Cuba Reaffirms its Support for the Palestinian Cause at the UN

Cuba reaffirmed on Friday at the UN its promise to continue working for a genuine peace process to achieve the full recognition of Palestine and the rights of its people.

Cuba's Alternate Permanent Representative to the UN, Ana Silvia Rodriguez, lamented that recent events in occupied Palestinian territory do not reflect progress in the just cause of that people.

After being re-elected -together with Indonesia, Namibia and Nicaragua- as vice-chair of the Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the diplomat highlighted the continued support and concern of the Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, in to work out the situation.

This long-standing conflict, which affects international peace and security, has 'as its most immediate victims the heroic and courageous Palestinian people'.

The ambassador defended her right to sovereignty and self-determination without outside interference, and also the right of Palestinians to return to their homes and properties.

Rodriguez detailed how the situation deteriorated further after the unilateral decision by the United States to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to transfer its embassy there, in blatant violation of the UN Charter and international law.

The current U.S. administration also made an alarming cut in funds for the United Nations Refugee Agency (Unrwa).

It is also regrettable that the Security Council, due to US obstruction, has not even condemned the escalation of violence and the tragic events in the Gaza Strip, which have occurred since 30 March 2018 due to Israeli repression, he stressed.

The Cuban delegation reiterated its strong rejection of Tel Aviv's use of disproportionate and indiscriminate force against Palestinian civilians, in flagrant violation of international norms.

'We will continue to support a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of a two-State solution that allows Palestinians the right to self-determination and the right to an independent and sovereign State.

All this according to the pre-1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital, the ambassador said.

For his part, the Permanent Representative of Senegal, Cheikh Niang, who was re-elected as head of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, called for concrete actions in favour of the two-State solution.

At the same time, he underlined the need to put an end to the iron blockade of Tel Aviv in the Gaza Strip, and called for the return and fair compensation of the Palestinian people.

To date, the creation of a Palestinian state is one of the longest outstanding issues at the UN.

In November 1975, the United Nations General Assembly created the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People to protect this besieged population.