Wednesday, September 21, 2005

We need to understand and address the motives behind terrorist acts

Pervez Musharaff, President of Pakistan

This Special Summit offers us an opportunity to recommit ourselves to the principles and purposes of the UN Charter. Let us pledge to make the United Nations a more effective and relevant institution for the 21St century.

We believe that international security can be best promoted when every State sees peace as being in its best interest; when states believe that they can realize their interests through mutual cooperation; when the supremacy of equitable principles is established over the realities of unequal power; when Member States agree to utilize the United Nations to harmonize their policies and reconcile their interests.

The Security Council should work openly, on behalf of the general membership. The Council should become more representative; not by adding a new elite, but by reflecting more fully, the entire spectrum of the UN's membership. This can be achieved only through patient dialogue and general consensus.

Mr. President,

The challenges confronting international peace and security are formidable and many. Terrorism and the threat from Weapons of Mass Destruction are among them. Yet, even as we address new threats, we should not, and we cannot, ignore the legacy of festering problems left by the past.

Peace and justice must come to the peoples of Palestine as well as Jammu and Kashmir.

We must not only be prepared to proclaim our principles; we must defend them and, above all, live up to them. Resolutions of the United Nations, especially the Security Council's decisions, must be implemented.

It is in this spirit that Pakistan is pursuing the composite dialogue with India. We want the dialogue process to be result oriented and initiate a new era of peace and cooperation in South Asia. Our nations must not remain trapped, by hate and history, in a cycle of confrontation and conflict. For this to happen, it is essential to find a just solution of the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir, acceptable to Pakistan, India and above all to the people of Kashmir.

Today, terrorism is a primary threat to world order. We must fight terrorism, in all its forms, outlaw it and eliminate it. We need a comprehensive strategy for success. At the same time, we need to understand and address the motives behind terrorist acts. These may not justify terrorism; but they explain it. To eliminate terrorist violence, we will need to eliminate it in the minds of potential terrorists. No religion sanctions terrorism; the motives of terrorists, however misguided, are always political.

We, therefore, need to redress political and economic injustice. I have suggested a strategy of Enlightened Moderation, which can ensure success in eliminating terrorism and extremism.

I trust that this will be reflected in the deliberations of the new Commission created by the Secretary-General on an 'Alliance of Civilizations'.

Weapons of mass destruction must not fall into the hands of terrorists. To prevent this, we must aim to eliminate both the terrorists as well as the weapons of mass destruction.

The catastrophic consequences of a nuclear war make it imperative to prevent one from ever taking place. Both the proliferation and the perpetual possession of nuclear weapons pose an unacceptable global danger. We must evolve a new consensus to achieve disarmament and non-proliferation.

We also need to prevent the destabilizing accumulation and build up of conventional weapons and forces especially in regions of tension - such as the Middle East, South Asia and North East Asia. Pakistan will continue to promote a nuclear and conventional weapons restraint regime in South Asia.

Peace and development are interdependent. Although action for development must be largely local, it is critically dependent - in our globalized world - on the external economic environment. Paradoxically, globalization has increased both poverty and prosperity. The rules of international trade and finance and technology access are weighted against the poor and weak. In fact, the poor should be offered a 'development handicap' to enable them to successfully integrate into a world market of unequal players.

Respect for human rights is an integral element of both peace and development. Economic rights are as important as political and civil rights. A hungry man is not a free man. The new human rights architecture we will create - such as the proposed Human Rights Council - should advance human rights, through cooperation and mutual support. Genocide, ethnic cleansing and similar grave violations must be prevented. As a first step, the United Nations should be given a standing authority to send a fact-finding mission to the area where a conflict has broken out.

Pakistan has contributed actively and constructively to the preparation of this Summit's important decisions. We shall work equally to ensure that our decisions are translated into action.

At this Summit, let us resolve to make poverty history, peace permanent and freedom universal.

I thank you.

Speech made by the President at the UN meet last week. Text courtesy: Pakistan embassy in Kathmandu.

Political Struggle Is No Way to Resolve Irregular Workers Issue

Yu Jisoo, Professor, Department of Management, Kookmin University

Recently, conflict between various interest groups has intensified over a National Assembly bill related to irregular workers, which is scheduled to be introduced during a special session of the National Assembly in April. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions staged a "warning strike" on April 1 to make known its opposition to this measure. Meanwhile, it has prepared an alternative proposal as well as a separate bill to repeal the "Labor Dispatch Law."

However, what this situation requires are concerted efforts to identify the most effective means of enhancing the international competitiveness of Korean industries and creating more jobs. While it is well known that the number of irregular workers has increased sharply in every sector in Korea since the financial crisis of 1997-98, it should also be realized that an expansion of irregular workers is an inevitable consequence of the interaction between supply and demand factors in the labor market.

In this era of unbounded global competition, business enterprises hire irregular workers to reduce labor costs and improve flexibility, in terms of manpower resources. Big business corporations with powerful labor unions hire irregular workers in order to avoid having to pay higher wages and to assure that their regular employees do not gain undue influence. From a standpoint of the supply of labor, the increase in irregular workers can be attributed to employers' preference for greater diversity of the workforce, as a reflection of the growing numbers of women and older workers now seeking employment, which has increased the difficulties faced by young jobseekers and contributed to a serious youth unemployment situation.

Improving the flexibility of the labor market is a worldwide phenomenon these days. This is a natural phenomenon in this era of globalization in which capital is free to gravitate toward markets with higher levels of labor flexibility. Under these circumstances, Korea's manufacturing industries, which are currently being squeezed between those of developing countries and advanced economies, have been engaged in a desperate struggle for survival. In particular, China, which boasts labor costs of only one-tenth the wage levels in Korea and enjoys considerably greater flexibility in terms of labor supply, has been steadily attracting Korean manufacturers and investors for some time now.

The advanced economies are no exception either in terms of promoting labor market flexibility. Europe and Japan, as well as the United States, have been continuously striving to enhance their international competitiveness through improved flexibility of their labor sector. One good example is the Japanese government's policy of expanding the occupational categories (previously limited to 26) in which temporarily dispatched workers can be utilized, by abolishing restrictions that had prohibited the use of such workers by manufacturing firms. In this way, Japan has positively responded to the changing global trends, in regard to labor market flexibility, by adjusting labor regulations in a timely manner. Irregular workers, including newly hired temporary employees and workers dispatched from the company's subcontractors, can even be found on the Toyota Motor Corporation's assembly lines. Thus, why do Korean enterprises continue to suffer under Korea's anachronistic and impractical laws and regulations, which prohibit or curtail the use of irregular workers?

Government policy should be aimed at helping businesses to overcome their difficulties, and building a foundation for a welfare state through industrial growth and economic development. As such, it is imperative to revise relevant labor provisions in order to bolster national competitiveness.

Here, it should be remembered that the fundamental reason why irregular workers are needed in the first place is that the labor unions of big business corporations have become too powerful while the labor market remains too inflexible.

A serious problem area is that, despite its agreement to hire non-regular workers, the labor unions of the Hyundai Motor Company have continuously made an issue of irregular workers, including those dispatched from its subcontractors. In addition, there has been a wide divergence of opinions among labor specialists about the legality or illegality of individual enterprises' labor practices.

Therefore, the government needs to maintain a flexible stance in regard to the interpretation and enforcement of relevant laws and regulations in order to promote sustained growth of the national economy, while adopting comprehensive policy initiatives, including measures designed to help enhance labor market flexibility.

[Text courtesy: The Dong-A Ilbo, April 6, 2005]

The Land of Israel is the open Bible, the written testimony, the identity and right of the Jewish people

-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel

I arrived here from Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people for over 3,000 years and the undivided and eternal capital of the State of Israel.

At the outset, I would like to express the profound feelings of empathy of the people of Israel for the American nation, and our sincere condolences to the families who lost their loved ones.  I wish to encourage my friend, President George Bush, and the American people, in their determined efforts to assist the victims of the hurricane and rebuild the ruins after the destruction.  The State of Israel, which the United States stood beside at times of trial, is ready to extend any assistance at its disposal in this immense humanitarian mission.

I stand before you at the gate of nations as a Jew and as a citizen of the democratic, free, and sovereign State of Israel, a proud representative of an ancient people, whose numbers are few, but whose contribution to civilization and to the values of ethics, justice, and faith, surrounds the world and encompasses history.  The Jewish people has a long memory, the memory which united the exiles of Israel for thousands of years: a memory which has its origin in God’s commandment to our forefather Abraham: “Go forth!” and continued with the receiving of the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai and the wanderings of the children of Israel in the desert, led by Moses on their journey to the promised land, the Land of Israel.

I was born in the Land of Israel, the son of pioneers - people who tilled the land and sought no fights - who did not come to Israel to dispossess its residents.  If the circumstances had not demanded it, I would not have become a soldier, but rather a farmer and agriculturist.  My first love was, and remains, manual labor; sowing and harvesting, the pastures, the flock and the cattle.

I, as someone whose path of life led him to be a fighter and commander in all Israel’s wars, reach out today to our Palestinian neighbors in a call for reconciliation and compromise to end the bloody conflict, and embark on the path which leads to peace and understanding between our peoples.  I view this as my calling and my primary mission for the coming years.

The Land of Israel is precious to me, precious to us, the Jewish people, more than anything.  Relinquishing any part of our forefathers’ legacy is heartbreaking, as difficult as the parting of the Red Sea.  Every inch of land, every hill and valley, every stream and rock, is saturated with Jewish history, replete with memories.  The continuity of Jewish presence in the Land of Israel never ceased.  Even those of us who were exiled from our land, against their will, to the ends of the earth - their souls, for all generations, remained connected to their homeland, by thousands of hidden threads of yearning and love, expressed three times a day in prayer and songs of longing.

The Land of Israel is the open Bible, the written testimony, the identity and right of the Jewish people.  Under its skies, the prophets of Israel expressed their claims for social justice, and their eternal vision for alliances between peoples, in a world which would know no more war.  Its cities, villages, vistas, ridges, deserts, and plains preserve as loyal witnesses its ancient Hebrew names.  Page after page, our unique land is unfurled, and at its heart is united Jerusalem, the city of the Temple upon Mount Moriah, the axis of the life of the Jewish people throughout all generations, and the seat of its yearnings and prayers for 3,000 years.  The city to which we pledged an eternal vow of faithfulness, which forever beats in every Jewish heart: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its cunning!”

I say these things to you because they are the essence of my Jewish consciousness, and of my belief in the eternal and unimpeachable right of the people of Israel to the Land of Israel.  However, I say this here also to emphasize the immensity of the pain I feel deep in my heart at the recognition that we have to make concessions for the sake of peace between us and our Palestinian neighbors.

The right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel does not mean disregarding the rights of others in the land.  The Palestinians will always be our neighbors.  We respect them, and have no aspirations to rule over them.  They are also entitled to freedom and to a national, sovereign existence in a state of their own.

This week, the last Israeli soldier left the Gaza Strip, and military law there was ended.  The State of Israel proved that it is ready to make painful concessions in order to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians.  The decision to disengage was very difficult for me, and involves a heavy personal price.  However, it is the absolute recognition that it is the right path for the future of Israel that guided me.  Israeli society is undergoing a difficult crisis as a result of the Disengagement, and now needs to heal the rifts.

Now it is the Palestinians’ turn to prove their desire for peace.  The end of Israeli control over and responsibility for the Gaza Strip allows the Palestinians, if they so wish, to develop their economy and build a peace-seeking society, which is developed, free, law-abiding, and transparent, and which adheres to democratic principles.  The most important test the Palestinian leadership will face is in fulfilling their commitment to put an end to terrorism and its infrastructures, eliminate the anarchic regime of armed gangs, and cease the incitement and indoctrination of hatred towards Israel and the Jews.

Until they do so - Israel will know how to defend itself from the horrors of terrorism.  This is why we built the security fence, and we will continue to build it until it is completed, as would any other country defending its citizens.  The security fence prevents terrorists and murderers from arriving in city centers on a daily basis and targeting citizens on their way to work, children on their way to school, and families sitting together in restaurants.  This fence is vitally indispensable.  This fence saves lives!

The successful implementation of the Disengagement Plan opens up a window of opportunity for advancing toward peace, in accordance with the sequence of the Roadmap.  The State of Israel is committed to the Roadmap and to the implementation of the Sharm e-Sheikh understandings.  And I hope that it will be possible, through them, to renew the political process.

I am among those who believe that it is possible to reach a fair compromise and coexistence in good neighborly relations between Jews and Arabs.  However, I must emphasize one fact: There will be no compromise on the right of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, with defensible borders, in full security and without threats and terrorism.

I call on the Palestinian leadership to show determination and leadership, and to eliminate terrorism, violence, and the culture of hatred from our relations.  I am certain that it is in our power to present our peoples with a new and promising horizon, a horizon of hope.

As I mentioned, the Jewish people has a long memory.  We remember events that took place thousands of years ago, and certainly remember events that took place in this hall during the last 60 years. The Jewish people remembers the dramatic vote in the UN General Assembly on November 29, 1947, when representatives of the nations recognized our right to national revival in our historic homeland.  However, we also remember dozens of harsh and unjust decisions made by the United Nations over the years.  And we know that, even today, there are those who sit here as representatives of a country whose leadership calls to wipe Israel off the face of the earth - and no one speaks out.

The attempts of that country to arm itself with nuclear weapons must disturb the sleep of anyone who desires peace and stability in the Middle East and the entire world.  The combination of murky fundamentalism and support of terrorist organizations creates a serious threat that every member nation in the UN must stand against.

I hope that the comprehensive reforms which the United Nations is undergoing in its 60th anniversary year will include a fundamental change and improvement in the approach of the United Nations, its organizations and institutions, toward the State of Israel.

Peace is a supreme value in the Jewish legacy, and is the desired goal of our policy.  After the long journey of wanderings and the hardships of the Jewish people; after the Holocaust which obliterated one third of our people; after the long and arduous struggle for revival; after more than 57 consecutive years of war and terrorism which did not stop the development of the State of Israel; after all this - our heart’s desire was and remains to achieve peace with our neighbors.  Our desire for peace is strong enough to ensure that we will achieve it, only if our neighbors are genuine partners in this longed-for goal.  If we succeed in working together, we can transform our plot of land, which is dear to both peoples, from a land of contention to a land of peace – for our children and grandchildren.

In a few days' time on the Hebrew calendar, the New Year will begin, the 5,766th year since the Creation.  According to Jewish belief, the fates of people and nations are determined at the New Year by the Creator - to be spared or to be doomed.  May the Holy One, blessed be He, determine that this year, our fate and the fate of our neighbors is peace, mutual respect, and good neighborly relations.

From this distinguished podium, on behalf of the people of Israel, I wish all the people of the world a good New Year.

Address by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the High Level Plenary Meeting of the 60th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations 2005 UN World Summit. Text courtesy: Embassy of Israel in Kathmandu-ed