NEW YORK — Time will never strip the Palestinian people of the right to return to their land, said Kuwait’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations Ambassador Tariq Al-Bannai while addressing a meeting of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The Palestinians’ right to return comes in accordance with the international legislations, especially article 194 of the General Assembly and the Arab Peace Initiative, he said.
“While commemorating 75 years since the crisis, we remember with sorrow the crime against humanity the Palestinian people faced in 1948, when hundreds of thousands were forcefully displaced and were forced to stay away from their land and home for over seven decades,” AlBannai noted.
Kuwait will continue to support the rights of Palestinians, said the ambassador, hailing the efforts of UNRWA workers to ease the suffering of about six million Palestinian refugees in different countries.
He announced Kuwait’s pledge of US$2 million for UNRWA for 2023.
Last month, Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah had asserted that Kuwait “will continue to support the Palestinian people until they achieve their legitimate rights.”
The Emir had urged for an “immediate end to the Israeli occupation” and called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on May 11, 2023, declared that the Palestinian cause remains the “central issue of the Arab and Islamic world.” The Saudi monarch called for a “just and comprehensive solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, leading to the “establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
The UAE echoed Saudi Arabia’s sentiment the following day as President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in his May 12 statement, reiterated that the UAE “stands with the Palestinian people in their quest for freedom, justice, and an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.” Al Nahyan called upon the international community to amplify its efforts to accomplish a “just and lasting peace in the region.”
Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in his statement on May 14, stated that Qatar “stands with the Palestinian people in their just struggle for freedom and independence.” The Emir called on the international community to “shoulder its responsibilities” and to “work to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region.”
Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, on May 15, expressed that Bahrain “stands with the Palestinian people in their quest for freedom and dignity.” King Hamad urged the international community to “take urgent action” to terminate the Israeli occupation and to establish a just and lasting peace in the region.