The Middle East The ongoing bloodshed and violence in Israel and Palestine totally appal us. We continue to believe that the only way forward is through a ceasefire and renewed dialogue. The Mitchell Report, the progress made at the Taba talks early last year and the Saudi initiative which was adopted at the Beirut meeting of the League of Arab States remain important bases for such dialogue. Only when both sides acknowledge the full rights and aspirations of the other will real progress be made in the peace process. This process will need to find solutions to the right of Israel to live in a sustained peaceful relationship with all its neighbours and to be allowed to ensure its security; the totally unacceptable suicide and other terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens; the right of return of Palestinians uprooted from their homes in what is now Israel and/or adequate compensation for those who cannot  return (for whatever reason), made available directly to them on a fair basis; the Israeli occupation of West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights, the brutal military action taken on occasion in the Occupied Territories and the violence against Palestinians perpetrated by certain Jewish settlers and others; the illegal Jewish settlements on Palestinian land and the Golan Heights; the status of Jerusalem which is so central for both Israelis and Palestinians; the incitement of hatred in school books and other ways against both Jews and Palestinians. We note with great concern the impact of this ongoing violence on civilians, including the children caught in the middle of the conflict; victims of the cynical tactic of suicide bombings; non-violent peace activists injured by Israeli fire; journalists prevented from reporting, thus denying them their basic right to report freely under Article XIX of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and call upon the Secretary-General of the United Nations and all others involved in and beyond the Quartet to make urgent representations to the Palestinian Authority and the Israelis to make every effort to pursue a peaceful solution to the dispute which respects the rights of all civilians.      We warmly welcomed the adoption on 12th March 2002 of UN Security Council 1397 (2002) which affirmed “a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognised borders”. We continue to call on all parties involved in the crisis to work towards the realisation of that two-state solution in which both Israel and the independent State of Palestine would enjoy lasting peace and security, building on the earlier Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). We are saddened by the violence which has continued to occur since the adoption of this historic Resolution (1397) which offers to both Israelis and the State of Israel and to the Palestinians and the proposed State of Palestine a major diplomatic opportunity through the United Nations and, therefore, through the international community to achieve a lasting peaceful co-existence for the two states. We fully support the creation and purposes of the Quartet  the Russian Federation, the United States of America, the European Union and, especially, the United Nations  and the role which each member of it can play in trying to develop a coherent way forward out of the present quagmire.   We are convinced that a major confidence-building exercise is now urgently needed to begin the process of transforming Israeli and Palestinian opinion in favour of giving this new opportunity a chance to work in favour of the two states, Israel and Palestine, living together side by side within secure and recognised borders. The Quartet will, we believe, have a key role to play in developing that exercise. We call on our Governments, working closely together and with the European Union, the Arab League and the American Administration, to support actively the UN Secretary-General and the others in the Quartet as they seek to assist the parties to end violence and to resume peaceful negotiations; (ii)    to prepare with them the international support, via UN peacekeeping forces and their civil support mechanisms, that will be required to assist with the peaceful negotiations on the ground and for securing the recognised borders of the two states.       We also welcome US Secretary of State Powells public recognition, made explicit during his last visit to the region, of the vital humanitarian role being played by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees. We urge the US President and Administration to display total even-handedness in their central mediation role, however difficult this may prove to be. We call on the President, Secretary of State Powell and all others involved to maintain open and active contact with the leadership of both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, whoever has been elected to office, and with civil society groups in the region.      Our United Nations Associations will remain active in their co-operation in seeking to strengthen public support for a purposeful peace process in the Middle East, in arguing for the role which the United Nations should play in it and in advocating that role to our respective Governments. Signed on 13 July, 2002 by Margaret Reynolds               Sirpa Pietikäinen       AnatoliV.Torkounov       President                       President               Chairman UNA-Australia           UNA-Finland     UNA-Russian Federation                                                                                                                                               Geoffrey Pearson                Lucille Buchanan     J.L. Shija National Board President        President               DeputySecretary General UNA-Canada                      UNA-Jamaica     UNA-Tanzania Mussie Hailu            N. Bossoondyal  Malcolm Harper Director                        Secretary-General       Director UNA-Ethiopia            UNA-Mauritius   UNA-United Kingdom                                 **** Tiedoksenne saattoi Jarmo Ainasoja Toiminnanjohtaja Suomen YK-liitto