Palestinian Ambassador to Bangladesh Yousef S. Y. Ramadan. Photo : Collected

DHAKA, Nov 29, 2025 (BSS)- Palestinian Ambassador to Bangladesh Yousef S. Y. Ramadan today praised the “amazing people of Bangladesh” for standing by his nation from the beginning and vowed that Palestinians would continue their struggle until get the freedom. 

“The issue of Palestine is also your issue, we will continue our struggle until to get our freedom and dignity,” he said in a symposium organised by the United Nations Association of Bangladesh (UNAB) at a city hotel in Gulshan  to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
The ambassador said that Palestinians drew strength from global support, particularly from Bangladesh.

“I am here to tell you the truth. We are extremely proud to be Palestinian,” Ambassador Ramadan told the gathering.

Referring to the decades-long displacement and sufferings of his people, he said, “We are refugees… We are not ashamed of refugees… we are proud because our war is against evil for justice.”

He stressed that the Palestinian struggle was not merely a national one but a universal cause rooted in human dignity and fundamental rights. 

“Either peace for all or not to be anyone in Middle East,” he warned, underscoring that lasting regional stability is impossible without justice for the Palestinian people.

He highly appreciated the people of Bangladesh and noted that they have supported the Palestinian cause from the outset and continue to stand by it.

Former Foreign Secretary Ambassador Mahbub Uz Zaman, chief speaker at the event, delivered the keynote address, while M. Arifuzzaman Tasin, Senior Assistant Secretary (United Nations Wing) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended as Guest of Honour. 

UNAB Vice-President Professor Yusuf Musa chaired the programme while Secretary General Syed Mohammad Shahed gave the welcome address.

In his keynote, Ambassador Mahbub Uz Zaman recalled UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ recent observation that “In this moment of crisis, the United Nations has never been more essential,” noting that the remark was “apt and befitting viewed in the current context” of conflicts, nationalism and geopolitical contestations challenging the UN’s core principles.

He said the ongoing Israeli military operations, “defying worldwide condemnation and calls by the UN to stop indiscriminate killing of unarmed civilians,” represented a “blot on the conscience of humanity” and demonstrated “the blatant use of force” in disregard of fundamental human rights.

The former ambassador outlined how UN human rights principles were facing “significant and multifaceted threats,” including protracted conflicts, abuse of new technologies, rising authoritarianism and deepening social inequalities.
 
Against this backdrop, he said, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People reminded the world of the “imperative need to restore the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.”

Reviewing the traditional role of the UN on Palestinian issue, he described the plight of Palestinians as one of “oppression, discrimination and exploitation by the occupying forces; a systematic denial of their human rights.”
 
He called the situation “a blot on the conscience of humanity” and urged “concerted action” to address displacement, occupation and the struggle for self-determination.

Ambassador Mahbub noted that the UN General Assembly had repeatedly affirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and established the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in 1975. 

Inalienable rights, he said, were fundamental rights that “cannot be taken away, transferred, or surrendered” and could not be legitimately abridged by any government.

He warned that failure to resolve the Palestinian statehood had created a “catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” aggravated economic and social turmoil in the West Bank, disrupted regional relations, and fuelled maritime insecurity in key waterways such as the Red Sea.

He added that the unresolved conflict posed serious risks to global security, including economic shocks, political polarisation, military escalation and the “rise of extremism and terrorism.”

Turning to Bangladesh’s position, he reaffirmed that Dhaka “has consistently supported the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination and establishment of a sovereign Palestinian State based on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.” 

Bangladesh, he said, strongly backed a two-state solution in line with relevant UN resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet Road Map.

Speakers at the symposium reiterated Bangladesh’s solidarity with the Palestinian people and called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, unfettered humanitarian access to Gaza, release of hostages and political prisoners, and renewed diplomatic momentum towards a just and lasting peace.