Malaysia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Datuk Hussein Haniff said while the Palestinians struggled to satisfy their daily minimum water requirements, the Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank consumed six times more water than the Palestinians.
“We note with concern that the Syrian residents of the occupied Syrian Golan continue to suffer from discrimination in terms of access to land, housing, basic services and water allocation,” he said.
Hussein was speaking on Agenda Item 19: Permanent Sovereignty of The Palestinian People in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem and of The Arab Population in the Occupied Syrian Golan, Over Their Natural Resources, at the 69th Session of the General Assembly, in New York on Tuesday.
His statement was made available to BERNAMA in Kuala Lumpur, Wednesday.
Hussein said Malaysia further noted with concern that poverty rates in the West Bank, Gaza and in particular East Jerusalem were alarming while unemployment continued to be at an unacceptably high level, particularly among those living in Gaza.
“The prolonged series of high unemployment and unstable working conditions will inevitably result in large-scale deskilling of workers as well as other social and economic problems,” he said.
Hussein said Malaysia welcomed the Palestinian decision to accede to various international conventions and treaties earlier this year, towards making Palestine a responsible member of the international community.
“The reclaiming of the permanent sovereignty of the Palestinians over their natural resources is therefore key in reversing this crisis,” he said.
The Malaysian diplomat said Malaysia was encouraged by the recent announcements of the Swedish government to recognise the state of Palestine and the diplomatic recognition given by the British Parliament to Palestine as a sovereign state.
“We believe that the recognitions will light the path for other countries and parties to follow similar decisions for the sake of peace and stability in the region,” he said.
–BERNAMA
