President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom has sent a message of felicitation to the President and people of Palestine on the occasion of International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
In his message, the President reiterated the unwavering support of the people and the Government of the Maldives to the people and the Government of the State of Palestine and their legitimate right for an independent State. The Maldives believes that the only viable solution to the question of Palestine is the realization of the two-state formula with the establishment of a strong, independent, and contiguous Palestinian State on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital, he said, highlighting that the perpetuating hostility and conflict in the occupied Palestine have compromised the countless UN resolutions, the Madrid Principles, the Oslo Accords, the Arab initiative, and Quartet roadmap that strive for a peaceful settlement.
President Yameen denounced Israel’s continued expansion of settlement in Palestine and the increasing house demolitions by the Israeli Military offensive in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, and the new Israeli legislation aimed at legitimizing colonial settlement areas in the occupied territories and the most recent plans to ban the prayer calls in the mosques in the occupied city of Al-Quds. The President also called on the international community to exert maximum pressure on Israel to abandon the policies of colonialism and violence and give preference to peace.
The message concluded saying that it has been more than two decades since the signing of the Oslo Accords which laid the ground work towards a solution based on two independent States, yet, the Israeli policy of land grabbing, the blockade on Gaza, the continuing expansion of illegal settlement, and the continuation of the apartheid policy towards the Palestinians in the occupied territories, represent the most enduring obstacles to peace.
In 1977, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On that day, in 1947, the Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine (resolution 181 (II))
In resolution 60/37 of December 1, 2005, the Assembly requested the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Division for Palestinian Rights, as part of the observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29 November, to continue to organize an annual exhibit on Palestinian rights or a cultural event in cooperation with the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the UN.
The resolution on the observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People also encouraged UN Member States to continue to give the widest support and publicity to the observance of the Day of Solidarity.