YouSaid · the spoken record

Al-Kidwa

lines on the record: 724
first: 1992-01-06
most recent: 2004-10-06
sittings or episodes: 59
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

“This is the immediate responsibility of the Council, in accordance with the United Nations Charter. If the Council were to succeed in fulfilling these obligations, as is our hope, it would indeed have played an extremely crucial role, not only in addressing the immediate grave situation as it is unfolding on the ground and in upholding international law, including international humanitarian law, but also in creating a necessary favourable environment to enable the peace process to be resuscitated and perhaps later to be resumed with a view to achieving a final agreement between the two sides. We sincerely hope that this will be achieved.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“The other possibility is that some Israeli military officers have taken matters into their own hands for personal or political reasons. The truth might be a mixture of these two possibilities. However, we must get to the heart of the matter and understand the facts through an investigation of what happened. Those responsible must be brought to justice. We must ensure that there is no recurrence of these bloody events in the future. The Security Council has a very specific responsibility. It must put an immediate end to Israel's brutal campaign and to the occupying Power's violation of international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention and relevant Security Council resolutions, as well as of the commitments undertaken in the peace accords.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“Such a person would have to be incapable of discerning the sense of frustration and humiliation gripping our people because of Israeli policies, including the attempt to profane our holy sites. Only a racist person would believe that a Palestinian citizen is inferior to others and can be ordered to be killed. Only a racist person could not understand that the Palestinian people have their own dignity and rights, like all other peoples on the planet. What has happened over the past few days and the unprecedented actions of the Israeli side can be explained in one of only two ways. The first possibility is that Israel has decided to break the will of the Palestinian people and to undermine the credibility of the Palestinian leadership in order to force it to accept concessions within the framework of the peace process.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“We are talking about Israel itself here, not the occupied territories. We are talking about the Israeli Government, not the occupying Power. We are talking about Israeli citizens, albeit of Arab origin, not Palestinian citizens. This is yet more proof that Israel bears tremendous responsibility for the bloodshed of the past few days. Some in Israel have tried to shift the blame onto the Palestinian side, claiming that the Palestinian Authority provoked its citizens. Only a gullible person or a racist would make such an allegation - a person blind to the manifestations of occupation, the continued suffering of the Palestinian people and the failure of the peace process to bring about genuine change in the daily lives of the Palestinian people.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“The actions carried out by the occupying Israeli forces over the past few days constitute a grave violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilians in Time of War of 1949. We believe that certain members of the Israeli Army are guilty of war crimes and must be brought to justice. This is, of course, in addition to the destructive impact of these actions on the peace agreements in place and on the peace process. But other serious events took place inside Israel itself, not just in the Palestinian occupied territories. Some Israeli Arabs staged demonstrations and protests in solidarity with their brethren in the Palestinian territories. In response, the Israeli Government and police force took brutal action against this segment of its population, resulting in the death of 10 citizens and hundreds of injuries.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“That exchange of fire does not change the basic nature of the events in question, which are in essence acts of oppression and brutality by Israeli security forces against Palestinian civilians. That campaign of aggression resulted in 42 martyrs, including a number of children under the age of 16, and injured more than 1,200 people, many of whom are in serious condition. This appalling four-day toll, which does not include today's casualties, proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Israeli security forces deliberately tried to inflict the greatest possible harm on the Palestinian people, using their military machinery in an unprecedented fashion.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“Later, helicopter gunships and moving tanks were brought into the vicinity of Palestinian towns and manned Palestinian police force posts. Israeli soldiers deliberately killed a number of Palestinian civilians, including a Palestinian child, Mohammed Al-Durra, whose story is now well-known. The Israeli security forces also caused severe pain and suffering to, and inflicted serious injuries on, many other civilians. Later, on 1 and 2 October, and to a lesser extent on 30 September, certain members of the Palestinian police force, having seen firsthand the severity and brutality of the attacks mounted by the Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians, engaged in clashes with those forces, including Israeli Army troops, using personal weapons, which resulted in the death of an additional number of police officers.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“Those protests stemmed from our people's conviction of the need to defend its holy sites against Israeli aggression and from deep frustration at the Israeli Government's policies and attitudes, which have impeded any meaningful progress in the peace process that would lead to a change in the status quo, despite the genuine efforts made by many parties, including the American Administration and the American President himself. It was surprising, therefore, that Israel, the occupying Power, reacted to the protests by Palestinian civilians as if what it had done earlier was not sufficient in itself. Israeli security forces used considerable military power, including snipers, live ammunition, hand grenades and anti-tank missiles.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“On 29 September 2000, after Muslim Friday prayers had been held at noon, large numbers of Israeli security forces assaulted Al-Haram Al-Sharif and attacked Muslim worshippers, thereby committing a gross act of aggression against that holy place. These events recall a similar act of aggression committed by Israeli security forces against Al-Haram Al-Sharif on 8 October 1990, when those forces killed 20 Palestinians and injured 150 Muslim worshipers. The Sharon visit and the forced entry into Al-Haram Al-Sharif by Israeli security forces resulted in a large number of injuries and touched off massive protests by Palestinian civilians in occupied East Jerusalem and across the occupied Palestinian territories.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“Ariel Sharon, whose record is well known, took a provocative and insulting step against Arabs and Muslims when he visited Al-Haram Al-Sharif in occupied East Jerusalem with the purpose of bolstering Israel's illegitimate claims to control the third holiest site in Islam. Mr. Sharon was accompanied during his visit by a huge number of Israeli security forces, something that led to an escalation of tensions and a sense of confrontation. This resulted in clashes at the site of Al-Haram Al-Sharif and throughout occupied East Jerusalem. Those clashes took place between Palestinian citizens protesting Sharon's visit and Israeli security forces, and caused injuries to vast numbers of Palestinian civilians.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“Mr. Al-Kidwa (Palestine) (spoke in Arabic): At the outset, I extend my congratulations to you, Sir, on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council for the month of October. We also express our appreciation to your predecessor, the Permanent Representative of Mali. In addition, we would like to express our appreciation to you, Mr. President, for your serious consideration of the item on the Council's agenda today, which represents your first task since assuming the presidency, and to express our thanks to the members of the Council, in particular the members of the Non-Aligned Movement on the Council. On 28 September 2000, Mr.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“We emphasize our situation, while at the same time we are aware of the many examples strongly requiring serious efforts by the international community to bring an end to the suffering of civilians, especially women and children. It is unfortunate that today, as we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the four Geneva Conventions, we cannot also take pride in and celebrate their full respect and applicability. In Palestine and everywhere, we have to make progress to create a different and safer situation than that faced today by civilians in armed conflict. The draft resolution, which we hope the Council will adopt, will be an important move in that direction.”
1999-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The session reconvened four times, during which it recommended that the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention convene a conference on measures to enforce the Convention in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and to ensure its respect in accordance with common article I. On 15 July 1999, for the first time in the history of the four Conventions, a conference to consider a specific situation was convened in accordance with the recommendations of the tenth emergency special session. We believe that this was an extremely important step, not only with regard to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, but also with regard to international humanitarian law and the efforts to ensure respect for and compliance with its instruments.”
1999-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The Council also called upon the High Contracting Parties to the Convention to ensure respect by Israel for its obligations under the Convention in accordance with common article I. However, Israel, the occupying Power, has not complied with or even accepted any of the aforementioned resolutions. Over the years, the General Assembly has adopted even stronger positions. In April 1997, the General Assembly held the tenth emergency special session to consider illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory.”
1999-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046Resumption1 (1999) · source
“It has effectively created a situation of colonization and annexation of parts of the occupied territories, including Jerusalem - a unique case at the end of the twentieth century. The Security Council has responded by adopting 24 resolutions which reaffirm the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem. Many of the Council's resolutions called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply with the provisions of the Convention and to accept its de jure applicability. In several cases, the Council also called for measures to ensure the safety and protection of Palestinian civilians living under Israeli occupation.”
1999-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The report even fails to mention the occupied territories and Lebanon among the places where peacekeeping personnel have been harassed or have lost their lives. The Secretary- General's report on Qana is still fresh in our memories. Today, Palestine refugees number more than 3.5 million people, representing the oldest and biggest refugee problem on the agenda of the international community. Israel refuses to implement General Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 1949 on the Palestine refugees and Security Council resolution 237 (1967) on displaced persons. For the past 32 years, Israel, the occupying Power, has continued to occupy the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. It has continuously committed grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Additional Protocol I and the Hague Regulations.”
1999-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The report makes a useful analysis of the threats and violence against civilians in armed conflict and the role of the Security Council in this regard, and it details recommended measures to strengthen both legal and physical protection. We agree with many of the recommendations made in the report, especially in the field of accountability. The key remains for the Council to take actions to promote a climate of compliance. Ensuring compliance is a condition for achieving credibility and avoiding the emergence of a double standard and the application of different sets of values. We were perplexed, however, by the fact that the report fails to mention the incessant Israeli occupation of Palestinian land along with the examples it gives on violations of international humanitarian law.”
1999-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Allow me, Sir, to congratulate you on your assumption of the presidency of the Security Council and to express appreciation to your predecessor, Ambassador Andjaba of Namibia. The protection of civilian persons in armed conflict is a matter of great importance to the international community. We believe that the concerted interest shown recently by the Security Council in this matter is appropriate and necessary and we hope that it will continue until sufficient and serious protection of civilians in armed conflict is ensured in all cases. In this regard, we appreciate the report on this matter presented by the Secretary-General to the Security Council at the request of the latter.”
1999-09-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4046Resumption1 (1999) · source
“That, of course, would be ironic, for many reasons, including the fact that the same resolution states: "The additional rights and privileges of participation of Palestine shall be effected through the following modalities without prejudice to the existing rights and privileges." I would like to express our appreciation for the opportunity to speak before the Council today. However, we hope the Council members will take another look into this procedural issue, and we trust that today's aberration will be without prejudice to the established practice of the Council with regard to the future participation of Palestine.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“On issues related to Palestine, occupied territories and the situation in the Middle East, as well as other issues, the practice has always been to follow the same pattern. The PLO and later Palestine participated among Member States who are not members of the Council. Today, that practice was not adhered to, for reasons we cannot comprehend. We understand that the established practice was perhaps not made clear and that General Assembly resolution 52/250 has been raised as a reason.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The Security Council decided on that date, by a vote, that an invitation should be extended to the PLO to participate in the debate on the situation in the Middle East and that that invitation would confer upon it the same rights of participation as are conferred upon a Member State when it is invited to participate in the discussions under rule 37 of the provisional rules of procedure of the Council. That invitation, upon vote by the Council, was repeated on numerous occasions. As of February 1994, Palestine has been invited to participate in the discussion without a vote by the Council, on request, in accordance with the provisional rules of procedure and established practice. The established practice, in our opinion, is clear.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The international community must ensure that the Geneva Conventions are there to be implemented and to be enforced and it must provide protection for civilians in armed conflict. For any promise of future action to be credible, however, the international community cannot ignore the above-described situation. This ends my intervention on the subject at hand. Allow me, however, to say a few words about our participation in the meeting of the Council today. As members know, on 4 December 1975, at its 1859th meeting, the Security Council considered a request for the participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in that meeting of the Council. The request was not made under rule 37 or rule 39.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“In resolution ES-10/6 of 9 February 1999, the General Assembly further recommended the convening of the said conference on 15 July 1999 at the United Nations Office at Geneva and invited the Government of Switzerland, in its capacity as the depositary of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to undertake whatever preparations are necessary prior to the conference. We believe that the convening of the conference will be an extremely important development for the application and enforcement of the Fourth Geneva Convention and for international humanitarian law in general. Its significance comes regardless of the fact that it comes belated and possibly because of the fact that no such conference has ever been convened in the past, despite all the atrocities that have taken place worldwide and despite the need for such a conference.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“The session has adopted five resolutions, all of which affirm the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and demand that Israel accept the de jare applicability of the Convention and immediately cease its settlement activities and other illegal actions. The General Assembly has also made appropriate recommendations for collective action by the Member States. It has recommended three times that the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention convene a conference on measures to enforce the Convention in the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and to ensure its respect in accordance with common article 1.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“In April 1997, for the first time in 15 years, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 377 (V) of 1950, entitled "Uniting for Peace", and under rule 8 (b) of its rules of procedure, the General Assembly opened an emergency special session to consider illegal Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and the rest of occupied Palestinian territory. The tenth emergency special session was convened after the Security Council had failed to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security because of the exercise of the veto by a permanent member twice in less than two weeks.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“There now exist more than 330,000 Israeli settlers in 175 settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, 180,000 of whom live within the illegally extended municipal boundaries of occupied East Jerusalem. What does all this mean? It means a unique situation which has been catastrophic for the entire civilian Palestinian population - a situation which started more than 50 years ago and continues to the present day. The situation is no less catastrophic for the Palestinian civilian population living under Israeli occupation, which has been subject to continuous oppression and is now subject to the only colonization campaign taking place at the end of the twentieth century.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Under this occupation, we have seen the continuing and large-scale destruction of the economic and social structures of the occupied territories and the substitution of the occupying Power's laws for those previously in force. We have seen deportations, displacement and the arbitrary detention of civilians; the confiscation of land and destruction of property; ill treatment of and violence against the civilian population; as well as numerous measures of collective punishment. On top of all that, we have seen the transfer by the occupying Power of a part of its own population to the occupied Palestinian territory, in grave breach of article 49 of the Convention. This article was drafted specifically to prevent colonization, annexation and any changes in the character of any occupied territory.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Israel, the occupying Power, has not complied with or even accepted any of the aforementioned resolutions. The Security Council, in return, has failed to react to this unique situation in fulfilment of its responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations and international law, which has led to an unforgivable culture of impunity. The Chairman's report on the meeting of experts on the Fourth Geneva Convention, which was held in Geneva on 27 to 29 October 1998, identified violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention in armed conflicts in general and in occupied territories. All of those violations apply in the case of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“In several cases, the Council has also called for measures to ensure the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians living under Israeli occupation. The Council has also called upon the High Contracting Parties to the Convention to ensure respect by Israel for its obligations under the Convention in accordance with common article 1. In resolution 681 (1990) of 20 December 1990, the Security Council requested the Secretary-General to develop further the idea of convening a meeting of the High Contracting Parties to the said Convention to discuss possible measures that might be taken by them under the Convention and also requested him to monitor and observe the situation regarding Palestinian civilians under Israeli occupation and to submit periodic reports.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Even the Palestinian displaced persons, now numbering more than 600,000, have not been allowed to return, despite Security Council resolution 237 (1967). Following its occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 1967, Israel, the occupying Power, has continuously committed grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and of the Hague Conventions. The Security Council has responded by adopting 24 resolutions, which have reaffirmed the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem. Many of these resolutions have called upon Israel, the occupying Power, to comply with the provisions of the Convention and to accept its de jare applicability.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“More than 50 years ago, approximately 700,000 Palestinian civilians were uprooted from their homes and properties and made refugees, thus creating the oldest and most protracted refugee problem still existing today. Approximately 20 years later, as a result of the 1967 war, scores of Palestinian civilians were again forced to leave their homes and lands, some of them for the second time, creating the so-called Palestinian "displaced persons". To this very day, the Palestinian refugees, who now number more than 3.5 million, remain deprived of their inalienable rights to return to their homes and properties and to be compensated, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 194 (III) of 1948.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“Today, with the continued and increased suffering of civilians in armed conflicts, respect for the instruments of international humanitarian law and the enforcement of those instruments are critical matters. The upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the four Geneva Conventions provides us with an additional incentive to intensify our work in this regard. At this time, allow us to register our appreciation for the role which has been played by the Government of Switzerland, in its capacity as the depositary of the Conventions, and for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for its untiring efforts in this regard. For the Palestinian people, the provision of protection for civilians is not only an especially important matter - it is a matter of life and death.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“We believe that protection of civilians in armed conflict is a matter of extreme importance. In this regard, we would like to express our appreciation to Canada for its initiative in bringing the matter before the Security Council. The statement adopted by the Council on 12 February 1999 provides a solid basis for fruitful work, and we are heartened to see the Security Council call upon all the parties concerned to comply strictly with their obligations under international law, in particular their relevant obligations under the Hague Conventions, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols of 1977. We look forward to receiving the report of the Secretary-General which was requested in the statement by the Security Council.”
1999-02-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3980Resumption1 (1999) · source
“It is unreasonable and unacceptable, and it is our hope that this position will soon be changed, if not for the sake of fairness and credibility, at least for the sake of the Charter and the United Nations. In spite of everything, the Palestinian people have high hopes that this time all members of the Council will enable the Council to exercise its responsibilities, at least on the basis of an understanding of the great importance of the issue of Jerusalem and the desire to contribute to rescuing the peace process and to preserving the United Nations Charter, international law and Security Council resolutions.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“How can it be said that, despite the responsibilities of the Council in accordance with the Charter, the Council should not intervene in Middle East affairs? How can it be said, in the face not only of Israel's violations of international law and the agreements reached, but of its persistence in these violations, that it will be counter- productive for the Council to deal with this issue? How can it be said that Palestinian complaints about these violations - our mere complaining and seeking to stop violations that were not stopped by the continuous efforts of the sponsors of the peace process - will harm this process? How can anyone make a comparison between actions in violation of international law and the reactions to those actions, which are entirely based on international law?”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“It is unacceptable for the Israeli violations in Jerusalem to continue, even if there is somehow a sudden Israeli change with regard to the American proposals. For our Palestinian people, Jerusalem is a red line: we cannot give it up. This is a stubborn reality that all the parties need to comprehend. Israel says that our coming forward to complain to the Security Council violates the existing agreements. That, of course, is a ridiculous claim that does not even deserve to be addressed. But there is another party that says that this action is counter-productive and that consideration by the Council of these Israeli violations will harm the peace process. This is really very unfortunate. How, legally, politically or morally, can anyone say something like that?”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“We see them immersed in coordinated propaganda campaigns to direct accusations against the Palestinian side; we see them invent, for example, the idea of the illegal popular referendum with regard to the recent American proposals; and, finally, there is the idea of a new peace conference - as if the Israeli side had complied with the results of the first Conference in Madrid in order to discuss another conference. All of this is no longer capable of covering up the reality, and the Israeli plan for Jerusalem is a stark reminder of that reality. This plan constitutes another basic step towards the Israeli Government's final divorce from the peace process. It is not possible to imagine the peace process being revitalized and continuing, given the existence of such a plan.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“It is sufficient to refer to Israel's long-standing rejection of the American proposals aimed at revitalizing this process, which were accepted by the Palestinian side despite our understanding that the proposals are incomparably closer to the Israeli than to the Palestinian position. The Prime Minister and the Israeli Government do not hesitate to use old and new gimmicks in an attempt to cover up the reality of the Israeli position.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“We believe that the Council is obligated to do this in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law. Here, I will have to recall that the Israeli plan and the other Israeli policies and practices in Jerusalem to which I have referred also gravely violate the agreements reached between the two sides within the framework of the peace process in the Middle East. I said, "I will have to recall" it, because there is not much left of this peace process anyway, thanks to Mr. Netanyahu and his Government. The policies and practices of the Israeli Government not only violate the agreements, but are clearly aimed at the systematic destruction of those agreements and at discarding the entire peace process.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“This plan constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, several Security Council resolutions, and those of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly. It manifests contempt for the values which these laws and resolutions represent and for the will of the international community and its collective position. What will the Security Council do in the face of all this? We hope that the Council will have the sufficient will finally to undertake the necessary measures to guarantee the rescinding of this plan and to prevent Israel, the occupying Power, from undertaking any further illegal actions in Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied territories, beginning with the adoption of the draft resolution sponsored by the Arab Group in this regard.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“The Israeli Prime Minister said on 18 June 1998, when he was announcing the plan: "I think this is a basic change in Jerusalem's status which will be remembered as a turning point." (S/52/958) The Prime Minister also said: "The first thing we are doing is to link 'Greater Jerusalem' and the second thing is strengthening the Jewish majority in Jerusalem." (ibid.) With regard to the illegal settlement in Jabal Abu Ghneim, he stated: "Write it down. You will see houses at 'Har Homa', many houses, by the year 2000." (ibid.) Could there be any more blatant revelation than these outrageous statements of the nature of the plan and its dangerous and malicious goals?”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“Lastly, the Israeli Government decided on 21 June 1998 to adopt a plan aimed at strengthening the illegal hold of Israel on Jerusalem. This is the direct reason for the Security Council's meeting today. The plan would expand the municipal boundaries of the city and establish an "umbrella authority" to include a number of illegal settlements in the West Bank. This represents a concrete step towards the illegal annexation of more occupied Palestinian lands to the already illegally expanded Jerusalem municipality in order to maintain a specific demographic composition with the aim of furthering the process of the judaization of the city.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“It opened the tunnel in the vicinity of Al-Haram Al-Sharif, following which the Security Council adopted resolution 1073 (1996). Then it began the construction of a new settlement in Jabal Abu Ghneim to the south of occupied Jerusalem, which was the focus of the resolutions of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly, which was convened after the Security Council failed twice to adopt a resolution in this regard because of the vetoes exercised by one of its permanent members. This was followed by a series of other illegal Israeli actions, particularly the escalation of settler colonialism inside the Old City in Burj al-Laqlaq and outside it in Ras Al-Amud, Silwan and the Mount of Olives, to which we referred in several letters addressed to this Council.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“All of this constituted a significant change and was expected to lead to a comprehensive change in Israeli policies and measures with regard to Jerusalem, based upon compliance with the goals of the peace process and the need for all the parties to refrain from creating new facts on the ground that would abort the forthcoming negotiations. This was not completely adhered to by the former Israeli Government, but at least that Government did not comprehensively violate these commitments or undertake measures that could destroy the peace process in its entirety. When the current Israeli Government came to power, it set us back to the period before the peace process and adopted, carried out and even intensified the aforementioned policies and practices.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“However, their suffering is immense and their feelings of injustice and pain are immeasurable. These Israeli measures have created and are still creating a situation that could lead to the explosion of the whole region at any moment. A few years ago the peace process came to the Middle East, along with the Palestinian-Israeli agreements within its framework, according to which the two sides agreed to negotiate the status of Jerusalem in the negotiations on the final settlement. Palestinian Jerusalemites have exercised their rights in participating in the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council within the Jerusalem electoral district. Furthermore, additional guarantees were given to the Palestinian side with regard to the preservation of the Palestinian institutions in the city.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“They also include the influx of 150,000 settlers in an attempt to create a specific demographic composition; legal and de facto discrimination between Jews and non-Jews; and the direct oppression of Palestinian Jerusalemites, the confiscation of their identity cards, the demolition of their homes and preventing them from living in the city of their ancestors. All of these actions have been repeatedly condemned by the international community, which has refused to recognize their results. All of these actions have been challenged by our people, who have succeeded in thwarting some of the aims of these actions, including the fact that Palestinian Jerusalemites still constitute the overwhelming majority of the population of East Jerusalem within the legal boundaries of the municipality of the city.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“Consequently, such a position negates the possibility of achieving peace and guarantees the continuation of war and hatred in the region. Over the years, Israel has adopted a number of policies and carried out many measures to impose its position and to create certain facts on the ground. These illegal, appalling and immoral policies and measures include attempts to annex occupied territories, the confiscation of lands, the expansion of the city's municipal boundaries, and the isolation of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“The Council reaffirmed in these resolutions its rejection of all the Israeli measures, considering them null and void and calling upon Member States not to recognize them and not to move their embassies to Jerusalem. Thus, there exists what may be considered a clear international consensus concerning the issue of Jerusalem. This position is based upon a deep understanding of the important religious, historical and political factors of this issue. Israel, in return, has taken a position in direct opposition to that of the international community and continues to ignore its will and to violate international law and Security Council resolutions. This position refuses to recognize Palestinian and Arab rights and persists in monopolizing Jerusalem, considering it to be solely Jewish or Israeli.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“Since its inception, the United Nations has dealt with the issue of Jerusalem in a manner commensurate with its importance and reflective of its special status. The United Nations adopted a special international regime - the corpus separatum - for the city and later refrained from recognizing the de facto situation resulting from the war of 1948. It then effectively dealt with the occupation resulting from the war of 1967 with the aim of preventing Israel, the occupying Power, from carrying out any measures aimed at changing the legal status or demographic composition of East Jerusalem, as an integral part of the territories occupied since 1967 and to which the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 is applicable. The Security Council has adopted 16 resolutions with regard to Jerusalem, 10 of which were adopted after the occupation of 1967.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source
“Mr. Al-Kidwa (Palestine) (interpretation from Arabic): Today is the last day of your presidency this month, Sir, and we consider it fortunate that this important meeting is being held under your presidency, in view of your personal qualities and of the positions of the friendly country of Portugal. Allow me also to extend my thanks to your predecessor, Ambassador Njuguna Mahugu, the Permanent Representative of Kenya, with whom we worked last month on the same issue during his presidency of the Council. The Security Council is meeting today to consider an issue of great importance to us in Palestine, to the Arab and Muslim worlds and to the international community as a whole - namely, the issue of Jerusalem, the Holy City of three monotheistic religions.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900 (1998) · source