YouSaid · the spoken record

Lancry

lines on the record: 313
first: 2000-04-19
most recent: 2002-10-17
sittings or episodes: 24
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

“What is needed from the Security Council is not intervention, but support for the parties and the efforts to achieve peace that will get under way this week in Washington. Protection forces, United Nations observers - all these only distract us from the real issues at hand. The Palestinian Authority's perpetual ambiguity with regard to ending the violence is indicative of a lack of fortitude and political will on their part to make the historic compromises that are needed. An international force will not increase the Palestinian determination to make peace; rather, it will decrease their willingness to do so. The Council's overriding objective must be to encourage both sides to embrace the reasonable peace. I would urge the Council to consider whether sending an international force to the region will advance this goal.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“Egyptian commentator Mahmoud Al-Manem Morad, writing in al-Akhbar on 1 December, was moved to ask, "How is it that the Palestinians are seeking the deployment of an observer force which will act as a buffer between themselves and the Israelis, if, in the same breath, they also seek to continue the intifada, which will require close contact between the Palestinians and Israelis?" Let me repeat: the current intifada is not an unarmed popular uprising, but a guerrilla campaign, which the Palestinians have little interest in having brought to a close. We maintain that just as the current violence began with a calculated and deliberate order from the highest echelons of the Palestinian leadership, so must it end. The Palestinians are not in need of protection from Israel, but rather from the misguided policies of their own leaders.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“Furthermore, he must assume his responsibility as the leader of the Palestinian people, committed by his own free choice to seek an honourable peace, to uphold the foundation of the peace process and to foster a culture of peace between our two peoples. I assure the members of this Council that were the Palestinian Authority to take these steps, the violence, death and injuries would cease and we could once again focus on negotiating a lasting peace settlement. Yet the Palestinian Authority prefers the safety of ambiguity, a fact that has even been recognized in some Arab circles.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“If the international community wishes to see a return to dialogue and negotiation and the ultimate realization of the legitimate aspirations and needs of both parties through a peaceful process, it must insist that the Palestinian leadership fulfil its obligations. This Council must not take action that would be interpreted as endorsing violence and unilateral imposition. Furthermore, international intervention appears wholly unnecessary. Chairman Arafat has the ability to protect the lives of his people, and the steps necessary to do so are clear. He must relinquish the path of confrontation, disarm his illegal militias and control Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists, all of which he has already committed himself to do.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“An international presence is not something we intrinsically reject, but it must be used to cement an agreement, not as an alternative to one. The Council must be cognizant of the fact that sending a United Nations force, as demanded, has the potential to actually escalate the violence and further destabilize the region, for it would send a message to the Palestinians that there is no need to negotiate or coordinate with Israel and no need to seek compromise. Indeed, I can think of no greater incentive than this to continue the caustic struggle. Thus, peace and security would not be enhanced by an international force; they would be undermined.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“Today's draft resolution represents a blatant attempt to abuse the goodwill of the international community and to obscure the strategic choice made by the Palestinians. The Security Council must not be a party to it. The United Nations cannot be called upon to put out fires on behalf of the same party that has kindled them and fanned the flames. What kind of precedent would this set? What kind of message will it send to the Palestinians and others? Our position on the question of an international presence has been made clear. We are not opposed to some form of international presence provided it is established within the context of a comprehensive bilateral agreement. This has always been the accepted sequence.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“Even as the Palestinians ask the Council today for protection from the consequences of their own actions, they are making clear that they feel no obligation to fully relinquish the path of intifada, which is not an unarmed popular uprising, but rather a drawn-out expedition of guerrilla warfare. And yet, with the exception of some rare - and therefore remarkable - voices in the Security Council, the United Nations has made no official mention of the S/PVAZAS incitement to violence in the official media, of the green light given to terrorists by the Palestinian Authority, of the desecration of Jewish holy sites and of a host of other Palestinian violations. Instead, we are sitting here today debating the merits of sending an international force to protect the Palestinians from their own choice to engage in violence.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“Today, however, both the Government and people of Israel are obliged to confront a stark reality, one which suggests that the Palestinian leadership remains ambiguous in its fulfilment of the basic commitment that formed the bedrock for seven years of peacemaking. Evidence of this departure was apparent weeks ago. The release of scores of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists from Palestinian jails, an act which has now led to a number of terrorist bombings in Israeli cities, offers compelling proof, as do the activities of the Tanzim, the illegal paramilitary arm of Chairman Arafat's Fatah faction who have repeatedly directed live gunfire and roadside ambushes at Israeli soldiers and citizens.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“This is precisely what Chairman Arafat pledged to accomplish in September 1993 when he committed, in a watershed letter to the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, to renouncing the use of violence and terrorism and to settling all outstanding claims through negotiations. This commitment was fundamental, and for Israelis it represented much more than mere verbiage. After years of PLO-sponsored terrorism, Chairman Arafat's letter reflected the recognition that, after decades of confrontation, the destiny of the region would now be determined at the negotiating table and not by violence and terrorism. Moreover, Chairman Arafat spoke on behalf of all the Palestinian people and was consequently recognized by Israel as their leader. He cannot now go back on his word and continue to receive international support as if he had not.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“It must be further noted that the current crisis is also due to the failure of the Palestinian leadership to cultivate mutual understanding and tolerance among the Palestinian people. Rather than educate for peace, they have consistently and systematically fostered a culture of hatred and rejection, manifested in official Palestinian textbooks which deny the legitimacy of Israel. Such a failure cannot be rectified by a resolution of the Security Council, nor by any action of the international community. This state of affairs can be changed only by the Palestinians themselves. The peace process will succeed only if mutual recognition and non-violence is enshrined, not only on paper, but in the hearts and minds of peoples.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“This practice continued even as negotiations took place in Paris, Sharm el-Sheikh and Gaza on ways to end the confrontation and return to negotiations. Officials of the Palestinian Authority were quoted as calling for escalation at the same time as they accused Israel of horrific acts of war. They ordered their illegally armed militias to fire on Israeli soldiers and civilians in the same breath as they demanded that Israel renounce its right to self-defence. And now, while illegal Palestinian paramilitary groups continue their assaults on Israel, their leaders come to ask the world for protection. This is a manipulation of reality and a perversion of the truth.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“(spoke in Arabic) "Imad Al Falouji, the Telecommunications Minister, stressed that the Palestinian Authority began preparations for the outbreak of the current intifada after returning from the Camp David negotiations, on the order of President Yasser Arafat, who anticipated the outbreak of the intifada as the culminating stage of Palestinian steadfastness in the negotiations and not merely as a protest against Sharon's visit to Haram al- Sharif." (spoke in English) Despite this and other overwhelming evidence, the Palestinian leadership has been remarkably successful in obscuring this fact. They have incited their street to violence and holy war, while at the same time placing full blame for the crisis on Israel's shoulders.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“The Palestinian semi-official daily Al Ayyam reported on 6 December that the Palestinian Minister of Telecommunications, Imad Al Falouji, confirmed that the Palestinian Authority had begun preparations for the outbreak of the current intifada from the moment the Camp David talks concluded, in accordance with instructions given by Chairman Arafat himself. Mr. Falouji went on to state that Arafat launched this intifada as the culminating stage of "Palestinian steadfastness" in the negotiations, and not merely as a protest against Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount. Here is the original Arabic.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“In the aftermath of the Camp David Summit, Chairman Arafat found himself increasingly isolated, even criticized in certain circles, for failing to be forthcoming in reaching a final peace agreement with Israel. Barely four months later, the Palestinian cause is the beneficiary of front-page coverage from the international media. While Israel has been unjustly portrayed as the militaristic aggressor, the Palestinian leadership has benefited tremendously by avoiding the implementation of the necessary steps to which it committed itself to bring about a final settlement. S/PV.4248 It now seems as if the leading role that the Palestinian leadership has played in the current spate of violence is finally being admitted.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“Although many would have us believe otherwise, what we are witnessing is the deliberate choice by the Palestinian leadership to simultaneously pursue the intifada, as well as the welcome resumption of dialogue. The current confrontation, which was deliberately initiated by the Palestinian leadership, continues to be nurtured in various ways as a strategic choice on their part. If there is any lingering doubt that this is in fact the case, I would invite the Council to ask itself who is benefiting here. Whose interest does it serve to perpetuate a variable-intensity conflict of the kind we have been experiencing? Even a cursory consideration of the facts suggests that this conflict clearly serves the interests of the Palestinian leadership rather than the interests of Israel.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“I would like to congratulate the President on his assumption of the presidency of the Security Council. I would like also to take this opportunity to congratulate his predecessor, Ambassador van Walsum, for his most capable leadership. At the outset, I would like to express my satisfaction at the recent renewal of official high-level contacts between Israel and the Palestinians, in particular the agreement of both parties to attend meetings in Washington this week. It is my hope that by turning to the framework of negotiations we can peacefully find a way to resolve all outstanding issues, including the question under deliberation today. We do think that the core of the matter is clear.”
2000-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4248 (2000) · source
“The choice of territorial compromise, of a definite solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of coexistence and of reconciliation is a choice that Israel wants to implement as soon as possible. That is the goal towards which we should turn our efforts. If this appeal were to be heard today, we would at least make some progress today.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“In large part, although not entirely, that solution is up to Chairman Arafat and his willingness to respect the same commitments that made him a partner to the dialogue with Israel. But it was not we Israelis who froze that peace. However, we can reach that peace only with a partner who is committed to becoming part of the history of coexistence, and not that of recoiling in rejection and negation of the other. Israel has made the choice for peace and has signed agreements with Egypt and Jordan. Moreover, the Interim Agreements that followed the Oslo Accords resulted in various achievements through which 98 per cent of Palestinians in Gaza and the main cities and hundreds of villages of the West Bank now live under the control of the Palestinian Authority, rather than under occupation.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Barak had offered an unprecedented peace proposal that would have made the intangible concrete and the previously untouchable tangible. Huge obstacles related to the various issues involved in achieving a definitive solution of the conflict were thus beginning to be lifted at the time Chairman Arafat chose to revert to violence and terrorism. I want to be clear: through a negotiated solution at Camp David Chairman Arafat could have, through terms agreed upon by both sides to benefit both parties, given rise to the advent of a Palestinian State next to Israel and to the beginning of true reconciliation between the two peoples. That solution was conditioned on the fact that it was to be achieved through a bilateral Israeli-Palestinian agreement, and that solution is not very far from our reach.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Whether those statements in disapproval of Palestinian terrorist acts are muted or amplified, we believe that the fact they were made is important because it represents a more just approach towards both sides. In that regard, the statements by the representatives of Argentina and Canada in particular seem to us exemplary in their relevance. We also take good note of the virtually unanimous appeal for a return to calm and negotiations. I must recall that before Israel put legitimate self- defence measures into place, the Government had been trying to implement its peace policy. As the international community knows full well, Prime Minister Barak adopted a very innovative peace policy at Camp David, one conducive to putting an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Before the helicopters and the tanks, Mr.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Arafat asking, on the one hand, for an international protection force while, on the other, releasing terrorists from his own prisons and pitting them against Israel while stepping away from their actions. Chairman Arafat's absurd dance and convoluted language cannot continue forever to mislead either his peace partners - the Israelis - or the international community, which, at its most inspired and objective, will not be misled indefinitely by his twists and turns or his shadowy actions. For the first time since the beginning of this crisis, we see from the statements of several members of the Council the semblance of reproach for the various inadmissible and indescribable acts carried out by Palestinians in recent days at Kfar Naum and Hadera. We take good note of that.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Although on 9 September 1993 - the eve of the signing of the Oslo Accords - the same Chairman Arafat committed himself in a letter to Prime Minister Rabin to renounce terrorism as a means of achieving political objectives, he seems to have quickly returned to the same abject practices he employed in the past that had lastingly disqualified from being Israel's interlocutor. With calculated and refined ambiguity, an order, instruction, command or allusion from Mr. Arafat invariably lends itself to interpretation on different levels. The double and triple language of Chairman Arafat - one for the international community, another for his people and a third for his entourage - is very difficult to decipher. We should therefore not be surprised to see Mr.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Mr. Lancry (Israel) (spoke in French): The Palestinian Authority has made a choice that no longer leaves any shadow of a doubt. That choice is for violent confrontation, which nourishes and supports the other strategic choice adopted and declared openly by Chairman Arafat during the Islamic conference held at Doha last week. That strategic choice is what he called the intifada of independence. While Prime Minister Barak committed himself at Camp David to a bold enterprise aimed at ending the conflict with the Palestinians, Chairman Arafat has made a devastating choice, namely, to achieve his political ends through fire and blood.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“We believe that the Security Council, as the organ with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, is duty-bound to encourage the parties to return to the path of bilateral negotiation and compromise. The Council must call upon the Palestinians to adhere to the commitments they have undertaken to renew security cooperation with Israel and to call, in clear and unequivocal terms, for an end to the violence and a return to the negotiating table. Were the Palestinians to take these actions, I can assure the Council that the bloodshed would end immediately. That is, by the way, my answer to the question raised by the Permanent Observer of Palestine, Mr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, who asked, "How can we put an end to this situation?" It may sound unrealistic, but it is that simple.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“I must emphasize that Chairman Arafat spoke on behalf of all Palestinian people, and that he cannot depart from this responsibility. We can no longer accept the reprehensible division of labour between the Palestinian Authority on the one hand and Hamas and the Islamic Jihad on the other. Chairman Arafat, as the unchallenged leader of the Palestinian people, has to assume, not only the glory of that office but also, sometimes, the misery of the task. Regardless of the current situation, Israel's ultimate objective will always be to secure a lasting and comprehensive peace with the Palestinians and with all our neighbours. We will continue to strive towards that goal, notwithstanding the numerous obstacles that imperil that lofty objective.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“As I have said before, an international force, whether of peacekeepers or of observers, is not needed to stop the violence, nor is it clear that such a force would even be successful. There is, however, a clear and direct way to end the bloodshed. The international community must call upon the Palestinian leadership to exert every effort to stop the violence, the rioting, the use of live ammunition, the use of machine guns, the sending of children to the front lines of rioting crowds and the use of terror against civilians. This ability is well within their power, and I would urge the members of the Council to call upon Chairman Arafat to see that this is done. We still expect that the Palestinian leadership will fulfil its basic commitment, as expressed in Chairman Arafat's letter to Prime Minister Rabin and in subsequent agreements.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Chairman Arafat, however, has been unwilling to embrace the reality of peace and recognize that the conflict is over and that the only path to peace and security is through negotiation and compromise. He knows full well that an honourable and just peace was within reach at Camp David, and yet, instead of seizing the moment, he chose to turn his back. In calling for the deployment of a United Nations protection force, the Palestinians are seeking to depart from the bilateral track which was mandated by the Oslo agreement and to pursue their goals unilaterally. In fact, Chairman Arafat has first and foremost to protect himself from his own destructive initiative, the independence intifada, which is the source of all the suffering that has transpired in recent weeks.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“The attempt by the Palestinians to give this armed intifada the veneer of a legitimate struggle, as though it were their only means of achieving their objectives, is a gross misrepresentation of reality. The Oslo peace process has provided a viable mechanism for the Palestinians to realize their goal of self-determination. The face-to-face negotiations conducted within that framework have yielded several key peace agreements and have created a situation in which 98 per cent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza live under Palestinian rule. Moreover, the Oslo process has the potential to end the conflict once and for all, meet the needs of both sides and prevent further bloodshed.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“There is not even a clear call for the Palestinians to relinquish the path of violence and return to the only legitimate mechanism for addressing their grievances - through peaceful, bilateral negotiations. The only words of outrage and condemnation that the international community can muster are directed solely at Israel. I should like to remind the members of the Council of the statement of the Secretary-General, who, after visiting the region and conducting extensive meetings with both sides, cautioned the members of the international community to weigh their words carefully. I submit to you, Mr. President, that the United Nations official language that has been used until now has not heeded this warning. I sincerely hope that the same will not hold true today.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Israel and their spokespeople have regularly called upon Chairman Arafat to restrain his people and to return to the path of peaceful negotiations. In contrast, Palestinian leaders have called, and continue to call, for an escalation of the conflict. The attempt to assert the moral equivalence of soldiers' defending themselves against mobs of Palestinians calling for their blood, and Palestinians carrying out terrorist attacks against civilians in the heart of the Israeli cities, is nothing less than depraved. Yet, there is no international outcry. There is no call for a commission of inquiry to investigate Palestinian wrongdoing. There are no resolutions passed in condemnation of Palestinian violations.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“On Monday, Israeli schoolchildren were deliberately targeted by the Tanzim, the paramilitary group that is an arm of Chairman Arafat's own Fatah faction, killing two civilians and critically wounding several others. A day later, an 18-year old Israeli, Itamar Yefet, was murdered by a Palestinian sniper. None of these individuals, least of all the children who were attacked have sought involvement in the current crisis. Nevertheless, the Palestinians consider them legitimate targets, due merely to their nationality. The dichotomy extends to the political level as well. Through all the recent violence, Israel has tried to exert the maximum possible restraint and to minimize casualties to the greatest extent possible. We have expressed our deepest sorrow at the loss of life sustained by both sides.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Palestinians are sustaining injuries when they confront Israeli soldiers and civilians with machine guns, firebombs and other explosive devices. Palestinians are sustaining injuries when, at the behest of their leaders, they brutally attack and terrorize innocent civilians. The same is not true of casualties on the Israeli side. Israeli civilians have been attacked as they travel on roads, shop for groceries in the marketplace and sit peacefully in their homes. The Jerusalem neighbourhood of Gilo has continuously come under fire from snipers in nearby Palestinian villages, resulting in a number of injuries. A car bomb exploded last week in the crowded Jerusalem market of Mahani Yehuda, killing two Israeli civilians.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Perhaps now the world is capable of understanding that, while Palestinian lives are endangered only when they violently attack Israeli soldiers, Israelis are targeted for the simple fact that they are Israeli. By failing to speak any words of condemnation of the Palestinians, the international community has basically lent its approval to the unspeakable acts of the Palestinians - the lynching of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah, the desecration of sacred Jewish holy sites in Nablus, the attacks on innocent children in Kfar Darom and Hadera and the continuous incitement in the official media. This failure will only further encourage them to continue along this violent route. I cannot stress this point enough. Palestinians are sustaining injuries as a direct result of their own violent provocations.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Indeed, the current unrest and the deplorable response of the Palestinian leadership give rise to serious doubts on whether the Palestinians are intent on maintaining that fundamental commitment made in September 1993. Yet, despite these acts and numerous others which have transpired over the last several weeks, no United Nations body - not the General Assembly meeting in an emergency session; nor the Economic and Social Council, which this morning passed a biased and one-sided resolution condemning Israel; nor the Security Council - has spoken one word of condemnation of the Palestinians. Perhaps now the international community will take notice of the fact that Israeli lives are, as they have been for nearly two months, continuously in peril.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“In this regard, I would like to recall the words of Chairman Arafat, who, in a letter to the late Prime Minister Rabin, expressly stated his commitment to the peace process and the path of negotiated compromise. These words stand in such stark contrast to the words and action of the Palestinian leadership in the past few weeks that they bear repeating: "The PLO commits itself to the Middle East peace process and to a peaceful resolution of the conflict between the two sides and declares that all outstanding issues relating to permanent status will be resolved through negotiations." He further committed himself to restrain terrorist elements from all factions. At that time, Mr. Arafat was committing himself on behalf of all the Palestinian people in order to ensure a calm environment conducive to negotiations.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Three Israeli citizens were killed, and 41 were injured. Once again, we are witness to the inhuman practice of terrorism, to the senseless death of innocent men, women and children, that does not advance the Palestinian cause. Unfortunately, terrorism is not something foreign to Israelis, and we have had several reminders in the past few days of its tragic consequences. It must be made clear that today's tragedy is a direct result of the release of terrorist prisoners from Palestinian Authority jails. It is not the first time that the Palestinian leadership has given freedom of movement to terrorists and then claimed not to be responsible for their acts.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“Once again, the Security Council is meeting to consider the grave escalation of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories. Since the last meeting of the Council on this issue, the situation has, to the great consternation of most parties, continued to deteriorate. Points of friction that had previously been localized and contained in certain areas have spread, engulfing the streets of Jerusalem and other Israeli towns and cities. In the last three days alone, two separate bombings have claimed the lives of innocent, unarmed Israeli civilians. In an unimaginably horrific attack in Kfar Darom, terrorists targeted innocent children, whose only crime was in attempting to reach their classroom. Just a few hours ago, a car bomb exploded on a crowded street in the Israeli city of Hadera at the height of the rush-hour commute.”
2000-11-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4231 (2000) · source
“I would like to tell the Council the meaning of this last idea in Hebrew and in Arabic to simultaneously call attention to the visceral closeness of these two languages and to the desires for symbiosis that unite us. (spoke first in Hebrew, then in Arabic) Peace, peace be unto those far and near, God said.”
2000-10-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption2 (2000) · source
“How can one not sympathize - from the heart, not condescendingly or arrogantly - with the strong feelings that the Permanent Representative of Palestine, Ambassador Nasser Al-Kidwa, expressed during his statement this past Tuesday. How can one not sympathize - with a torn soul - with the distressing death of the young Mohammed Jamal Al-Durra. It is with the Palestinians, not against them, that we cry, as we cry for our own dead. At this point I would like to appeal with all my heart for a return to calm and the rapid coming of peace. This Israeli-Palestinian peace process is not yet completely free of all contradictions. Sometimes the process brings us together, at other times it distances us. Ourjoint healing, our redemption, must be achieved by reaching peace with those near and far.”
2000-10-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption2 (2000) · source
“Calumny cannot lie forever hidden under the most forceful rhetoric. For example, there were the Bahraini and Libyan delegations' cold, oblique allusions to the Nazi regime, and the Iraqi delegation's repudiation of Israel's right to exist. As for Algeria, from the bottom of our hearts we wish that it might put an end to the succession of massacres occurring on its own territory. Such an action would certainly put it in a better moral position to denounce massacres occurring elsewhere. In this unhappy and tragic moment in Israeli- Palestinian relations, there is a neither mawkish nor superfluous need for compassion.”
2000-10-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption2 (2000) · source
“This progress was the direct outgrowth of the Barak Government's policy of peace. During those negotiations, the untouchable became tangible, the forbidden became palpable, and some huge difficulties were removed. We find ourselves at exactly this crucial stage. President Arafat and his negotiators know this only too well. The international community witnessed this fact at the Millennium Summit. President Arafat and Prime Minister Barak were summoned by history to agree to a real peace - that is, a peace that cannot fulfil all the dreams and utopian visions of either side. This discussion that has been spread out over several meetings of the Security Council could not have been more solemn and bitter. Some of the residue, some of the wilder scraps need, therefore, to be cleaned up.”
2000-10-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption2 (2000) · source
“Confronted with the attempt - methodically pursued here and elsewhere - to conceal this fundamental truth, we need to affirm that the Temple Mount, sacred to Islam on the side where Al-Haram Al-Sharif is located, is equally sacred to Judaism for its more ancient layers, on which Jewish identity and history are based. We believe this reminder is necessary not only in the context of the issue that concerns us here and now, but also for the dialogue aimed at reaching a definitive peace between the Palestinians and us. Only if the two sides are able to consider and accept each other's symbolic systems and political systems can peace be achieved. Sudden progress and new forms of progress were achieved at the Camp David negotiations and in the negotiations that followed them.”
2000-10-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption2 (2000) · source
“Sharon's visit was undertaken in full compliance with the fundamental principles of Israeli democracy. Further, and because of this same democracy, Mr. Barak could not impede Mr. Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount. A clear and unbiased view of Israeli democracy would allow those who felt a responsibility to be objective to qualify their judgements and to distance themselves from entirely unfounded presuppositions. Finally, it is out of absolute respect for Islam and its holy sites - Al-Haram Al-Sharif in particular - that I would like to contribute to this serious and solemn discussion. The Temple Mount is also the foremost holy place of Judaism.”
2000-10-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption2 (2000) · source
“Barghouti at the many Israeli-Palestinian talks in Greece and as founding members of the Israeli-Arab alliance for peace in Copenhagen. The visit of Mr. Ariel Sharon has been identified by most speakers in this Security Council debate as the primary cause of the outbreak of violence of the past few days. Some have gone so far as to imagine premeditated collusion between Mr. Sharon and Prime Minister Barak aimed at better establishing the Israeli right to sovereignty on the Temple Mount. Others have seen in it a loathsome profanation of Islamic holy sites. These assertions seem to us to be so excessive that they deserve to be recorded so that we may underline, step by step, the full import of each. First, whatever its motives and implications, Mr.”
2000-10-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption2 (2000) · source
“This armed and organized Palestinian violence, both civilian and military, is directly answerable to the hierarchy of the Palestinian Authority and is being carried out in strict obedience to it. This campaign is in itself a continual source of provocation and bears heavily on the tragic course of events. Moreover, even Mr. Marwan Barghouti, a member of the Palestinian Parliament and the head of Tanzim, makes no secret of this. His recent call for the wholesale killing of Israelis was based on the militia members at his service and on the green light given by the Palestinian Authority that supports him. In past times and in a far more upbeat context, I personally had the opportunity to promote peace with Mr.”
2000-10-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption2 (2000) · source
“The first of these is on the need for a total and immediate halt to the violence in order to provide concrete and psychological support for the consultations in Paris and Sharm el-Sheikh between us, the partners in peace. Only an abusively simplistic and reductive vision, only a perception that is obstinately one-dimensional could identify Israel as being solely responsible for the tragic deterioration that we have witnessed. With the passage of time, everyone will know and understand this better. The truth is far more complex than the systematically embroidered cliche of an Israeli war machine launched against defenceless Palestinian civilians. Above and beyond young Palestinians throwing stones, acts of Palestinian violence are being committed by the armed militia of Tanzim and the Palestinian police.”
2000-10-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption2 (2000) · source
“Mr. Lancry (Israel) (spoke in French): I thank you, Sir, for allowing me to make this additional statement. I will try as best I can not to make my response a rejoinder, despite the particularly difficult context that has elicited it. In order to keep peace moving ahead, in spite of all the detours and setbacks that, in very painful and tragic episodes, have set the pace of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, we must exhibit a healthy restraint in act and in speech. As we see it, there is one choice only: the language of peace and the teaching of peace cannot include white-hot rhetoric. I therefore wish deliberately to speak in a muted voice so as clearly to enunciate convictions that are as earnest as they are necessary.”
2000-10-05 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption2 (2000) · source
“For our part, we will continue the search for peace with the same unremitting determination that Mr. Barak has so clearly demonstrated in the recent past, and we will continue to make every effort to achieve a lasting peace and historic reconciliation between our two peoples.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“Specifically, we call upon the Palestinian Authority to put an end to the unrestrained use of gunfire by Palestinian police, to collect the illegal weapons in the hands of the Tanzim and to keep Palestinian protesters at a distance from Israeli positions, as is their obligation under the Oslo agreements. I must reiterate that Israel remains committed to achieving a peace settlement with our Palestinian partners, even in the face of such violence. We call upon Chairman Arafat to contribute to the restoration of the spirit of trust and confidence between our two peoples and to resume the peace talks in earnest. We look forward to the meeting tomorrow in Paris between Prime Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat as an ideal opportunity to achieve this.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source
“At this decisive crossroads of peace negotiations, backed up by an unprecedented Israeli willingness to pursue a path of historic compromise, one major question demands our scrutiny: is Chairman Arafat truly prepared to forgo unrealistic demands and dreams and to embrace a reasonable peace? Or, will he for ever remain entrenched in his positions, and for ever play the role of the unquenchable leader of an endless Palestinian revolution? We call upon the Palestinian leadership to act with responsibility, and to do its utmost to immediately calm the situation and to help foster a climate conducive to the advancement of peace negotiations.”
2000-10-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204 (2000) · source