Security, Hope At A Low Point For Palestinians'

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People fell at a time "when security and hope were at a low point," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday.



Michael Moller, director general of the UN's Geneva office, read a message from Ban.



"The tensions related to the holy sites in the Old City of Jerusalem had introduced a troubling and dangerous religious dimension to the conflict," Ban said.



In a statement Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said: "The recent events in the country were a result of diminishing hopes, the continued situation of strangulation, siege and pressure, and the lack of sense of security and safety felt by the Palestinians.



"There was the urgent need for efforts to expand and intensify international engagement to achieve peace, including through the adoption of a resolution by the Security Council, which would include clear parameters to achieve peace on the basis of the two-state solution and with a set timeframe for ending the Israeli occupation.



"It was urgent to act now to salvage the prospect for peace."



A message was also received from the Turkish president.



In 1977, the UN General Assembly called for Nov. 29 to be observed as International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. - Cenevre