YouSaid · the spoken record

Ahu Odeh

lines on the record
21
first
1995-05-15
most recent
1995-05-15
sittings or episodes
1
sources
un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

  1. “Finally, out of respect to the obligations that you, Sir, are shouldering in this Council under the provisions of the Charter and given the policy of preventive diplomacy adopted by the international community, to avoid friction that might strike sparks and touch off a conflagration in the region and to express our wish that the present negotiations culminate in a comprehensive, lasting and genuine peace, my delegation hopes that this Council will fully shoulder all its responsibilities and will adopt and implement the draft resolution before it.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  2. “It has its origins in the Israeli measure, which threatens peace and security in the Middle East because it contravenes Security Council resolution 242 (1967) - the very basis of the peace process that is under way - and other relevant resolutions of the Security Council. This measure also violates the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 in its most sensitive aspects and distort the spirit and the letter of the Oslo agreements.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  3. “We would never have believed that the Declaration of Principles could be transformed into a wall that some could hide behind while others threatened it by threatening the peace process itself. And we never would have believed that deferring the question of Jerusalem could be an opportunity for Israel to continue to Judaize East Jerusalem by imposing a fait accompli on the Palestinians, the Arabs and the world until such time as the question is ultimately debated. In this light, I believe that this meeting of the Council is extremely important, for a very serious problem is at stake.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  4. “Just as that situation was unbalanced, so is the one now: the only difference is that the imbalance then resulted from the state of war, while today Israel itself is contributing to it - even now there is peace. How then can we achieve the peace we desire when peace alone is still not enough? The Palestinian and Israeli negotiators decided in Oslo to defer discussions on the status of Jerusalem to a later stage. We believed that this could be done and were very hopeful that a just and balanced solution to all questions, including that of Jerusalem, could be achieved. We believed that the question had been deferred because of its complexity and that confidence would be created between the two parties in order to achieve a balanced solution.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  5. “This also means that political sovereignty was not a problem: there was Israeli sovereignty over the West and Arab sovereignty over the East political sovereignty was thus not restricted to one party to the exclusion of the other: each side had inclusive, not exclusive, sovereignty. But today, we see Israel trying to annex East Jerusalem and to make Yerushalaim the united capital of Israel. This is an attempt to reverse the course of events and to revert to the situation as it was before the war of 1967 in order to make political sovereignty over Yerushalaim and East Al-Quds exclusive while keeping the non-Jewish Holy Places inaccessible to Arabs. This is exactly the situation pre-1967.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  6. “Such a solution is possible, and it is crucial. Having the Israeli capital in West Jerusalem and the Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem is a problem that can be resolved. Indeed, Jerusalem is the key to a lasting peace and to the achievement of a just and balanced solution. Between 1948, when the State of Israel was established, and 1967, when Israel occupied East Jerusalem by force, the Israelis had sovereignty over West Jerusalem and the Arabs over East Jerusalem, including the Holy Places of the three revealed religions, one of which is the Wall. Since peace did not prevail at the time in the region, the Israelis were prevented from visiting the Wailing Wall, just as the Arab Christians could not Visit the city of Nazareth in Israel.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  7. “Would it not have been easier to choose Jerusalem as the administrative centre rather than Lod or Ramallah? Nothing prevented them from doing so except one very important thing: their acute feeling for and perfect understanding of the need to keep the political and administrative centre of the State away from the Holy Places, which are visited by pilgrims from both within and outside the region. One might, of course, have hoped that today's politicians would have achieved that level of understanding. I say this not to deny the attachment of the Jews to Jerusalem but rather to suggest that Muslim and Christian Arabs were perhaps even more attached to the city. The concept of exclusivity is a very serious one, for it hinders the achievement of a balanced solution to the question of Jerusalem in both its political and religious aspects.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  8. “The Prophet himself did not make the Holy City of Mecca a capital even after he had conquered it, nor did the four Well- Guided Caliphs, who came after him. The Muslims, therefore, did not make Jerusalem their capital. The famous Muslim leader Amr Bin Alas, who reigned over southern and central Palestine after the departure of the Byzantines in the seventh century, chose the city of Lod, one day's horseback ride from Jerusalem, as the administrative centre of his region. He did not choose Jerusalem. The Umayyads later also moved the administrative centre to Ramallah, which is very close to Lod. They did not choose Jerusalem. However, they were the ones who created the Dome of the Rock and the Mosque itself, which today is a historical monument in East Jerusalem.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  9. “Why did the Muslims never make the city a capital when it was under their domination for nearly 1,200 years, with the obvious exception of the era of the Crusades and the time of the British Mandate over Palestine after the First World War? Why was it never the Muslim capital? Up to this very day, the Muslims have never even declared Mecca to be a capital. We know, for example, that Riyadh, and not the Holy City of Mecca - where Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam, was born - is the capital of Saudi Arabia. It is there that his first revelation was granted him. The city of Mecca is the location of the Kaaba, the Holy City to which all Muslims direct their prayers, wherever they may be across the globe. It is there that they carry out their pilgrimage, regardless of their race or colour. They carry out the amra throughout the year.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  10. “The aim of the Patriarch in making that demand was to ensure that the Muslims would maintain the Byzantine policy of keeping the Jews outside the city. In the light of this debate, it is paradoxical that today it is the Muslims themselves who have allowed the Jews to reside in Jerusalem. When the eleventh century Kingdom of Jerusalem was established, there were no Muslims and Jews left in the city except those very few who had escaped the massacres perpetrated by the Crusaders and had accepted menial jobs in order to survive. Thus, Jerusalem was the capital of the Jews for less than 100 years, before the rule of the Greeks and Romans and the emergence of Christianity.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  11. “As for the attempt of our Israeli colleague to convince us that Jerusalem can only be Jewish because there has been a continuous Jewish presence there for 3,000 years and because the city has only been the capital of the Jews - this is not true. Indeed, the Jewish presence in the city has not been maintained continuously for 3,000 years. Quite the contrary, that presence was interrupted by the exile in Babylon, for example, and by the Byzantine domination of the city. When the gates of Jerusalem were opened by the Caliph Omar Bin Al- Khatab during the first half of the seventh century, we know that one of the demands made of the Muslims by the Orthodox Patriarch Saphronius was to prevent the Jews from living in Jerusalem.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  12. “Of course, I would have preferred not to go into historical and cultural details concerning Jerusalem, but the statements of the Permanent Representative of Israel at this meeting have compelled me to do so. There are Jewish psalms and songs glorifying Jerusalem, but there are also dozens of Arab poems and songs which do the same thing. Moreover, it is well known that the Al-Aqsa mosque and its surroundings - namely Jerusalem - are mentioned in the Koran and the Hadith. For those here who are unaware of it, the verses of the Koran represent the words of God Almighty and not remarks made by historians or folklore handed down by storytellers.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  13. “A peace based on such an imbalance can only be an armistice. History is replete with such examples, including the history of our region, which is sincerely and genuinely trying to establish a lasting peace. How can one leave the solution to a problem such as that of eastern Jerusalem to the whims of politicians whose sole aim is to be re-elected for four more years rather than to dedicate themselves to their national interests and the peace and security of their people? If we were to accept that, then it would be better to deplore peace than to glorify it. If we were to do that, we would not in fact be achieving peace: we would be limiting ourselves to empty words.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  14. “Has that ultimate goal - the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace - been implemented? I sincerely doubt it, as I doubt that the peace can be a lasting one. Indeed, Jerusalem represents the same thing to Arabs and Muslims as it does to Israelis and Israel. It is not merely a question of land and population: it is also a question of beliefs. Because of this particular and unique blend, the city has, in the collective consciousness of Arabs and Muslims, become an integral part of their personality, dignity, heritage and culture. Thus, how can we envisage the achievement of a lasting peace - and I insist on the word "lasting" - when the dignity of the nation is flouted and its legacy cut off? How can we establish natural and normal relations between Arab countries and the Israeli people in the present circumstances?”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  15. “Moreover, all the declarations of the municipality of Jerusalem regarding the developments in the numbers of Israeli and Palestinian residents of the city are merely periodic summaries of the progress Israel has made in the its Judaization of that city, with the aim of implementing its stated final goal of integrating the eastern part of Jerusalem into "Yerushalaim, the eternal capital of the State of Israel". Does the plan for implementing that objective accord with the wishes of the United Nations and Israel's statements, as well as with the principles to which the Palestinian party is dedicated and the aspirations of those Arab States that have signed peace treaties with Israel or other Arab States that are continuing to negotiate with it?”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  16. “To be fair to Israel, it must be recognized that it does not conceal its ultimate goal - hence the continued violations. Successive Israeli Governments have always stated that the Holy City of Jerusalem, above all its eastern part, is a part of "Yerushalaim, the eternal and united capital of the State of Israel". The confiscation of Palestinian land there has gone beyond the question of individuals or individual rights. At stake is the very future of Al-Quds Al-Sharif. This is an international issue. The situation is therefore clear. There is an occupying authority which knows that the annexation of the eastern part of Jerusalem is legally null and void and is therefore trying to create a new reality on that land which reflects the Jewish nature of the city.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  17. “This Judaization takes the form of confiscating Palestinian lands, of tightening the noose around the Palestinian population, of establishing settlements and residential areas, and of relocating Israeli settlers to those settlements and areas, not to mention the Israeli Government's excavations in the precincts of the Al-Aqsa mosque. Following each such Israeli action, Arab countries have complained to the Security Council; in response to each complaint, the Council has adopted a resolution. This has been going on for some 28 years: Israeli expansion; Arab complaint; Security Council resolution. The Council's resolutions attest not only to Israel's violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention, but also to Israel's stubborn persistence in its policy of the Judaization of Al-Quds Al- Sharif and its determination to continue such violations.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  18. “In February the Security Council met to discuss Israeli violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 because the Israeli Government was continuing its policy of establishing settlements on Palestinian territory. Unfortunately, the Council was unable then to adopt an appropriate resolution and limited itself to a discussion. Less than three months later the Council is meeting again, compelled to discuss similar violations by the same party. But what is new this time is that this violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention is taking place in Jerusalem. The Council will be aware that this is not the Israeli Government's first violation of international law in Jerusalem. Indeed, since Israel's illegal 1967 occupation and annexation of Jerusalem, the Israeli Government has persisted in the Judaization of the city.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  19. “Moreover, the United Nations has always attached great importance also to relations between Lebanon and Israel and between Syria and Israel; it continues to declare its commitment to the success of those two processes, especially since hope has arisen among the peoples of the world that the Middle East will soon achieve the peace and stability that it has lacked for decades. In Jordan's view, peace must be comprehensive, just and lasting. This concept accords with the United Nations concept of the peace we hope to see in the Middle East and with the stated Israeli concept of that peace. Yet it is clearly a grave event that has obliged Arab and Islamic States to bring the question of Jerusalem to the Security Council, even as the peace process that began in Madrid continues. What is at stake here?”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  20. “As we participate in the discussion, we reaffirm our strong beliefs: Jordan is participating because it is genuinely dedicated to peace and does not wish to destabilize that peace or call it into question. In fact, only seven months ago Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel, and is today working with Israel to implement its provisions, through measures that have already been adopted, measures that are now being adopted and through agreements on cooperation between our two countries. Members of the Council know that the Madrid Peace Conference, the ensuing negotiations, the Declaration of Principles signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in September 1993 and the peace treaty signed by Jordan and Israel in October 1994 all came about with the blessing and the support of the United Nations.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source

  21. “Mr. Ahu Odeh (Jordan) (interpretation from Arabic): Let me begin, Sir, by congratulating you on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for this month and by expressing my country's full confidence that you will guide the Council's work in such a way as to guarantee its success. I take this opportunity also to express my delegation's respect for your predecessor, His Excellency Ambassador Karel Kovanda of the Czech Republic, who guided the Council's work so skilfully last month. I thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting to discuss the threat to peace and stability and to the peace process arising from the Israeli Govemment's recent decision to confiscate additional Palestinian lands in Jerusalem and to build settlements on them.”

    1995-05-15 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3536Resumption1 (1995) · source