The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stressed that the Palestinian issue which has been the keystone of the Arab-Israeli conflict, remains a constant challenge for the United Nations since its inception and for more than sixty years, affirming that Israel has been the side that should bear full responsibility for the stagnation endured by the peace process. Following is the Speech of Prince Abdulaziz Bin Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, Head of the Delegation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, delivered on Friday September 28nd, 2012 before the United Nations General Assembly 67th Session in New York: In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful, Most Compassionate Mr. President, At the outset, it gives me great pleasure to convey to Your Excellency my sincere congratulations on your election as President of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly, wishing Your Excellency success in the performance of your duties and responsibilities, particularly during these critical circumstances experienced by the international community. I also take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude and appreciation to your predecessor the President of the UN General Assembly at its 66th Session, His Excellency Ambassador Nassir Al-Nasser, who managed its entire works with wisdom and professionalism. Moreover, it gives me pleasure to once more commend the great efforts of His Excellency the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, serving the United Nations and promoting its message aiming to achieve international peace and security. The Palestinian issue, which is the keystone of the Arab-Israeli conflict, remains a constant challenge for the United Nations since its inception and for more than sixty years. Israel is the side that should bear full responsibility for the stagnation endured by the peace process. We all know the extent to which Israeli intransigence reached resulting in disabling negotiations and voiding them from any contents or substances in addition to pursuing unilateral policies which bring more complications on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Arab and international efforts aimed at reaching a comprehensive, lasting and just solution especially the establishment of an independent, continuous and viable Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital. This situation requires the international community represented by the United Nations to move quickly to put an end to the tragedy of the Palestinian people and provide all forms of support and assistance to their national authority. My country believes that granting the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations is its very normal and legitimate right that all of us must support. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is sparing no effort to meet all its obligations towards the peace process and our Palestinian brothers by the provision of various types of support and assistance. The Syrian crisis has reached exacerbated and complicated limits. This crisis has resulted in tens of thousands of victims and hundreds of thousands of displaced and refugees who have fled into neighboring countries. This conflict continues to expand and deepen the humanitarian disaster. All that is happening amidst a noticeable international community's failure due to the division in the Security Council as well as the failure of all proposed Arab and international initiatives due to the intransigence and arrogance of the Syrian regime. We regret that this regime continues to believe that it can proceed with its suppressive procedures to control the situation without any due regard to the high humanitarian losses. Since the first day of this crisis, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been keen to deal with it in accordance with the framework and resolutions of international legitimacy, with full respect to the principles of human rights and international humanitarian law, through the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the Arab League, the United Nations Organization, and the resolutions of the Islamic Summit held in Makkah in August 2012 on the situation in Syria. We believe that the success of the mission of Lakhdar Al-Ibrahimi, the Joint United Nations-Arab League Envoy for Syria, requires implementing a new strategy and a clear plan that aims to achieve a peaceful transition of power; and the Security Council shall provide him with the necessary support to deal with the Syrian crisis at both political and humanitarian levels. On the situation in Yemen, the peaceful transition of power, in accordance with the GCC initiative and its executive mechanisms shall necessitate that our brothers in Yemen continue the same positive and constructive approach to confront foreign interference in Yemen's internal affairs and to achieve the desired security, economic, and social challenges. We hope that the international community to fulfill its pledged commitments for Yemen, in addition to providing it with all forms of support to achieve these goals. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirms its full support for all international efforts undertaken in this regard. We have done all we can to effectively support, promote, and contribute to these efforts through the Friends of Yemen Conference and the Donors' Conference held in Riyadh, and the Kingdom's participation in the Friends of Yemen Conference held in New York on, September 27, 2012. The crisis of the Iranian nuclear file is one of the most important challenges that threatens international peace and security in general, and the security and stability of Arab Gulf region in particular. In this context, my Country supports the ongoing efforts of the G5+l to peacefully resolve this crisis in a manner that guarantees the right to peaceful use of nuclear energy for Iran and all countries in the region according to the criteria and procedures of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and under its supervision. On the other hand, we call on Iran to respond to these efforts and to implement the relevant Security Council's resolutions and cooperate with IAEA inspectors to monitor its nuclear facilities to put an end to this crisis. In this regard, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reaffirms the importance of making the Middle East a free zone from nuclear weapons and all other mass destruction weapons. We also stress the need that Israel places its nuclear facilities under the inspection and safeguards of the IAEA, and that it signs the Non-Proliferation Convention. The security and stability in the Arab Gulf region cannot be achieved except through the establishment of good relations based on mutual respect, good neighborliness and constructive cooperation, including the end of Iranian occupation of three islands of United Arab Emirates and the pursuit of peaceful means to address this issue either through bilateral negotiations or by resorting to the International Court of Justice. On combating terrorism, The Kingdom hosted in Riyadh an international conference in 2005 which resulted in several recommendations, including a call for the establishment of the 'United Nations Center for Counter Terrorism whose establishment was signed at UN headquarters on September 19, 2011. Our world today is in a pressing need for dissemination of the culture of tolerance and understanding between the followers of religions in order to promote dialogue between the followers of religions and cultures. Accordingly, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz A1 Saud, has called for holding several meetings and conferences to combat this phenomenon. On the offensive film, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia strongly condemns the act of an irresponsible group who produced an offensive movie against Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The Kingdom asserts its rejection of all acts that offend or disdain religions and their sacrosanct symbols. In this context, the Kingdom renews its call to enact necessary laws and regulations that forbid the defamation and disdain of religions and their symbols. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns the acts of violence against diplomatic foreign missions.
