the status of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and theincreasing territory of Israel. Australia currently does not have anyinvolvement with both parties such as sending out peace-keepingtroops; however, our Prime Minister Julia Gillard has declaredthat we are focusing more on resolving the issue, meaning that wewill not be supporting alongside the majority of the western allies(America and European Union). Instead, we are supporting the stateof Palestine and its creation as we believe, would be the only way tosolve the conflict between the two parties. Australia would also liketo point out that our international aid services have been deliveredquite successfully to Palestine. This however does cause us a disputewith the United States of America.

Numerous past solutions have been planned but failed, such asthe one-state bi national solution, or a democratic secular singlestate like the United States. Australia, instead believes, that theonly solution that can resolve issues and tensions between the twonations is to have a negotiation with Israel and to conclude thatpeace can only occur with the creation of Palestine as an independentand recognized state, allowing them to have a voice in the UnitedNations and that we, supported by the majority of other nations,strongly vote for a Palestinian seat in the United Nations.

From: The People’s Republic of China

The People’s Republic of China remains deeply concerned over thestalemate in the Middle East peace process. We strongly support alltalks of peace in relation to the Israel-Palestine conflict, and urgethe parties concerned to create favorable conditions for an earlyresumption of those talks.

China offers its deep sympathy about the plight of the Palestinianpeople and express concern over the worsening humanitarian situationin Gaza. We urge Israel to freeze all settlement activity and to openall the border crossings to Gaza.

China now reiterates the call for all parties to abide by UN SecurityCouncil resolution 1860, with all military action ceasing to pave theway for peace. The People’s Republic of China demands that allviolations of Humanitarian law to be dealt with the upmost severityand those responsible be brought accountable for their action.

We urge all parties to work together to create and maintain conditionsthat will encourage peace talks between Israel and Palestine.

From: Iraq

As a country without diplomatic relations with Israel, the Republic of Iraq would like to express its solidarity with Palestine. Iraq has recognized the State of Palestine since 1988, being one of the first countries to do so. As home to over 10,000 Palestinians, Iraq is committed towards resettling this population in permanent, dignified living situations.

Iraq greatly appreciates Security Council Resolution 478 of 1980, which rendered Israel’s Jerusalem Law “null and void” and called upon member states to withdraw diplomatic missions from the city, preventing yet another unbalanced law from being implemented. Furthermore, Iraq is heartened by SC Resolution 605 of 1987, which condemned Israel for violating the human rights of the Palestinian people.

Iraq fervently hopes that this SPECPOL will be able to contribute towards preventing similar situations in the future that are unfair for Palestine and that the Palestinian state will be universally recognized and accepted as a UN member state one day.

From: Argentina

“The Argentine government recognizes Palestine as a free and independent state within the borders defined in 1967.” That statement is a direct quotation from our President Kirchner and it succinctly elucidates our position on the border dispute. Argentina does not condone the building of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are a direct violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and we deplore their continuous disregard for Security Council Resolutions 446, 452, and 465, which all call for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank.

We also find Hamas’ pact with Fatah regrettable and condemn Hamas’ continuous terrorist activity. Argentina has been a victim of terrorist activity such as the bombing of the headquarters of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in 1994, thus we strongly refute activity of all extremist groups. We call for a rational and peaceful compromise between Israel and Palestine, and we consider reforming back to the 1967 borders as a reasonable solution.

The Argentine Republic remains actively seized on the matter. Thank You.

From: United Kingdom

A conflict over a land disputed by two or more distinct cultures is always oneof great sensitivity. The ongoing dispute between Israel and Palestine is onethat has continued for more than half a century and caused immeasurable lossand suffering to both sides. As a nation that hopes for nothing but a world ofpeace and security, the United Kingdom will support any proposal or resolutionthat can potentially present a compromise both parties can accept and benefitfrom. The Delegate of the United Kingdom does not support any one partyover the other, and strongly opposes strong military action from one againstthe other unless there is no other option. He is also aware that although peacetalks are progressing slowly, there is also escalating lack of cooperation andviolence that could hamper the much sought after solution to this problem. TheUnited Kingdom strongly believes that only with the cessation of hostilities andresumption of coordination with the UN can talks for peace proceed. Thank you.

From: Kenya

The plight of the Jewish people is one that the Republic of Kenya sympathizes with. With a sad history of discrimination, segregation and persecution, Kenya applauded the decision of the International Community to create the state of Israel in the aftermath of the Holocaust. We recognize the right to self-determination of the Jewish people, and strongly support the legitimacy of Israel’s right to exist. However, no historical legacy can ever justify the methods of repression that are currently being used on the Palestinian people of the Middle East. Though Kenya supports Israel’s right to exist, we do not believe that such a right can be abused in the way it is currently being used to unlawfully occupy territory and to deprive Palestinians of their basic rights and freedoms. A fine line has to be drawn between the two peoples, and Kenya calls for the international community to uphold the Oslo Accords of 1996 and pave the way for a two-state solution.Yet before diplomatic negotiations can begin on realizing the dream of the Oslo Accords, the Republic of Kenya understands that certain steps need to be taken to defuse the situation in the region. Such actions need to be taken in concert, and our position with regards to the Israeli-Palestinian discord falls under four distinct domains: Israel, Palestine, the United States and other regional actors. Firstly, we believe that Israel must cease all settlement building for Israeli citizens in the unlawfully occupied West Bank. The Republic of Kenya recognizes the West Bank as territory of the Palestinian peoples, as secured under the Oslo Accords, and understands that without a halt to the continued aggression of Israel in such a manner, the path to peace can never be achieved. Furthermore, Kenya calls for moderation in the formation of Israeli foreign policy and increased willingness to use diplomacy over violence and repression in its dealings with Palestine. Furthermore, though Kenya recognizes the threat posed by terrorist and militant activities of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, we believe that Israel’s blockade of Gaze violates all principles of proportionality in response. Gaza faces a humanitarian crisis, and Israel’s refusal to allow goods and services into Gaza, even to the point of certain basic necessities, has only worsened it. Hardened criminal elements have been born of the discontent of the Gazan peoples, and hatred of the Israeli people has only been fueled by the actions of the Israeli Government. Kenya believes that it is time to review Israel’s policies towards the Gaza Strip.With regards to the Palestinian people, the Republic of Kenya also recognizes that significant efforts remain wanting. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) should seek to reconcile their differences with the Hamas administration of the Gaza strip and present a united front in their negotiations with Israel. Furthermore, the Palestinians should be prepared to take a much more active stance against extremism and terrorist violence aimed at Israeli citizens, understanding that such efforts only serve to derail any hopes of eventual peace. For ‘Palestine’ to ever be recognized as a nation in its own right, it must take major steps in unifying its leadership and working towards greater legitimacy through a renunciation of violence.

Next, Kenya also believes that the United States of America has a major stake in the peace process. As a staunch supporter of Israel and the state which has the ability to most influence its policies, we call for the United States to push the present government of Israel back to the negotiating table. Though Kenya applauds the efforts taken by the Obama Administration, we believe that there is room for further action to be taken, such as pressure to admit independent evaluation commissions into the situation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. In addition, Kenya disapproves of the rash decision of the United States to withdraw funding from UNESCO simply due to the admittance of Palestine as a full member. Kenya believes that this is simply counter-productive to the peace process. Finally, the Republic of Kenya believes that peace can never truly be achieved without the support of regional actors. We condemn the continued belligerence of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards Israel, as well as the implicated support of the Syrian Regime for the terrorist organization Hezbollah. We believe that an independent truth and reconciliation commission should be established to examine the recent conflicts in Lebanon, and that on this matter all governments, especially the Israeli government, should acquiesce to independent investigation. Finally, we call upon the newly democratized Egyptian nation to respect the peace treaty with Israel signed in the Camp David Accords of 1978, but to also engage in dialogue with the government of Israel with regards to the plight of the Gazan people. The Republic of Kenya recognizes that there is no simple solution to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian issue. Yet Kenya believes that there remain reasons to be optimistic about an eventual settlement, if all parties are willing to commit to peace and stability. On our behalf, we are proud to call for international cooperation, sustained commitment and flexibility to the plight of the Middle Eastern peoples.

From: Israel

For more than 60 years, the on-going conflict between Israel and Palestine has been creating conflicts and harms. Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the Palestinians have been trying to establish an independent state and regain land from the Israeli territories. However, with the constant attacks by neighbouring territories and terrorist organisations, Israel is deeply concerned about the path forward for both parties, as the current situation affects its peace, stability and sovereignty.

Israel is willing to negotiate and reach a consensus with the Palestinians. Israel recognises the need for security and stability, and is willing to strive for peace. It believes that a two-state solution would be most beneficial, as it promotes the long-term security and well-being of both parties. Thus, on 25th May 2003, Israel accepted “the Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict”, which was proposed by members of the Quartet, including the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. In return, the Palestinians were required to fulfil certain conditions, such as the renunciation of violence, respect for previous agreements and acceptance of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. In addition, in order to promote a more peaceful and stable environment, Israel has improved the situation by removing all 21 settlementsfrom the Gaza Strip and 4 from the West Bank in 2005.

However, despite Israel’s effort, hostile actions from the Palestinians have continued. Between 2001 and January 2009, over 8,000 rockets had been launched from the Gaza Strip to Israel, creating countless damages and casualties. In 2011, at least 173 rockets and 195 mortars were fired. After the Hamas rose to power, the relationship between Israel and the Palestinians further deteriorated. The Palestinians have also shown no will of negotiation or cooperation while threatening Israel’s sovereignty and control over its territory. With the hostility, antagonism and a lack of willingness for direct negotiations from the Palestinians, the incitement is posing threats and harming the peace- making process between Israel and the Palestinians.

To promote peace and improve the livelihood of the Israelis and Palestinians, Israel sincerely urges the Palestinians to start direct negotiations on the matter. It also appreciates different nations’ help and contributions to the peace process. Only by using peaceful means and facilitating communication, can we truly protect stability, security and sovereignty for Israel, and ensure a long- lasting peace for civilians.

From: France

The great nation of France believes that the Israel-Palestine issuecan be solved only with peaceful cooperation and compromise. Israelmust recognize Palestine as a separate state and Palestine must notuse violence in their fight for a separate state.  Let us reassureIsrael and give hope to the Palestinian people. Let us choose acompromise solution over deadlock, because while deadlock mightsatisfy everyone here, it will give rise to violence, bitterness andresistance. France says that this tragedy must cease for a simplereason—it has gone on for far too long. Israel must put and end to itsattempts to subdue and thwart Palestine’s recognition as a state. Ifthis is done, there will be peace.

From: Italy

Italy, as a European Union country as well as a democratic one, strongly supports and strives

for peace in the world. The delegate of Italy hopes that there will be peace in the development of

Israel and Palestine.

The disputes between Israel and Palestine started in 1919 when the issue was brought up almost

one century ago, but the problem still has not been solved yet. With the help of United Nations, the

two parties achieved cease-fire periods etc.

Italy has always wanted to help keep peace in the region. In 2002, all European Union

countries, Russia and the United States of America proposed the ‘Road map for peace’ concerning

the Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. The roadmap serves as a plan for the development of the two states

in achieving ‘a secure State of Israel and a viable, peaceful, democratic Palestine’. Furthermore to

the issue is that the plan hopes to achieve peace and security in the Middle East area, which is the

ultimate goal that all nations hope.

The delegate of Italy hopes that the Middle East area will eventually be peaceful, especially

because Italy is situated near the Middle East area. Italy hopes that further actions will be taken

through consensus between the two states and ensure that the people in the area can live in a safe

environment. We hope that direct communication and discussion between the two states can be

conducted as an action. We seek support from all countries in the council, especially countries from

the European Union, the United States of America and Russia.

In conclusion, the delegate of Italy hopes that peace will be brought to the two states, with the

enhancement of co-operation and communication between the two states.

From: Palestinian Liberation Organization

The Palestinian Liberation Organization, as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian

people, shows deploration for the current situation in the Israeli and Palestinian area, or what should

be known simply as Palestine. The land mass, now divided into the state of Israel, the Gaza Strip and

the West Bank is Palestine. It belongs to the Palestinian people and they hold all rights to keep it as

their own.

In 1948 with the assistance of the US, the Jewish came forward and invaded Palestine, taking over it

with brute force. Over 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from Palestine, refugees to their own

country. The Israelis call the Palestinians “terrorists” when they themselves initiated the first attacks

and previous attacks on Egypt, Jordan and Syria known as the Six-Day War.

The United Nations claims that it gives all countries an equal vote and voice no matter how

small or insignificant a country is. The PLO deserves an equal vote. It believes that a country is its

people. Palestine exists as long as the Palestinians do.

From: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea

The Israeli-Palestine relations have been of significance since the birth of Israel, with the Jewish immigrants displacing a vast number of Islamists who have been living in the region. With the Arab-Israeli wars breaking out after, it is significant that decolonization and the people's sovereignty cannot be carried out in transition by the Western powers.

  DPRK has long been of support to the state of Palestine, to the international recognition of its status. Rather, the puppet state of Israel has strictly been inhumane raiding it.

  Though the current US administration has tried to make arrangements to solve it, it has been blocking positive acts to recognize the Palestine people's nation.

  As our UNGA representative said it, "We fully support Palestinians’ struggle to expel Israeli aggressors from their Territory and restore their right to self-determination."

From: Somali Republic

I. General Statement

Ever since its creation in the 1947 through partitioned land, the State of Israel (hereby identified as Israel) has been having poor diplomatic relations with its neighbouring Palestinian Gaza strip and the West Bank. Both parties (the Israeli government and the Palestinian forces) claim the Holy City of Jerusalem; the Palestinians support their argument with their being residents there for centuries, and Jerusalem should rightfully belong to them, whereas the Israelis use the rights granted by Resolution 181 of the United Nation’s General Assembly to back their stance and stated that their land is legally taken.

To address this problem, various peace progresses have been made:

A. The Oslo Accords, attempted in 1993, opened Israeli-Palestinian talks for the first time;B. The Camp David Summit, attempted in 2000, resulted in failure to achieve compromise even

under intense American pressure;C. The Taba Summit, attempted in 2001, ended to no avail;D. The Road Map for Peace Proposal, attempted in 2002, terminated with little effect;E. The Arab Peace Initiative, attempted in 2002, is still under the consideration of concerned

parties.

However, although the last attempt to a two-state solution is still in progress, recent polling trends have showed decreasing support among Palestinians: only 34% of the 1010 interviewed Palestinian adults backed the proposition, while 61% rejected it. In addition, there are rising extremist ideologies: 72% of Palestinians endorsed the denial of Jewish history in Jerusalem, 62% supported kidnapping IDF soldiers and holding them hostage and 53% were in favor or teaching songs about hating Jews in Palestinian schools.

The Somali Republic has always been concerned about the development in the disputed regions and has constantly been hoping for a direct and absolute termination to the disquietude within the two parties; therefore, the Somali Republic regrets that of all the peace progresses made so far to solve the problem, none of them have had observable effects. In consequence, the Somali Republic would like to suggest the General Assembly to consider the actions listed in the next section.

II. Particulars

The Somali Republic sincerely recommends a review on the role the UN is playing in the Middle East. Right now, worrying symptoms are beginning to immerge: the radicalisation of Palestinians’ effort to taking back their land, as well as the decreasing acceptance of foreign intervention in the matter are potential hazards which make vaporise the efforts made by past leaders to solve the problem and may possibly plunge the region into civil war. Therefore, the Somali Republic genuinely implores the General Assembly to take the issue very seriously and strive for a resolution which will better suit the interests of both parties.

From: The Philippines

The Philippines is officially neutral in the Israel-Palestine conflict. We wish to assure everyone that even though some members of our society are not quite in agreement with this, and even though some people might make it seem like we do in fact are taking sides, we are not. The Philippines believes that this is not our fight. We will stay as far away from this conflict as possible. The news reports that you may have heard are inaccurate if they state otherwise, and furthermore, the citizens living in Israel are no longer supposed to be our problem. The Israeli government is in charge of them now, as our citizens have decided to live there. However, we believe that the Palestine government has a legitimate claim to the conflict, and we believe that it is not our business to decide who is in the right or whom is wrong, for it is highly likely that we will mess things up and get blamed upon by future generations for having done the wrong thing.

From: The Kingdom of Spain

As one of the members of the European Union, Spain is fully aware of the situation between Taiwan and China. Taiwan is looking to become autonomous, while China desires a unified empire. Taking into account that Taiwan is a well developed country - that they also have a stable economic system, a good government, and in particular the people of Taiwan have the right to vote for their own president - the Kingdom of Spain believes that the people's and country's will should be fully respected. We believe that Taiwan is more then capable of maintaining an independent and sustainable autonomous body.

On the issue of Tibet we, Spain, believe that people of Tibet are indeterminately correct in choosing independence. As a Catholic country, we strongly believe that all men have the right to choose religious freedom. China denies them this right and therefore the pursuit of governmental independence is justified. Tibet has clearly spoken out: they have chosen self-determination. We strongly recommend our ally, China, to reconsider opposing

On February 18, 2008, we, Spain had made it very clear that we are not recognizing Kosovo as an independent country the reason off that is because the statement of independence did not respect the international law. So basically the kingdom of Spain is no way admitting Kosovo as a independent country.

From: Turkey

The Republic of Turkey strongly supports an agreement to be reached between the Israeli and Palestinian sides of the conflict. Turkey was the first Muslim-­-majority country to officially recognize the state of Israel in 1949. Turkey has established relations with the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1975 and officially recognized the Palestinian state established in exile on 15th November 1988. We have pressed for peace negotiations between the two sides in the past, as we firmly believe that peace between Israel and Palestine is the only way to ensure peace between Israel and the Arab states.

Turkey has always supported the Palestinian bid for resolving the conflict. Our support of the Palestinian bid is unconditional. However, we strongly criticize the Hamas government’s use of violence to achieve its aims. Violence should not be used as a means of resolving this situation, which is correspondingly why the UN must press forwards on solving the long-­-term conflict as quickly as possible. Furthermore, a sovereign Palestinian state cannot be formed until the Palestinian authorities make an effort to create a unified government of the Palestinians. The Hamas government and Palestinian Authority need to work together and must unify to a single government in order to facilitate the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state.

We believe that Israel needs to adapt to the new emerging political clime of the region. The emergence of a democratic neighbour around Israel is an assurance of

THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

Israel’s security. In order to achieve such a situation in which Israel and Palestine can live side-­-by-­-side Israel must stop its policy of colonisation. This is a major impediment in the negotiations, and Israel must be prepared to accept a resolution where it may potentially loose territories gained in the Six-­-day War of 1967. Furthermore, Israel must cease its blockade of the Gaza strip, and be more open to negotiations with Palestine and other Arab nations.

The issue of Jerusalem must be settled between the two parties in a fair way. Turkey understands the importance of Jerusalem to both Israel and Turkey, and the strong issue concerning the division of the city between the two parties must be discussed and resolved in a fair manner. Turkey believes there are only two possible solutions to this strong dispute, although we are open to negotiation:

1. The city of Jerusalem is evenly and fairly divided amongst Israel and Palestine.

2. The city of Jerusalem will become a corpus seperatum as per the UN partition plan of 1947.

The second solution to this problem (corpus seperatum) has the advantage that Jerusalem will be open to Israelites, Palestinians and other Arab people who value Jerusalem for religious reasons or otherwise..

Over the past 10 to 15 years, a cohabitation policy has existed between Israel and the Palestine Authority. This is why Palestine deserves to be a sovereign state. Consequently, Turkey fully supports Palestine’s just cause for sovereignty and acknowledges the reality with Israel. The negotiated settlement to the conflict should based on the UN Security Council Resolutions 242, 338,

1397, 1515, the principles of land and peace, Arab-­-Peace Initiative and the UN Road Map to Peace This way it can be ensured that the two states will live side by side within secure and recognized borders.

The Republic of Turkey stands ready to actively work for the resolution of the Israel-­- Palestine conflict and the lifting of the blockade of Gaza.

From: Singapore

As an economic partner of Israel, Singapore is fully aware of the current conflict between the state of Israel and the Palestinian people and is deeply concerned at the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. As an ideological minor in its own region, Singapore sympathizes with Israel’s struggle for independence. Singapore understands the difficulty in bridging difference and hopes that both Israel and the PLO will open-minded in achieving progress. Singapore is fully supportive of negotiation in order for long-lasting peace and positive progression in the future.