Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, may I join those who have extended their congratulations on your appointment to your office. I want to comment on an issue that I think is very important. We as South Africa took a position when we graduated to democracy that with regard to the issue of the Middle East, we would not take sides, however we would be pro- peace. It is for that reason that our government under the leadership of President Mandela adopted a position that we must invite both Palestine and Israel to have missions here and to put own missions in the two countries.
The idea being that we wanted to convey to them that South Africans had said as South Africans without anybody from outside discussed the problems of their country and found a solution to that. We did so because we also recognise the fact that the two state solution of the Middle East was an initiative of both Israel and the Palestinians.
It may not have been perfect, but it was the product of the owners of the conflict. What was important for us was to join the international community to support a process that saved the lives of people on both sides, but that necessarily needed to be helped and guided towards a more complete and acceptable solution.
I would like to say to you Minister and your department, that South Africa must not be part of those who lose patience in the drive towards achieving the objectives both Arafat and his counterpart, identified for their people and laid the foundations for it.
We announcing it in the United Nations with both sides; the flag of Palestine and Israel are flying there. We have a duty to continue to prevail on both sides to return to the negotiations where they do not agree on issues, but they must find solutions in discussion and not spill more blood.
The countries of the world today understand that peace in any struggle, in any battle, killing people can go on and on, but in the end you can solve it if you go and sit down and negotiate. Our leaders in this country when they took up the arm struggle; they made the point quite clear that we are not taking up arms because we want to kill whites or to spill blood or to do that, we are doing so to put pressure on the government to go to the negotiations with us. Thank you. [Time expired.]