YouSaid · the spoken record

Mansour

lines on the record: 2,038
first: 2006-03-30
most recent: 2023-12-22
sittings or episodes: 126
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

“Israel has not upheld its legal obligations as an occupying Power. The deterioration of the situation in the occupied State of Palestine, as seen recently in Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, is of Israel’s making. It is an inevitable result of its oppressive policies and colonialist occupation. Before the Council here today, we stress the need to end Israeli aggression against Gaza. But putting an end to that recent aggression did not end the catastrophe. It did not restore the lives of fallen martyrs. It did not return houses that were destroyed. It did not spare orphans the loss of their parents, or bring back the loved ones of the bereaved.”
2021-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8782 (2021) · source
“Did we not come, time after time, to warn of the consequences of Israeli attacks on holy Islamic and Christian sites and East Jerusalem? We spoke out against acts of provocation at Al-Haram Al-Sharif and the policy of forcible displacement in the Old City, Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, and indeed in all of Palestine. Did Israel not come over and again to the Council, displaying stubbornness and resorting always to the argument of anti-Semitism to justify its grave violations as if it were entitled to act as if above the law? Israel attacks anyone who calls for an end to its settlement policy in the West Bank, for respect for the character and status of Jerusalem, as well as of the historic status quo of Al-Haram Al-Sharif, and for the lifting of the blockade over the Gaza Strip.”
2021-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8782 (2021) · source
“Who will believe Israel after all of this? Did the Security Council not receive the many United Nations reports sounding the alarm about the catastrophic situation in Gaza? We have heard a lot of the information in such reports delivered to us today: those reports issued a warning regarding a situation on the verge of collapse. We were warned about the possible resumption of violence for the past 15 years as a result of the resumption of Israeli violence. Did Palestinians not speak out during the Great March of Return? They spoke out to ask for the lifting of the siege, which United Nations experts believe violates international law and constitutes collective punishment against Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”
2021-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8782 (2021) · source
“How can Israel call for the release of its bodies while Palestinian bodies pile up, corpses refrigerated, with families unable even to give them a dignified burial? How will Israel justify saying that it has an absolute right to so-called self-defence at a time when any Palestinian who defends her home, family, land, right to practice her religion or access to holy sites is considered a criminal? These are the same Palestinians that face soldiers and military forces. How can Israel justify the fact that its courts condemn Palestinians who are simply exercising their rights? How can it justify that its courts condemn the fact that Palestinian children are seeking refuge when Palestinian children are attacked and killed among their families with their parents? How is all of this going to be justified?”
2021-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8782 (2021) · source
“How can Israel justify the forced displacement in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan under the pretence of alleged property for Jews while denying the property rights of Palestinians all over historic Palestine? How can Israel justify the racial nationalism act that grants rights to Jews and deprives the Palestinians of those rights? How can Israel justify the demolition of our homes, our properties and our fields? How can it justify stealing our water and our livelihoods while at the same time claiming its right to build illegal settlements, military checkpoints and even a wall on our land? How can Israel justify violence? How can it justify attacks on Christian and Muslim holy sites while claiming that its colonization is quite simply a divine, ideological right?”
2021-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8782 (2021) · source
“Israel has also failed in misleading the peoples of the world: its colonialist and racist face is plain for all to see. Its arguments are obsolete. It is no longer possible for Israel to hide behind aggressive reactions by accusing all those who dare to criticize its occupation and call for its end and all those who express their solidarity with Palestine and its just cause. There is a worldwide generation that stands unafraid of Israel and its threats. After what has happened today, how can Israel continue to hide the apartheid regime it imposes, which is visible everywhere from the river to the sea? How can Israel justify the so-called right of return of Jews 5,000 years later while denying the right of Palestinians to return to their land and homes after 73 years?”
2021-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8782 (2021) · source
“Israel has invested enormous resources towards changing the historic, geographic and demographic status in our homeland, believing that eventually a Palestinian generation will acknowledge defeat and surrender to it. Today, after more than 70 years since the Nakba, Israel’s scheme is falling apart in the face of the courage of young Palestinians who are more attached to their homeland and their life, believing in unity and in the inevitability of victory. Generation after generation, we have remained dedicated to Palestine — we carry the colour of its soil — simply because there is no alternative to justice and freedom. No occupation can last forever, regardless of the occupier’s military might, military technology or its colonial policies.”
2021-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8782 (2021) · source
“Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner- General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), for all the services provided by UNRWA to millions of Palestinian refugees. In the same vein, I wish very much to thank my friend and brother Professor Rashid Khalidi for his valuable briefing. Israel has failed. Israel has failed in defeating Palestinian consciousness and in breaking up our national affiliation. Over the course of 73 years, Israel has developed the most cunning policies and adopted the worst practices, has wielded threats by adopting the gravest plans and imposed the strongest sanctions.”
2021-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8782 (2021) · source
“Mr. Mansour (Palestine) (spoke in Arabic): I thank you, Mr. President, for your valuable efforts during this month since the beginning of the aggression directed against us. We also thank all our brothers and friends in the Security Council who have cooperated with you, Sir, to put an end to that aggression since it began. Indeed, several formal meetings of the Security Council have been held — be they open or closed or at the ministerial level — to put an end to the aggression against our Palestinian people, our holy sites and our property. I also wish to thank the Secretary-General and Mr. Tor Wennesland for their efforts to achieve peace and justice in our region. On behalf of Palestine, I wish to thank Mr.”
2021-05-27 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8782 (2021) · source
“To those who believe that the destruction of the two-State solution will end the Palestinian struggle for freedom, we say that they are wrong — they are absolutely wrong. Despite all the challenges, we will never give up on our legitimate national aspirations for the Palestinian people to live freely and equally in their homeland, side by side with all of their neighbours, including the Israeli people, in peace and security.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“Such a solution must end the Israeli occupation and achieve the independence of the State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on international law, the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid principles and the Arab Peace Initiative, as well as a just solution for the plight of the Palestine refugees on the basis of General Assembly resolution 194 (II). While the start of this year gives little cause for hope, we are by no means hopeless. Despite adversity and setbacks, we are steadfast in the pursuit of our rights, including to self-determination, and firm in our conviction with regard to the inevitability of justice. The Palestinian people are not going anywhere. Millions of them are rooted in our national homeland, and no one can remove them from our national homeland.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“In this year of the United Nations seventy-fifth anniversary, we appeal for a renewed commitment to the Charter. Should the Security Council continue to be obstructed from fulfilling its Charter duties, we call on all States, individually and collectively, to act in respect of their political, legal and moral obligations and the long-standing international consensus to justly resolve the Palestine question. Only such action can bring us back from the brink and make a just solution not only possible but inevitable.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“Initiatives endorsing such illegal schemes and departing from the global consensus enshrined in the Council’s resolutions are rejected and doomed to fail, as all here, with the exception of one delegation, have repeated in the Council so many times. Any initiative not rooted in global consensus, international law and United Nations resolutions will fail. All here have said that. The representative of the United Kingdom, the representative of France, the representative of Germany and the rest of the Council repeat this message all the time. Any initiative not rooted in global consensus to end the occupation to preserve the two-State solution, based on the 1967 borders, without any changes unless agreed upon by the two parties through negotiations, will fail — I repeat, will fail.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“This worst-case scenario must be averted, and all must uphold their duties and pledges to seek peace, security and justice. This is not Israel-bashing; it is a call for respect for the law and our shared values — the foundations of a safe, peaceful and prosperous world — and for safeguarding human rights and salvaging the just solution that can finally end this tragic conflict. The urgent need to stop Israeli annexation schemes cannot be underestimated. Immediate action is needed before it is too late — prevention, prevention, prevention. We need to stop annexation before it takes place. It is our collective responsibility to do so. Any talk of peace plans, which might be coming soon, should be about actualizing Palestinian independence and sovereignty, not advancing Israeli annexation. I repeat, not advancing Israeli annexation.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“Security Council resolutions, including resolution 2334 (2016), must be respected. This must mean the complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, as well as all measures of annexation and all other unlawful policies and practices, including collective punishment, an end to its illegal blockade of Gaza and all acts of provocation, incitement and violence. Should Israel continue to defy the international community, there should be no hesitation to pursue the prosecution of the perpetrators and sanctions — I repeat, sanctions. For, absent accountability, it is clear that Israel will persist with its crimes, causing more human suffering, irreversibly dismantling the two- State solution and compounding the conflict with grave consequences.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“It is past time to end to the double standard that has allowed such sheer impunity by Israel. It is past time to say “Enough”. It does not make sense to speak eloquently about international law, principles and commitments, while allowing them to be shredded and ridiculed so systematically and without consequence. Upholding the Charter requires defending it in all circumstances and insisting on compliance with zero exceptions. In cases of its breach, accountability is paramount. All Israeli colonization in occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem, must be condemned and neither threats nor attempts at annexation should go unchallenged. They must be immediately halted. The Charter must be upheld. The prohibition on the acquisition of territory by force must stand.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“Respect for the Charter and international law is key to ensuring global peace and security and the viability of the international rules-based order. Yet there are those who continue to recklessly trample the law without regard for the consequences. For decades, Israel, the occupying Power, has trampled the Charter, United Nations resolutions and all relevant provisions of international law. As with common war criminals, even the spectre of an ICC investigation has not deterred Israeli Government officials and military commanders, who continue to blatantly challenge the Security Council and the international community as a whole. We must therefore once again call for actions to uphold the rule of law. This is an urgent, shared responsibility and obligation for the Security Council, the General Assembly, the ICC and all States.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“All of that has compounded the hardships and suffering of the Palestinian civilian population, devastating millions of lives. At the same time, they are severely undermining the prospects of peace, making the two-State solution, based on the pre-1967 borders, more remote than ever and a one-State apartheid reality more probable, to the detriment of all living on that land for the foreseeable future. Barring immediate, tangible action, based on accountability under international law, first and foremost, the prognosis for the new year will be equally bleak, if not worse. Just weeks ago in this Chamber (see S/PV.8699), we heard lofty statements about the Charter of the United Nations. The consensus was clear in every pledge.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“Khan Al-Ahmar must be removed immediately.” Both statements were made following the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor to open an investigation into war crimes committed in Palestine as Israeli politicians join Prime Minister and other officials in mocking the Court, flaunting their intentions to commit more crimes and competing in criminality. Such open provocation and incitement intensified throughout the year, including provocations against the holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli officials continue to recklessly violate the historic status quo at Al-Haram Al-Sharif, disrespect Jordan’s custodianship and call for Israeli takeover of that holy site, fuelling the radicalism of Jewish extremists and fanning the flames of religious war.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“In the past decade, over 10,000 Palestinians have been displaced by Israeli demolitions and the threat of displacement looms over thousands more, many refugees and the majority living in occupied East Jerusalem and surrounding areas. Ongoing threats to demolish Khan Al-Ahmar and forcibly transfer its inhabitants reflect that stark reality. “Destroy Khan Al-Ahmar tomorrow morning, every day a different illegal outpost of Arabs and Europeans. In war as in war — took a heavy toll on all sides. In the coming year you will have American backing and that is definitely enough.” Those are the words of Israel’s Transport Minister. Similarly, a Knesset member has declared: “The future of Judea and Samaria will be decided in actions, not words.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“Recent statements by the United States Ambassador to Israel, promising to deliver everything to Israel, have only furthered that belief, as heard in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s constant vows of annexation, including his recent statement that: “We are going to bring United States recognition for our sovereignty in the Jordan Valley, in all the settlements, those in the blocs and those that are beyond it.” In 2019, demolitions escalated as well. Israel destroyed or seized 617 Palestinian homes and properties in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, forcibly displacing 898 Palestinians. In addition to homes, donor-funded humanitarian projects, water wells, agricultural structures and solar panels were destroyed, the majority in the so-called Area C of the West Bank, which is openly targeted for Israeli annexation.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“Some 256 attacks were recorded in 2019, 50 carried out by terrorist price-tag militias and gangs, causing death, injury, damage to homes, churches, mosques, orchards and vehicles. Annexation threats also grew louder in 2019. While Israeli officials continue to brag about Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem and openly pursue measures to alter the city’s demographic composition, character and legal status unchallenged, their expansionist appetite has grown. It is clear that Israeli officials believe that they have secured United States support for such an illegal scheme, notably after the December 2017 decision on Jerusalem and the November 2019 announcement on settlements, and have zero regard for the law — in this case, international law.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“Israel’s illegal settlement activities also reached unprecedented rates in 2019, as confirmed in the Secretary-General’s reports on the implementation of resolution 2334 (2016) and countless other reports. Settlement construction and expansion, land confiscation, property demolitions, excavations and natural resource exploitation all escalated. Over 10,000 new settlement units were advanced, which will result in the illegal transfer of thousands upon thousands more Israeli settlers if not stopped. The start of 2020 began similarly, with Israel brazenly announcing plans for 2,000 more settlement units. Israeli settler violence and terror against Palestinian civilians, including children, also continued unabated.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“Israel must be reminded that it is not the sovereign in the city. I repeat — Israel must be reminded that it is not the sovereign in the occupied city of East Jerusalem. It remains the occupying Power and is obligated to respect the United Nations immunity, international law and all relevant resolutions. The year 2019 also witnessed daily arrests by the occupying forces. Over 5,500 Palestinians were detained, including 889 children and 128 women; some were released after interrogation and others imprisoned. Currently, more than 5,000 Palestinians, including 50 women and 200 children, are being held captive in Israeli jails, including 450 under administrative detention. Approximately 700 of these are suffering illnesses, including 10 cancer patients, all subjected to inhumane treatment and conditions.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“World Bank estimates indicate 53 per cent unemployment and a shocking 67 per cent for youth in Gaza, where poverty, food insecurity and despair are also rampant and nearly 97 per cent of the water is unfit for human consumption. Were it not for the assistance provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and other international aid, the situation would have collapsed long ago. We are grateful for the General Assembly’s resounding renewal of the UNRWA mandate and for the generous donor support. We urge the redoubling of support in the light of the financial crisis and immense pressures being endured by the Agency, including ongoing attempts by Israel to obstruct the presence and services of UNRWA in occupied East Jerusalem.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“The casualty toll from the Great March of Return in the Gaza Strip has reached over 300 Palestinians killed, including children, and over 35,000 injured by the occupying forces since the protests began in 2018. That includes 50 persons blinded by bullets to the eyes, 150 limb amputations and another 200 expected, according to the World Health Organization. The scope and scale of injuries has pushed Gaza’s already strained health system to the breaking point. The year brought Gaza closer to the United Nations country team’s Gaza in 2020 report projection that the impact of Israel’s illegal blockade, now nearing its fourteenth year, and military aggressions would leave Gaza uninhabitable by 2020 if not reversed. The humanitarian situation remains dire; we have an extensive report to that effect.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“Any impartial assessment of the situation reflects the dire political, socioeconomic, humanitarian and security conditions as Israel, the occupying Power, continues exploiting the Security Council’s paralysis and the blind support of its main ally, further entrenching its illegal occupation of Palestinian land and destroying prospects for a peaceful solution. The past year ended with disturbing figures, underscoring the severity of violations and the protection crisis being suffered by Palestinian children, women and men under Israeli occupation. In 2019, Israeli occupying forces killed 134 Palestinians and injured over 15,000 people, the majority by air strikes and live fire.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“We congratulate Viet Nam and express our appreciation for its able leadership of the Security Council. We also congratulate the other newly elected members — Estonia, the Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Tunisia — and express our hope for their success, together with the rest of the Council, in upholding their responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security. Such responsibilities are ever-more critical during these troubled times for our world. I thank the Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Ms. Rosemary DiCarlo, and the Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Ms. Ursula Mueller, for their important briefings on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.”
2020-01-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8706 (2020) · source
“This debate has reinforced that faith within us, as has the recent decision by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to open a formal investigation into alleged war crimes in Palestine following a ruling by the Pre-Trial Chamber, which is an important step that will allow for the realization of long-overdue accountability and justice for the many victims of the war crimes that have been and continue to be perpetrated by Israel, the occupying Power, against the Palestinian people, as well as for deterring future crimes. This accountability is the way in which impunity must be responded to and stopped. It is how justice — the cornerstone of any peaceful solution — must be realized. It is how our collective international legal obligations, including under the Charter, must be upheld — not just in words but in deeds.”
2020-01-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8699Resumption2 (2020) · source
“This is to the detriment of all — both those who believe in international law and in our shared values and humanity and those who do not, for the world can only become less safe, less prosperous and less peaceful for all in the absence of respect for the law. Yet we maintain faith in the Charter and in the centrality of international law when it comes to addressing the challenges our world is facing and to establishing the peace, stability and security vital for us all to develop and thrive.”
2020-01-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8699Resumption2 (2020) · source
“Upholding the Charter must mean defending it in all circumstances and insisting on compliance, without exception, and it must also mean that any breach will lead to consequences. Accountability and respect are two sides of the same coin. When the right to self-determination is violated, when force is unlawfully used to kill and injure civilians and destroy their homes, when threats of annexation are routinely declared and boasted of — as we witness being perpetrated every single day by Israel, the occupying Power — and when all such actions have no consequences to hold the perpetrators accountable for their crimes, the international community has failed in its obligation to uphold the Charter and can only bear witness to its continuous degradation.”
2020-01-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8699Resumption2 (2020) · source
“Yet, some that are granted the rights and privileges of a Member State have chosen instead to trample the Charter and abuse United Nations organs, seeking to benefit only themselves while disrespecting the Organization at every turn. Disparaging multilateralism, they even mock the Security Council and its responsibility for international peace and security, going so far as to claim that it has no role in resolving certain conflicts — specifically the Israeli- Palestinian conflict — while flagrantly defying the Council’s authority and violating its resolutions. That has been done systematically for decades without real consequences, undermining the Council’s role and credibility and the Charter’s purposes and principles. Such selectivity has been gravely counterproductive and damaging.”
2020-01-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8699Resumption2 (2020) · source
“In spite of the profound scope and scale of that injustice, we are firm in our conviction in the inevitability of the realization of our right to self- determination and equally firm in our conviction that upholding the Charter is vital for the fulfilment of that right and of all our inalienable rights for the achievement of a just and peaceful solution and the establishment of regional and global peace and security. We know that we are in good company with the overwhelming majority of the international community, who agree that the United Nations and its effective functioning is critical for preventing conflicts and peacefully resolving them, safeguarding human rights, and promoting friendly relations and cooperation among all States.”
2020-01-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8699Resumption2 (2020) · source
“I also would like to say that we associate ourselves with the statement delivered by the representative of Azerbaijan on behalf of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries (see S/PV.8699 (Resumption 1). Although unjustly denied full membership in the United Nations, the State of Palestine has pledged to respect the Charter and to act in accordance with its noble purposes and principles. We do so despite being deprived of one of its most fundamental principles — that of equal rights and self-determination of peoples — as the Palestinian people continue to suffer a prolonged foreign occupation and constant oppression, dispossession and colonization obstructing their independence and freedom.”
2020-01-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8699Resumption2 (2020) · source
“At the outset, I warmly congratulate Viet Nam on assuming its seat on the Security Council and commend it for skilfully presiding over the Council this month. We thank the delegation of Viet Nam and its Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs for convening this timely debate on upholding the Charter of the United Nations for the maintenance of international peace and security. We thank the Secretary-General and Mrs. Mary Robinson, Chair of the Elders, for their briefings on a matter requiring the urgent attention and engagement of all if we are to preserve the international rules-based order in the face of the many challenges ahead and are to strengthen multilateralism in service of global peace, stability and prosperity.”
2020-01-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8699Resumption2 (2020) · source
“Before concluding, I would like to take a moment to express our deep appreciation to the outgoing Security Council members on the completion of their service on the Council with principle and distinction. We thank and congratulate the delegations of Kuwait, cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Peru and Poland. I also wish everyone happy holidays.”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“Of 50 per cent of the 636 resolutions that were adopted under Chapter VII over the past 10 years, not a single one has had to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although the situation demonstrates the need for such an endeavour. The fate of the region depends to a great extent on the ability of the international community to demonstrate that the international will to achieve peace is stronger than Israel's will to colonize Palestinian land. We call on the Council and all States to act now to advance accountability, justice, freedom and peace for the sake of the Palestinian people, the Israeli people, future generations, regional and global peace and security, and the international rules-based order.”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“Therefore, claims that the United Nations is singling out Israel through an inordinate number of resolutions are selective and misleading at best and biased at worst, as such claims ignore the situation in the Council, where the opposite is true and any effort to address Israel's blatant contempt for international law, the authority of the Council and its resolutions, including resolution 2334 (2016), as conveyed once again in the Secretary- General's report, is obstructed. The Security Council has not adopted any resolution regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict under Chapter VII, although more than 50 per cent of the resolutions adopted concerning other conflicts in the past 10 years have been under Chapter VII.”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“In the past decade, out of 636 Security Council resolutions, only two have been adopted on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict - only two over the past 10 years - namely, resolution 1860 (2009), to stop the war of aggression against our people in Gaza in 2009, and resolution 2334 (2016). Likewise, out of 271 presidential statements adopted over the past decade, only three concerned Palestine and Israel - only three out of 271.”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“Israel's very selective approach to United Nations resolutions and international law, claiming rights and dismissing obligations, should never be condoned or encouraged. The claim that the United Nations adopts a disproportionate number of resolutions on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict is a distortion that disregards key facts and the relevant context. Any reference to the number of resolutions adopted by the General Assembly on the Palestine question must be seen in the context of the paralysis of the Security Council when it comes to the conflict. Therein lies the real imbalance and bias.”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“The General Assembly resolutions on Palestine are firmly rooted in the Charter of the United Nations, international law, human rights and the resolutions of the Council itself. Yet it is cynically called biased and one-sided, with the Israeli representative calling the countries making up the General Assembly "morally bankrupt". The General Assembly is not morally bankrupt. Those who are occupying us and promoting occupation are morally bankrupt. The General Assembly is more universal and representative today than at any point in history. Israel therefore cannot celebrate resolution 181 (II) - as the Israeli representative celebrated it not long ago in the General Assembly - and commend the General Assembly for adopting it 70 years ago, while dismissing all other resolutions adopted since then.”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“This morning, the General Assembly adopted resolution 74/139 on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State. The resolution has garnered the support of more than 90 per cent of the United Nations membership, with 160 Members voting in favour and five against. Is such support for our right to self-determination, which is a principle enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and has been a cornerstone policy of the United States of America since President Wilson, an expression of bias against Israel? Can resolutions on Palestinian rights, the peaceful settlement of the conflict and Jerusalem or against Israeli settlements be characterized as anti-Israel?”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“The illegal annexation of Palestinian land is not an unexpected result of the Israeli occupation. It is its overarching objective. Three years ago, the Security Council adopted resolution 2334 (2016), reaffirming the international consensus concerning a just and lasting peace, based on international law and identifying the obligations of the parties and the international community at large. Had there been enforcement and accountability, I assure the Council that the report of the Secretary- General today would certainly be different. Instead, Israeli exceptionalism and impunity have continued, emboldening Israel to pursue and entrench its illegal occupation, to the detriment of the Palestinian people's inalienable rights. Peace requires the fulfilment of those rights, not acceptance of their continued denial.”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“But Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have also been confined to the areas where they already lived in 1967. In the so-called Area C, which represents 60 per cent of the West Bank and includes the resource-rich Jordan Valley, only 1 per cent has been planned for Palestinian development, while 70 per cent of the area is included within the boundaries of the regional councils of illegal Israeli settlements. Similarly, only 13 per cent of East Jerusalem, much of which is already built up, is zoned for Palestinian construction, while 35 per cent of the land in East Jerusalem has been confiscated for Israeli settlement use. The purpose of that policy is crystal clear - to acquire the maximum amount of Palestinian land with the minimum of Palestinians.”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“As Palestinians prepare to welcome another year, their ordeal is nowhere close to an end. They continue to fear for their lives, their families, their homes and their future. And yet every day they find the courage to persevere. The Palestinian people are a very resilient people. They remain steadfast in the face of adversity and carry the hope that they will be able to live and thrive on their own land in dignity and freedom. Here I would like to draw a map of our reality, which can be summarized in two words - confinement, for Palestinians, and expansion, for illegal Israeli settlements. When I say "confinement", the members of the Council may have in mind, and rightly, the 2 million Palestinians besieged in the Gaza Strip.”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“I congratulate you on assuming the presidency of the Security Council during this month. We thank the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, for his presentation of the report of the Secretary-General (S/2019/93 8). We also listened to Ms. Raemer's briefing. As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Christmas, Palestinian Christians join them in decorating trees, singing carols and praying for peace in the Holy Land and across the globe. But the reality of occupation has not spared them, even in this special period of the year. Palestinian Christians from Gaza have been barred by Israel from celebrating Christmas in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the two twin cities separated, for the first time in history, by a shameful wall.”
2019-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8690 (2019) · source
“As one of our famous poets once said, "If one day a people desires to live, then fate will answer their call. And their night will then begin to fade, and their chains will break and fall."”
2019-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8669 (2019) · source
“It does not forgive the expansion of settlements in the West Bank or the racist annexation of Jerusalem, the provocative acts carried out in Haram Al-Sharif or the imposition of illegal taxes on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. International law does not forgive silence on these things. Neither the Palestinian people nor its leaders will give in to political blackmail. We will continue to take every measure possible to legally and politically counter the racist policies and inhumane practices that we are witnessing, in order to honour our commitment to the Palestinian people in our homeland and abroad, to their historical sacrifices and to the defence of our rights and national positions, including our right to freedom, security and dignity in our own beloved homeland of Palestine.”
2019-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8669 (2019) · source
“International law does not forgive ambushes and arbitrary arrests of girls and boys. Nor does it forgive their torture in Israeli prisons and detention centres. It does not forgive the military invasions of cities, towns and camps or the sowing of terror in the hearts of mothers who fear for the fate of their children. International law does not forgive forced displacement or the demolition of houses and property and the displacement of their owners. International law does not forgive the rioting and acts of terrorism by Israeli settlers, their looting of Palestinian natural resources or their burning of fields and olive trees. International law does not forgive the fact that people are made to wait for long hours at army checkpoints.”
2019-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8669 (2019) · source
“It does not forgive the Israeli air strike on the home of the Sawarkas, which killed five little children in that family. International law does not forgive when a little girl goes to sleep hoping to celebrate her tenth birthday the next morning, only to wake up and have to attend her parents' funeral. International law does not forgive the killing of a man in Hebron who went out to buy food for his waiting family and never came back. It does not forgive Israel's holding on to the bodies of martyrs and the pain that causes their parents. It does not forgive a sniper shooting a press photographer in the left eye while he was documenting violations committed by the Israeli occupiers. The soldiers believed that killing the witness would conceal their crime, but it only revealed and condemned them.”
2019-11-20 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.8669 (2019) · source