(unofficial translation)
Gobierno de Reconciliación y Unidad Nacional
Unida Nicaragua Triunfa
MESSAGE FROM NICARAGUA
IN THE SPECIAL SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
ON THE MIDDLE EAST, INCLUDING THE PALESTINIAN QUESTION
October 31st 2023
United Nations
Thank you very much, Mr. President:
1. Nicaragua shares Venezuela's address on behalf of the Group of Friends in Defense of the United Nations Charter.
2. Nicaragua has joined the initiative of convening this Special Emergency Session, in view of the serious humanitarian situation taking place in Gaza and in solidarity with Palestine and with all the civilians, women and children, victims of this terrible conflict, which is largely due to the inaction and indifference of the Security Council over decades.
3. With the recent tragic and barbaric events in Palestine and Israel, it has become evident once again that the Security Council still owes a reckoning to humanity, to the international community and to peace and justice, especially in the Middle East. It is reprehensible that this body did not adopt a simple humanitarian resolution urgently demanding a cease-fire, with access to and provision of humanitarian assistance, especially taking into account the precarious situation of the entire population getting worse day by day in Gaza.
4. We reiterate that the Security Council must fulfill the responsibilities conferred on it in the Charter and must do so with urgency and without double standards.
5. From this Universal forum, we continue to strongly condemn the aggravation of the terrible Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which is generating more and more victims and pain among so many innocent families.
6. The world is well aware that this conflict, and in particular, the explosive inhuman situation to which the Palestinian People have been subjected in Gaza for more than 16 years, by which the occupation and the illegal blockade imposed, has turned this territory into a huge open air prison, impoverishing a population of 2.3 million, half of them children and which, if it persists, will only bring greater instability and insecurity in the Middle East and in the world.
7. Nicaragua is convinced that Peace and Stability in the Middle East are only feasible through negotiation and the full implementation of all General Assembly and Security Council resolutions on Palestine.
8. Nicaragua supports and will support any effort that leads to a ceasefire. That is why we co-sponsored and voted in favor of the resolution submitted by Jordan on behalf of the Arab Group, in which deep concern is expressed about the escalation of violence and the deteriorating situation, in particular the large number of civilian casualties, and we stress that the priority is at all times to protect the civilian population.
9. This General Assembly has the imperative responsibility to demand immediate respect for a ceasefire, as well as the protection of the population in Palestine, without double standards and in equal conditions as human beings, valuing all lives in the same way.
10. The United Nations, the General Assembly and the Security Council are called upon to act, as soon as possible, to demand solutions in both law and Justice, to stop this senseless spiral of violence that has already turned into genocide.
11. We have also thanked the humanitarian agencies and governments helping to cope with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. With horror we have witnessed and condemned the attack on the Hospital in Gaza that claimed the precious lives of more than 700 people, most of them children.
12. The Government of Reconciliation and National Unity of Nicaragua and the Nicaraguan People have always supported the just cause of the Palestinian people, it is a matter of principle, of solidarity between brothers and sisters in struggle, and together with the rest of the international community we consider it necessary to intensify international efforts in the search for a definitive and peaceful solution that culminates in the realization of the Palestinian State, with its capital in East Jerusalem, and borders recognized in 1967, as the only means for achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, living next to the State of Israel in peace and security, both States.
13. It is the moral and historical obligation of all States to defend multilateralism, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, the peaceful settlement of disputes and to refrain from the use or threat of the use of force in international relations.
14. Our prayers are with the innocent People and Families who are suffering so much, Israeli families, Palestinian families, families of various nationalities, families of United Nations staff and families of journalists. Our love and respect to each of them.
15. This situation of pain and suffering of the Palestinian People tears us all apart, in recent days thousands and thousands of people have been killed in Gaza, the attacks on medical facilities, the cutting off of water, electricity, medical supplies, food and fuel are abhorrent, increasing the insecurity of a population of 2.3 million, half of them children, who have no safe place to be or where they might go. According to estimates by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza have already been displaced, more than 8,500 people are reported dead, 67% of them children, women and the elderly, including more than 3,800 children killed, and every minute the suffering and loss of life increases.
16. One thing is very clear and it is being demonstrated in this General Assembly and in all the cities of the world, Palestine is not alone, the peoples of the world accompany Palestine and we let it be known in the resolution we adopted and in the protests of hundreds of thousands, more and more numerous every day, including in cities of countries that hinder the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, hundreds of hundreds of thousands of people demanding peace, a ceasefire and the harassment of Gaza, justice for the Palestinian people.
17. It is time for us here at the United Nations to listen to the cry of the peoples of the world and to put an end to the historical injustice imposed on Palestine.
18. Peace must prevail at all costs and above all things, to make way for the only just and true solution, two states living in peace and security, everyone present here knows it very well, the Security Council has that historical responsibility pending, it must allow, once and for all, the full materialization of the State of Palestine and the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian People.
Thank you very much.