Vol. 410 No. 2
16 Mr. Byrne asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will outline the Government's position on the current Middle East peace initiative; if the Government will urge that any peace conference should be under the auspices of the United Nations and that the role of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation as the representative body for the Palestinian people should be fully recognised; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Government fully support the current US initiative to attempt to achieve peace in the Middle East. We believe that the commitment of the US Administration, as evidenced by Secretary Baker's four visits to the region since March, offers prospects of breaking a deadlock which has lasted too long. I hope that notwithstanding present differences between the parties they will find it possible to agree on a format which will allow a conference to be convened at an early date.
The European Council held in Luxembourg last weekend reaffirmed support for the US initiative and urgently appealed to all the parties concerned to overcome the remaining procedural difficulties to enable the holding of a peace conference. As a participant in the peace conference, the Community and its member states aim to make their full contribution to its success and to the negotiations between the parties.
While supporting this initiative, we in the Twelve maintain our own long standing policy of pressing for a wide ranging international peace conference for the region under the auspices of the United Nations.
I believe that the UN should in any event have a central role. Any settlement must be based on UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and on the principle that all states in the region have the right to exist within secure and recognised borders. The legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to a homeland, must also be respected and the principle of "land for peace" as outlined in the UN resolutions must be applied.
With regard to who should represent the Palestinian people, the Government are of the view that this is a matter for the Palestinian people themselves to determine.
While welcoming the Minister's statement that he regards it as important that any peace conference be under the auspices of the United Nations, I detected in part of his reply an indication that he was willing to move from that position. Will the Minister indicate that he is of the opinion, as is the European Community, that any international peace conference should be under the auspices of the UN, who should not simply have a participative role in the process? In view of the fact that the PLO are the acknowledged representatives of the Palestinian people, clearly they must also be involved in any such conference. Would the Minister agree that the policy of the Israeli Government which systematically denies human rights to Palestinians in the Occupied Territories does not augur well for the success of any peace process, in particular the application of collective punishment of families in the occupied areas which has rendered thousands of Palestinians homeless? Would the Minister agree that any state such as Israel which claims to be democratic and civilised cannot be allowed to continue with this form of collective punishment of families in the Occupied Territories?
This is an exceedingly long question.
That contribution by Deputy De Rossa misrepresents somewhat my position as outlined in my reply to Deputy Byrne's question.
I am seeking clarification.
I said in my reply that I hope, notwithstanding the present differences between the parties, they will find it possible to agree on a format which will allow the conference to be convened at an early date. The European Council in Luxembourg at the weekend reaffirmed support for the US initiative and urgently appealed to all parties concerned to overcome the remaining procedural difficulties to enable the holding of a peace conference. I clearly said that Ireland and the Twelve maintain our longstanding policy of pressing for a wide-ranging international peace conference on the region under the auspices of the United Nations. We believe the UN should in any event play a central role. Any settlement must be based on the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and on the principle that all the states in the region have the right to exist within secure and recognised borders, that the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to a homeland, must be respected and that the principle of land for peace outlined in the resolution must be applied. That is our position on this extremely complex and delicate issue.
A brief question, Deputy De Rossa.
I refer to my final supplementary, which was the Government's attitude to the collective punishment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territorities which is an inhuman security policy.
Deputy De Rossa will know that on every occasion when there is a violation of human rights anywhere there is need for strong condemnation by us. We are very forthcoming in so doing and we have done so on this issue also.
That disposes of questions for today.
