29 November: International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
In 1977, the United Nations General Assembly declared the 29 November International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (Resolution 32/40 B). The date was chosen for its significance to the Palestinian people: the 29 November of 1947 the Resolution was approved by the General Assembly 181 which provided for the Partition Plan of Palestine drawn up by the UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOPE).
This Resolution defined the establishment of a Jewish State and an Arab State in Palestine, with Jerusalem as a corpus separatum under a special international regime. Of the two states envisaged, only that of Israel was created. The Palestinian people, which now numbers more than eight million people, lives mainly in Palestinian territory (occupied by Israel since 1967), including East Jerusalem, in Israel, in neighboring Arab states and in refugee camps in the region.
The 29 November of this year marks 50 years since the start of the Arab-Israeli war 1967, which resulted in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, of East Jerusalem, of Gaza and the Syrian Golan and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and Syrians.
With this day we want to remind the international community that the question of Palestine is still unresolved and that the Palestinian people must be able to enjoy those inalienable rights that the General Assembly has defined: the right to self-determination without external interference, the right to independence and national sovereignty, and the right to return to the homes and properties that Palestinians have had to abandon. On the occasion of the day, Government institutions and society organizations express their solidarity with the Palestinian people through messages, awareness meetings and events.
Every year the Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People organizes a special meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Among the speakers is the UN Secretary General, the President of the General Assembly, representatives of various organizations, of intergovernmental organizations and Palestine. During the meeting, messages from the President of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the President of the Palestinian Authority are read. Civil society organizations are invited to participate and a spokesperson from the international community of civil society organizations speaks during the meeting. This year the message of the day of solidarity will be The Palestinian people: eternal roots and infinite horizons. Among the events planned for the day: an exhibition on Palestinians who have contributed to the advancement of humanity in various sectors, facing extraordinary challenges.
http://www.un.org/en/events/palestinianday/events.shtml
