Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain at a high-level UN conference on Tuesday delivered a statement reaffirming Bangladesh’s commitment to self-determination and voicing urgent support for the Palestinian cause.
Citing Bangladesh’s own legacy of struggle, from the country’s 1971 Liberation War to the recent mass uprising in July and August 2024, Touhid emphasized that “our Constitution commits us to stand with those who face oppression and affirms the right of peoples to self-determination.”
He drew a direct connection between Bangladesh’s history and its solidarity with the Palestinian people, saying that this legacy “shapes our empathy and enduring solidarity… in their legitimate aspiration for an independent, sovereign State.”
He called for immediate implementation of a two-state solution as the path forward.
The two-state solution to the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict would place their peoples side by side, living in peace in independent nations.
Touhid also acknowledged the limitations of symbolic statements alone, urging the international community to take tangible steps toward peace.
“Words alone will not heal the suffering of the Palestinian people,” he said, stressing the urgent need for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and unrestricted humanitarian access to essential supplies and services.
As the High-Level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution concluded, he issued a stark reminder: “From this conference, we simply cannot go back to where we were.”
Israel and its close ally the United States have boycotted the meeting, co-chaired by the foreign ministers of France and Saudi Arabia.
Israel’s government opposes the two-state solution, and the United States has called the meeting “counterproductive” to its efforts to end the war in Gaza.
According to the concept note prepared by France and Saudi Arabia, the goal of the conference, being held from July 28-30, is not only to reaffirm international consensus on the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine but to catalyze concrete, time-bound and coordinated international action toward the implementation of the two-state solution.
They also underlined the need to support Palestinian statehood, reinforce regional and international cooperation, and ensure respect for international law.
