Ms Marie Crawley:

On behalf of Sadaka - the Ireland Palestine Alliance, I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for inviting our guests from Palestine and Jordan to address the committee today. I will introduce the speakers, who will then proceed to give statements on the issue.

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi is a Palestinian physician, social, political, human rights and peace activist and politician who serves as secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative. He has been a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 2006 and is also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee. In 2007, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi was Minister of Information in the first national unity government in Palestinian history. He was a presidential candidate in the elections of 2005 as a representative of the Palestinian National Initiative on an anti-corruption and pro-democracy platform, achieving second place behind President Mahmoud Abbas with almost one third of the total votes. He is an outspoken advocate of internal reform, an international spokesperson for the Palestinian cause and a leading figure in the non-violent peaceful struggle against the occupation. Dr. Marghouthi is one of the most active grassroots leaders in Palestine. He has made an extraordinary contribution to initiatives which peacefully challenge the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine as well as efforts to build the institutional framework of Palestinian civil society and promote the principles of internal democracy and good governance.

Dr. Rima Khalaf Hunaidi has served in several leadership positions in Jordan and the United Nations, most recently as the Under Secretary General and executive secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. Dr. Khalaf Hunaidi resigned her post in 2017 when she refused to withdraw a seminal report on the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation. The report had concluded, based on overwhelming evidence, that Israel has established an apartheid regime that oppresses and dominates the Palestinian people whether they live in the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, in Israel or in the diaspora. Previously, Dr. Khalaf Hunaidi served as director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States with the UN Development Programme, initiating projects to promote good governance, human rights and human development in Arab countries. She was the principal architect of the pioneering Arab human development report series and has received numerous international prizes. Before joining the UN Development Programme, Dr. Khalaf Hunaidi served in senior government posts in Jordan, including Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Industry and Trade and Minister of Planning. She also served as Senator in the upper house of the Jordanian Parliament. Dr. Khalaf Hunaidi holds a bachelors degree in economics from the American University of Beirut as well as a masters degree in economics and a PhD in system science from Portland State University in Oregon. She has received an honorary doctorate, doctor of humane letters, from the American University of Cairo in recognition of her important regional initiatives in education, women's rights, civic engagement and economic growth. In December 2009, the Financial Timeslisted Dr. Khalaf Hunaidi among the top 50 people who shaped the decade.

I must offer apologies for Mr. Daniel Levy who unfortunately, for personal reasons, had to return to London. He would welcome the opportunity to return and deliver his part of the presentation to the committee at a later stage. Dr. Barghouthi will present the opening statement.