Agencies-Gaza post
Palestine emphasizes no reason for Israeli exceptionalism at NPT
There was no reason for Israeli exceptionalism in the Middle East area, which Palestine highlighted at the tenth Study Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in New York.
In his address before the Tenth NPT Review Conference, Palestine’s Endless Observer to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, reiterated that the use or endangered use of nuclear weapons has always been illegal as their very essence violates the basic principles of humanity and distinction and there is no rational justification for the privileged status granted de facto to nuclear weapons over other spears of mass demolition.
Mansour, associating himself with the Arab Group and Non-Aligned Movement, stressed therefore that “As there can be no justification for the exceptional status granted to nuclear weapons, there can be no reason for Israeli exceptionalism in our area, whereby it would be the only one allowed to hold nuclear weapons.”
“Our region should be free of nuclear weapons, full stop. This dangerous precedent continues to loom over the future of our region,” he said.
He renewed Palestine’s call that the NPT Review Conference should enforce the 1995 solution on launching a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
He warned that “the only option to the pursuit of effective nuclear disarmament in our region is a dangerous arms race and potentially nuclear proliferation” while calling on the co-sponsors of the 1995 solution to uphold their obligations.
“This is essential for regional and international peace and security and for the credibility of their calls for nuclear non-proliferation in our region,” he said.
He said that the only effective remedy against the threat nuclear weapons pose to all of society is “ridding the world of these weapons”.
He ended by stressing that a “nuclear sword” is inching closer to our necks, and that “…if we don’t put an end to nuclear weapons, they very might well put an end to society.”
