Ammon News - Minister of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs, Nasser Judeh, on Monday, chaired a United Nations Security Council's open debate on various Middle East issues, namely the Palestinian cause and the Syrian crisis.

The minister delivered a speech in which he highlighted Jordan's stances on regional issues, renewing the Kingdom's call for a political solution to the crisis in Syria and stressing that the two-state solution is the gateway to bring about peace and resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Following is the full text of Judeh's speech: In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate Your Excellency Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg Your Excellency Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea, Your Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am honoured to preside today over this regular session of the UN Security Council on "the situation in Middle East, including the Palestinian Question". I would like first to take the opportunity to express the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s appreciation for the United Nations member states for the confidence they have shown in my country through electing it, almost unanimously, as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for the years 2014 and 2015.

We assure you that we, God willing, will prove that we are worthy of this confidence, through working with a spirit of cooperation and harmony with the rest of the member states of the UN Security Council, which is entrusted with the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security on behalf of the international community.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein has a great record of accomplishment, which is appreciated by the entire international community, of relentless and fruitful efforts to promote the purposes and principles of the United Nations, of achieving global harmony, peace, justice, security and stability.

Jordan has also had remarkable contributions that are distinguished in terms of quality and quantity in the UN peacekeeping operations in various regions of the world. I can assure you today that we will continue to honour this outstanding track record and will work diligently and with a positive spirit to build on these achievements.

Your Excellencies Ladies and Gentlemen, The Middle East – unfortunately – is still gripped by chronic tensions that have repercussions and ramifications threatening international peace and security. This painful and continuing reality imposed on the agenda of the Council the tradition of holding a special session on the Middle East on a regular basis, because the situation in this region is a constant source of concern due to its direct impact on world peace.

We have no doubt that the continued absence of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between the Arabs and Israel is the source of most of the Middle East tensions. Hence, the achievement of the just and comprehensive peace would produce dynamics that would lead to the elimination of other tensions in the region.

The key to Arab-Israeli comprehensive peace lies in implementing the two-state solution, under which an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state is established within the June 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem its capital, to live in peace and security and within secure borders with all countries in the region, including Israel. Such a solution should come in line with the relevant terms of reference adopted in this regard, including the several resolutions this Council has issued, such as 242, 338, 1397 and 1515, in addition to the Arab Peace Initiative, whose importance has been acknowledged by the Council on several occasions.

Based on this conviction, we support the ongoing appreciated efforts lead by the United States, and undertaken by its secretary of state, Mr. John Kerry, to reach a Palestinian-Israeli agreement that adopts the two-state solution and addresses all core issues, namely, refugees, Jerusalem, security, borders, water and settlements, in accordance with the abovementioned international terms of reference and the international legitimacy resolutions.

In this context, I find it imperative to stress that we in Jordan believe that implementing the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state within June 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital constitute a higher interest for Jordan.

In fact, all the core issues directly affect higher and actual Jordanian interests. We are the world’s largest host of Palestinian refugees, and most of the refugees on our territory are Jordanian citizens in addition to their status as refugees, and it lies at the heart of our responsibilities to protect and restore their legitimate rights recognized by the international terms of reference pertaining to the peace process. As a host country, we, in turn, have rights for the burdens we have shouldered.

Regarding East Jerusalem, His Majesty King Abdullah II is taking care of the maintenance and protection of the Christian and Islamic holy sites there, as part of the historical Hashemite custodianship of East Jerusalem. We will continue to play this role and addressing all Israeli violations, which continue to defy several resolutions issued by the UN Security Council that stipulate that all Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem are null and void and should be halted immediately, and that the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem must end. Moreover the world rejects Israel’s settlement activity which is illegal and is still ongoing as we speak.

In addition, the issues of security, borders, and water directly affect the security of Jordan and its interests . Accordingly, and although we are not a party to the negotiating process yet we are a main party in the process as a whole. We stress that all agreements on the core issues should take into full account and fully meet the vital and higher interests of Jordan.

Our unyielding commitment to achieving peace is based on the firm conviction that ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict leads to an end to the broader Arab-Israeli conflict, which would, in turn, result in the elimination of many other sources of tension in the region. Moreover, I wish to draw the council’s attention to the dire humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories particularly in the Gaza Strip and call on the international community to hold its responsibilities in this regard.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, The tragic and bloody crisis in Syria is still raging, and the bloodshed is ongoing. This bloodletting must immediately stop and hard work must be done to end the crisis there, especially since it has spilled over beyond the Syrian borders and is threatening regional and international stability. Such a threat is not only associated to the context of displacement and refugee influx into the neighbouring countries, but also to the unrestrained flow of people and weapons into Syria’s neighbours.

This has become an alarming phenomenon that constitutes a real security threat to some of these countries, the entire region and even beyond, as international peace and security are also on the line. We, in Jordan, are convinced that a political solution is the only way to end this tragedy.

The upcoming international conference to be held in Montreux, Switzerland is an opportunity that should not be wasted to put this political solution on the right track through the cessation of hostilities. Such a political solution must meet the aspirations of the Syrian people for which there have been blood sacrifices.

The envisioned political transition should immediately lead, through consensus among all parties, to the setting up of an inclusive executive transitional body where the entire Syrian spectra is represented. It should have full authority to act immediately to restore social cohesion in Syria, with complete jurisdiction over all Syrian territory, in a manner that ensures the country’s territorial integrity and political independence.

This body should ensure its full control and sovereignty over weapon arsenals, pave the way for a pluralistic and democratic political system, and work to restore security and stability to encourage the return of internally displaced persons and refugees in neighbouring countries, foremost of which is Jordan.

As you know, we are currently hosting about 1.3 million Syrian citizens, including nearly 600,000 who have taken refuge in Jordan since the outbreak of the crisis three years ago. We share with these brothers and sisters our already limited resources, with the cost of their hosting estimated during the year 2013 by 1.7$ billion while we anticipate the cost to reach 2.8$ billion in 2014.

We call upon the international community to help us meet the challenge we have risen to on behalf of the entire humanity, we have previously extended an invitation to your council to visit the camps to look closely at the situation on the ground Moreover, I wish to express our gratitude to the State of Kuwait and the Secretary General for hosting the International humanitarian pledging conference for Syria.

It may be useful if the Security Council adopts the outputs of aforementioned international conference when achieved, and issues a resolution that makes it mandatory for all parties to implement these outputs. I take this opportunity to voice appreciation for all the efforts made to facilitate the holding of this important conference, particularly the efforts of several member states of this Council, and particularly the initiating countries Russia and United States, and others that played an important role in this regard.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, There is no doubt that the perpetual conflict in the Middle East exceptional circumstances in some countries in the region which are associated with the time of war.

These circumstances produced internal tensions in some countries in our region that, in turn, led to practices that fuelled sectarian, ethnic and religious polarisation and opened the door wide for interference by external powers, which have incited parties against each other and interfered in the internal affairs of some countries in the region, driven by their desire of hegemony and expansion.

The result was a deepened state of polarisation that spilled over to other countries, where it poses a real threat to regional and international peace and stability. Therefore, it is the duty of all to firmly confront violence, extremism and all forms of terrorism and religious, ethnic and sectarian polarization, and to work with all our energy to eliminate the root causes of these phenomena that threaten internal stability.

Nevertheless, addressing the wave of extremism and sectarian and religious tension and incitement in the region, which constitutes a challenge to regional security and stability as we see its effects spill over to our neighbouring countries, in addition to Syria, requires that we exert concerted efforts to counter such thought.

We in Jordan, building on the Amman Message and the Common Word initiative, and under the guidance of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein, have embarked on an effort to address these phenomena. Part of that was an Islamic conference held in Amman last summer, where participants voiced total rejection of the use and incitement of sectarian conflict.

They underlined the freedom of opinion and belief and the sanctity of human blood and refused the approach of apostatising and using it in political conflict. Another conference followed under the title: "Challenges facing Christian Arabs," during which His Majesty stressed that "We believe that the protection of the rights of Christians is a duty rather than a favour.

Arab Christians have played a key role in building Arab societies, and defending the just causes of our nation," adding: "We support every effort to preserve the historical Arab Christian identity, and safeguard the right to worship freely, based on a rule in both the Christian and Islamic faiths that underlines love of God and love of neighbour, as embodied in the ‘A Common Word’ initiative". Finally, as I thank you again Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, I reiterate that Jordan, as the world has always known it, will continue to work hard and earnestly for the development of cooperation and cordial relations between the countries of the world and its peoples. It will carry on with its approach and mission aimed at enhancing world security and peace and addressing isolationism, despair and hatred.

Jordan will relentlessly work to promote harmony and respect among all nations and peoples and cultures and civilizations, which brings us together under the umbrella of humanity, which we have to render as ideal as possible, in a way that benefits us all.

*Petra