Jakarta Globe – AFP, March 1, 2014
Jakarta.
Representatives of 22 nations met in Jakarta on Saturday to discuss Palestinian
development, with co-chairs Japan and Indonesia reiterating their support for a
two-state solution.
The second
Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian
Development (Ceapad) is aimed at boosting infrastructure and supporting the
private sector in the Palestinian Territories.
But a
looming deadline for a full Middle East peace deal brokered by US Secretary of
State John Kerry is expected to feature prominently in talks.
“We still
believe that the two-state vision can be envisaged and realized. And here I
must commend the… efforts of Mr John Kerry,” Palestinian prime minister Rami
Hamdallah said during the conference’s opening.
Kerry, who
coaxed the two sides back to the negotiating table in late July after a
three-year hiatus, said Wednesday a full deal would likely slip past the April
29 deadline.
The
document has not yet been made public, but Hamdallah said on Friday “all issues
actually have been (put) on the table.”
The
document is understood to include a non-binding proposal laying out guidelines
for negotiating the central issues of the conflict, including such as borders,
security, Jerusalem, the settlements and the right of return for Palestinian
refugees.
Hamdallah
expressed gratitude to donor nations, but said Israeli settlements were
“severely” hampering development.
“Sixty-two
percent of all our land is still controlled by the Israeli authorities. This
impedes any access we have to natural resources, and severely restricts our
development,” he said.
“The people
of Palestine have been struggling to achieve this dream for more than five
decades,” Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the opening.
“Providing
them with capacity-building program is critical.”
Yudhoyono
said that Indonesia envisaged a Middle East “at peace with itself and the rest
of the world” and that peace would also depend on a treaty on nuclear weapons
and weapons of mass destruction.
Japanese
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said that security in the Middle East was “by no
means someone else’s problem in a distant region” for Asian nations.
“I firmly
believe participating countries share the common determination to assist in a
Palestinian state-building that promises to bring about regional peace and
stability,” he said in Japanese, according to a statement.
“Such
assistance will help achieve a ‘two-state solution’, which would see Palestine
and Israel in peaceful coexistence and co-prosperity,” he said.
The Ceapad
is jointly chaired by Indonesia, the Palestinian Authority and Japan.
Among
attending nations are South Africa, Singapore, Australia, Brunei and Vietnam,
while China’s special envoy on the Middle East issue Wu Sike attended.
The
conference was initiated by Japan, a major donor to the Palestinian Territories,
with the first event held in Tokyo last year.
The
conferences are not designed to seek fresh aid pledges, officials said,
although several countries have made pledges following last year’s meeting.
Agence France-Presse
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