Geneva, July 29 (Petra) – Senate President Faisal Al-Fayez said on Tuesday that the most appalling reality in today’s world is the devastation caused by wars and conflicts claiming the lives of innocent civilians and fueling the rise in the number of refugees, displaced persons, and forcibly uprooted communities while posing a grave threat to global peace and stability. He cited, among others, the war in Ukraine and the ongoing Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Al-Fayez made the remarks during an address at the Sixth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in cooperation with the United Nations, held in Geneva to promote democracy, peace, and multilateral parliamentary cooperation.

According to a statement from the Senate, and in the presence of Jordan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organizations in Switzerland, Ambassador Akram Al-Harasheh, Al-Fayez said the situation in Gaza is a "tragedy and a humanitarian crime beyond imagination," adding that Israel’s systematic killing and starvation of civilians constitutes a "crime against humanity."

He condemned Israel for committing these crimes "with no moral, humanitarian, or legal restraint," flouting all United Nations conventions, international law, and human rights frameworks. Al-Fayez asserted that Israel’s occupation policies have created a dire reality in the Middle East, with innocent people especially children and women paying the heaviest price.

He questioned how Israel intends to govern the 7.2 million Palestinians living under its control without granting them political rights. "Is it by force, oppression, displacement, and killing?" he asked. "Would the West accept such policies under its ethical and moral principles? Such practices amount to apartheid, a system of racial segregation that the world once rejected in South Africa and one that must now be universally opposed."

Al-Fayez called on parliaments around the world to act to end Israeli aggression, advance social justice, promote education and healthcare, ensure equitable digital access between the Global North and South, and guarantee the ethical and optimal use of modern technologies to safeguard individual privacy.

He also urged support for political pluralism, enhanced international cooperation, and joint action to tackle illegal migration, climate change, economic inequality, and sustainable development challenges in conflict zones. He underscored the importance of addressing poverty, hunger, and displacement caused by warfare.

Parliamentarians, he said, must become more agile in their efforts to foster political and security stability, protect international institutions working to uphold global peace, and push for adherence to international law and the decisions of global human rights bodies. "The continued double standards in implementing international legitimacy must come to an end," he stressed.

Al-Fayez noted that the IPU’s goals highlight the urgent need for stronger parliamentary cooperation to achieve peace, justice, and prosperity in a turbulent world marked by worsening crises, non-traditional threats, accelerating climate change, terrorism, extremism, hate speech, and deepening distrust in global institutions.

He emphasized the necessity for collaboration at bilateral, regional, continental, and international levels to safeguard human rights and enable people to live in security and dignity.

"The question today," he said, "is where are the international parliaments and parliamentary organizations when it comes to resolving conflicts and wars the United Nations has failed to stop?" He argued that parliamentary diplomacy could play a more effective role in building peace through dialogue, legislative action to support conflict resolution, and defusing regional tensions.

Al-Fayez concluded by calling for the conference’s final recommendations to meet the aspirations of peoples for peace and tolerance, the protection of cultural and civilizational commonalities, respect for minorities and their rights, and an end to racism and hate speech.

//Petra// AF

29/07/2025 21:15:03