Notícias
Address by Minister Mauro Vieira at the Yasser Arafat Foundation – Ramallah, 17 March 2024
His Excellency the Prime Minister of the State of Palestine, Mohammed Shtayyeh;
His Excellency the President of the National Council of Palestine, Rawi Fattouh;
President of the Board of Trustees of the Yasser Arafat Foundation, Musa Hadid;
Dear Ministers,
Palestinian Authorities,
Director General of the Yasser Arafat Foundation, Ambassador Ahmed Soboh;
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It gives me great satisfaction to come back to the Mukata after two decades. In 2003, I had the honor to visit President Yasser Arafat to give him an invitation letter signed by President Lula da Silva to participate at the Summit of South American and the Arab Countries, held in Brasilia, in May 2005.
President Lula himself came to the Mukata in 2010, during the first State Visit of a Brazilian President to Palestine. Later that year, Brazil would recognize the State of Palestine, paving the way for other countries in South America to do the same.
It is a great privilege for me to come back here 21 years later to represent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva again at this time in the ceremony for the bestowal of the title of Honorary Member of the Board of Trustees of the Yasser Arafat Foundation.
This title holds special significance for President Lula, who has always expressed his respect and admiration for President Yasser Arafat and his struggle for the self-determination of the Palestinian people.
President Lula had himself the opportunity, a few weeks ago, in Brasília, on the occasion of an official dinner at the Embassy of Palestine, to thank publicly, in the presence of Arab ambassadors to Brazil, the Yasser Arafat Foundation for the initiative to confer him such a distinction.
He is very honored to be welcomed and take part in this body, which counts, among its members, with very important figures of the Palestinian politics and society. The leader of the Palestinian fight for peace through dialogue and diplomacy, President Mahmoud Abbas, is himself the honorary president of the Board.
The Yasser Arafat Foundation embodies the long endeavor of the Palestinian People for freedom, for the right to self-determination, and for the legitimate international recognition of their State.
This Foundation pays a rightful tribute, with its existence, to the most representative historical leader of the Palestinian people and is an important organization in the promotion of the Palestinian memory. Arafat was a brave and resolute leader, who dedicated his life to the Palestinians.
A laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Ytzhak Rabin, he left a legacy of devotion, moderation, and persistence, which today characterizes the Palestinian National Authority, represented by President Mahmoud Abbas.
More than a personal distinction, we see the Foundation’s initiative of bestowing upon President Lula the title of Honorary Member of the Board of Trustees of the Yasser Arafat Foundation as a tribute to the traditional bonds of friendship and solidarity that unites the peoples of Brazil and Palestine.
This award also evokes and celebrates the rich and diversified ethnical and cultural heritage shared by Brazil and the Arab world. This legacy encompasses values such as solidarity, tolerance, and the ability to coexist in a respectful and harmonious manner with the multiplicity that characterizes our societies.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Unfortunately, we gather today for this ceremony in a time of grief and sadness due to the war in Gaza. Allow me to express the solidarity of the Brazilian government and people with the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, for the unacceptable losses of civilian population and destruction.
Let me state it loud and clear. It is illegal and immoral to deprive people from food and water. It is illegal and immoral to attack humanitarian convoys and people seeking aid. It is illegal and immoral to prevent the sick and injured from accessing essential medical supplies. It is illegal and immoral to destroy hospitals, religious and sacred sites, cemeteries, and shelters.
The track of destruction and death among innocent people that we are watching today will not be forgotten. The sense of despair for the lives of premature newborns caught in the middle of a raid in a hospital will not be erased. The image of hungry people desperate for food and water under crossfire will not disappear from our memories. The sight of the skeletal children of Gaza starving to death will never cease to haunt our minds for generations to come.
The scourge of the war chases us again, as all redlines of our shared humanity have long been crossed.
This is why President Lula made a call, during the 37th summit of the African Union, in Addis Ababa, for us to rescue our best humanist traditions. In this light, he condemned the attacks against Israeli civilians and military on October 7th and demanded for the immediate release of all hostages. At the same time, he rejected Israel’s disproportionate response that has already killed and displaced thousands of people in Palestine.
President Lula’s strong voice calling for the end of the conflict in Gaza is that of profound indignation and of someone who sincerely seeks to preserve and value the supreme importance of human life.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The credibility of the current international governance system is under the rubbles of Gaza.
The number of fatal victims has already reached over 31 thousand and the number of forcibly displaced people corresponds to more than 80 per cent of the population. There is also a virtual obliteration of the health and sanitation systems, as well of the supply of water, medicines, energy, and food.
In the wake of the deadly attacks of October 7th, Brazil, while seating at as non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, worked tirelessly to approve a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the flow of humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza. The decision-making deadlock that did not allow for the approval of the draft proposed by Brazil was not without cost. On the day of the vote on the Brazilian project, on October 18, 2023, there were 3,400 Palestinians dead and 12,000 injured. Today, there are over 31,000 dead and 73,000 injured in Gaza, 70% of whom are women and children, and a high number of more than 7,000 missing.
Brazil publicly supported the proceedings presented by South Africa at the International Court of Justice aiming to assess whether the government of Israel is violating the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. While accepting the request and recognizing the plausibility of the case brought before it, the Court issued, on January 26, provisional measures demanding that Israel take all measures within its power to prevent all acts considered genocide, to avoid irreparable harm. These measures are of immediate and obligatory implementation.
In this light, Brazil welcomes the decision of many countries to resume humanitarian aid to the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). These contributions are in line with the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice that requests from Israel to take immediate and effective measures to enable urgent humanitarian assistance and basic services.
To use hunger and thirst as a weapon of war amounts to collective punishment. This is the time when the Palestinian population needs most the valuable work of UNRWA.
As a member of UNRWA’s Advisory Committee, Brazil will continue to contribute to the Agency’s work, which benefits more than five million Palestinian refugees. In line with other traditional donors, Brazil will also continue to make regular contributions to the organization.
Brazil also congratulates the United Nations for carrying out a prompt and thorough investigation of the claims against 12 members of the UNRWA staff for alleged participation in the attacks of October 7th, while stressing that such accusations cannot jeopardize the essential work of the Agency.
Even though the international community has yet to reach a compromise on a decision to end the humanitarian horror in Gaza, Brazil will not give up on its commitment to diplomacy and will continue to strongly and unequivocally advocate for the immediate termination of this abhorrent violence.
President Lula keeps personally working with other heads of State and of Government in search of a cease-fire, the liberation of the remaining hostages, the protection of the civilian population, and the establishment of a steady flow of humanitarian aid for Gaza.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Just as I emphasized in a hearing before the Brazilian Senate last Thursday, the conflict between Israel and Palestine is not something new. It can be considered the last major unresolved colonial conflict, after almost 70 years of discussions, wars, and negotiated agreements, many of which have never been implemented.
Time is long passed for a just and lasting political solution to this protracted conflict. The Palestinian people has waited far too long for the realization of their just aspiration for statehood.
As President Lula stated in an extraordinary session of the League of Arab States in Cairo a few weeks ago, there will be no peace until there is a Palestinian state, within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders, which include the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The decision on the existence of an independent Palestinian state was taken 75 years ago by the United Nations. 139 out of the 193 UN members already recognize Palestine as a state. Therefore, there is no reason for Palestine not to be a full member of the United Nations.
We stand firm in support of the admission of Palestine to the United Nations, as a full member.
We also reiterate Brazil’s support for a lasting peace for the Middle East, with two states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side, in peace and security, within mutually agreed and internationally recognized borders.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Allow me to finish wishing you Ramadan Kareem, even though this is not a time of real happiness. I was touched to see pictures of families in Gaza celebrating the Iftar dinners with so little food, surrounded by destroyed buildings and houses, mourning their beloved relatives, but with some lights and decoration made by children. Sad and troubling as those images are, they show the strength and resilience of the brave Palestinian people. This strength is your best blessing.
On behalf of President Lula, I thank you all.