YouSaid · the spoken record

Power

lines on the record: 1,841
first: 2013-08-06
most recent: 2019-07-09
sittings or episodes: 165
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

“We have since seen how directly something like that can threaten regional and international security. In this new era, we cannot choose the drivers of conflict and insecurity that we wish to address. We must instead seek to identify and better understand all of them, in order to more effectively fulfil our mandate. Today's debate represents an important step in this direction.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“As we design peacekeeping missions, we must ensure that they not only address all facets of whatever conflict is currently before us, but also that they are equipped to maintain security while critical progress is being made in development. Consider Sierra Leone, where the United Nations maintained a presence whose form evolved alongside the country's transition from civil war to immediate post-conflict peacebuilding to development. That transition continues, but it has already produced a stronger Government and a more resilient community that was able to withstand and eventually defeat Ebola. The case of Sierra Leone reminds us that not long ago there would have been those who questioned the relevance of a disease, an epidemic such as Ebola, to the Council's work.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“Recent events in Burundi have underscored just how conflict-affected countries can progress with peacebuilding and development but then slip back into crisis, causing such heartbreak for so many. The 2015 peacebuilding architecture review (S/2015/490) offers a valuable opportunity for strengthening the peacebuilding architecture of the United Nations and ensuring that it integrates political, security, development, human rights and rule-of-law activities. We all know that we need to work through how to make the relationship between the Security Council and the peacebuilding architecture more effective. Thirdly and lastly, we must be realistic in our planning.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“And, as proposed through the Human Rights Up Front initiative, we should also seek operational changes within the United Nations system that promote system-wide analysis and early warning in situations of concern. Such early warnings will enable more timely action aimed at preventing or responding to large-scale violations ofhuman rights. I believe that that is what we are now seeking to do in Burundi and have been over the course of the past year. Secondly, we must ensure that peacekeeping is accompanied by peacebuilding. The success of peacebuilding programmes is of direct interest to the Council, because it will help determine whether or not a country lapses back into conflict and right back onto the Council's agenda.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“It is the job of development agencies to directly address many of those drivers, but I would like to briefly describe three ways in which the Council can also help. First, the Council must encourage and enable the recognition of development concerns and their integration into security assessments, peacekeeping strategies and peacebuilding programmes. That will enable us to have a more nuanced understanding of the dynamics shaping the conditions on the ground and thereby improve the design of our interventions. We cannot just play "whack-a-mole" once a conflict is already brewing. To that end, the United States supports the Secretariat's efforts to break down "stovepipes" across the United Nations system in order to enable us to make more holistic and nuanced assessments and responses.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“2) That causal connection is recognized in the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the General Assembly in September (resolution 70/1), in which Goal 16 explicitly notes that an absence of development endangers peace and security. Of course, the reverse is also true. Development is not a panacea that will eliminate all threats. We all know that there are certain people who become terrorists despite being very well off and coming from lives of privilege. But in many contexts, and particularly in the places where we deploy peacekeepers and political teams, development challenges, including a lack of economic opportunity, poor governance and human-rights abuses, are themselves the kerosene that fuels instability.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“Our approach to countering them must be similarly multifaceted. That requires not just the effective use of every tool in our toolbox but also a complete picture of the threats and the factors driving them. Today the Council has a welcome opportunity to discuss one root cause that is too often overlooked - underdevelopment. As President Obama has said, "[I]t is the lack of development, when people have no education and no jobs and no hope, when they feel that their basic human dignity is being violated, that helps to fuel so much of the tension, the conflict and the instability in our world." (A/70/PV.11, p.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“We also adopted a resolution on Burundi (resolution 2248 (2015)), where at least 280,000 people have fled their homes, with many seeking shelter in neighbouring countries. In 1941, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt introduced the idea of the four freedoms - freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. All of them are intertwined, and to pretend otherwise is perilous. We - all the States Members of the United Nations - must dedicate ourselves to tackling the causes of fear and want in our societies. We must build strong institutions that respect human rights and are accountable to our peoples and their needs. As the crises in the headlines remind us - and, indeed, as last week's horrific events in Paris, Beirut and Baghdad underscore - today the threats to international peace and security are diverse.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“We are dealing with a brutal movement, and it must be stopped in its tracks. Every week we meet in this Chamber and debate how best to respond to an ever-evolving set of threats to international peace and security. Last week we convened on Somalia (see S/PV.7554), a country where we are supporting both security operations against violent terrorists and parallel efforts to assist a political transition. We met on Syria, where a revolution that began against a repressive regime has mutated into that regime's indiscriminate killing of masses of civilians on a daily basis. That, of course, is a war with ramifications that touch all of us and that has enabled the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“We are completely with them and in awe of what they have done so far, and we will be their enduring partner, through thick and thin, as they move forward. We know how difficult that is, and it is important not only for Tunisia but also for the entire region and the world as a whole. Before I begin, I also want to offer my deepest condolences to Ambassador Delattre and the people of France. His great nation is America's oldest ally. We share history, values and ideals. We have stood together time and again, and today we do so with a heavy heart but with more determination than ever. We are ready to help in any way we can. We also extend our condolences to the families of those lost in the apparent bomb attack on the Russian plane, as well as to the victims and the families ofthose victims of the horrific attacks in Lebanon and Iraq.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“I would like to thank the Secretary-General for his reports. Madam President, you are voting with your feet by being here and presiding over today's meeting. The United Kingdom's leadership on this issue and continued emphasis on the link between security and development is extremely important. I would also like to thank Mr. Skoog for his briefing, and to welcome Ms. Bouchamaoui to the Council and congratulate her on her Nobel Prize, which we do not often get to do in the Security Council. Much more important than the Prize, however, is her resilience and stubborn determination, and that of the Tunisian people, to build a stable and prosperous democracy. The one thing they do not have to worry about is the possibility of the world turning its back on them.”
2015-11-17 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7561 (2015) · source
“I would like him to speak a little more on the extent to which having an exit strategy is helping to focus minds, and whether he has seen concrete improvements in the training and its results for Liberian police capacity. I am interested particularly in how that applies outside Monrovia, where much of the effort over time has been focused because that is where the central Government authorities are. How can the Liberian National Police begin to make strides, particularly, as I said, with the drawdown looming over the Mission, so that police outside Monrovia have the capabilities they need in order to keep the Liberian people safe?”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“Finally, as someone who Visited Commissioner Hinds in Liberia at the height of the Ebola epidemic when everybody else was racing for the exits, I would first like to underscore how impressive was the leadership that he and the police under his command in the United Nations Mission in Liberia showed. I think they are owed the gratitude of the Liberian people and the entire international community for staying the course and being there for those people in their hour of most desperate need-something that I think will never be forgotten, as I hope the Commissioner and the officers who work with him are aware. Of course, the big challenge for him as he faces a drawdown is building up the local Liberian police, and that has been a challenge for a very long time.”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“I gather that the Deputy Commissioner has around 1,170 police officers for accomplishing that task, which has now sadly had to become a central part of UNMISS's mandate. But then there is also the fact that those 180,000 are just the ones in the camps, and that the rest of the country is filled with civilians in desperate need of protection as well, at a very difficult time. I would like to ask the Deputy Commissioner to speak to the resources, capabilities and mandate adjustments he needs in order to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time, both in terms ofpolice and, as the police are integrated into the larger peacekeeping Mission, where civilians outside the protection-of- civilian sites are also crying out for protection. What is the division of labour between police and troops in that regard?”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“It is also why Police Commissioners should increasingly participate in our country-specific briefings alongside Force Commanders and the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General. They have an extremely important perspective and it will enable us to ask questions of them beyond the kind of tour d'horizon that we are doing today. In the spirit of this free flow of information, I will conclude today by asking a couple of questions. I would like to ask Deputy Commissioner Bent about the police contingent of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), which is now charged with protecting more than 180,000 civilians living in six designated locations. That was never the way the Mission was supposed to be configured, and that kind of deterioration was never what anyone expected to see in South Sudan.”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“So as Member States, we have to deal with that challenge in our domestic law- enforcement branches, and the United Nations system itself must get involved and ensure that when there is a pool of women who can be deployed that a special effort is made to bring them into its missions. Lastly, we must improve the channels of communication so as to ensure that the Council has insight into the critical work that police units are doing and into their perspective, which is a distinct one. We need the benefit ofreports from police in order to ensure that our missions are achieving their mandates. That is why, as I said earlier, we must make this meeting an annual one.”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“Here, in a very important point, by procuring and delivering the equipment an FPU requires, the United States intends to shorten deployment times from many months to as little as 30 days after the adoption ofa Security Council resolution. We know that is going to hard to deliver on, but it is an extremely important ambition. Thirdly, I would simply like to second everything that the representatives of Chad and Chile have just said about the importance of increasing the number of women police. However, I think we also have to acknowledge that part of the challenge is that our own nations' police forces - whether city, state or national - themselves have a deficit of women police, which gets replicated in United Nations missions.”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“Secondly, we must ensure that all United Nations police are properly trained and equipped, and we in the United States have sought to address those needs. Since 2010, we have trained more than 5,000 police peacekeepers, and next year we plan to conduct training sessions across seven police-contributing countries, enhancing pre-deployment preparation for up to 14 units. We also continue to provide technical, financial and material support to the United Nations Police Division's efforts to improve FPU standards, training and curricula. And because well-trained police can have an impact only once they are on the ground, we are also working through the African Peacekeeping Rapid Response Partnership to ensure that those units can deploy quickly.”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“First, we must ensure that the United Nations approach to peacekeeping fully reflects the importance of the police. As others have said, that means supporting continuing reforms, including through the external review proposed by the Secretary-General to examine how United Nations policing is equipped to carry out those enormous responsibilities. I know there is a sense among many of those here that there are deficiencies in how police are coming into mission areas and in the kind of training and equipment they have for doing their jobs. It also means supporting the Police Division's efforts to develop a strategic guidance framework for United Nations policing, which many have been hungering for.”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“In the longer term, of course, even more foundationally and more fundamentally, United Nations police contribute to the sustained protection of civilians and to freedom from fear in the country by training their local counterparts and building lasting institutions that uphold the rights of civilians. Their job is to try to put themselves out of business so that we do not need United Nations police or peacekeepers, and that is about building local security institutions and particularly police forces. From conducting daily patrols to formulating multi-year programmes, it is evident that the growing number of United Nations police can and must play a leading role in protecting civilians, and we in the Council must do all we can to position them for success. I would like to briefly highlight four ways in which we can do that.”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“As we deploy more police, we are asking more of them, and we now recognize that effective policing is critical to achieving one of peacekeeping's most important and challenging mandates, namely, the protection of civilians. The Commanders with us today know this better than anyone. The individual officers on the streets represent the first line of defence and the first point of assistance for civilians in need. This work equips officers with the kind of invaluable local knowledge, insight and relationships that can help Mission leaders refine strategies and tactics to more effectively address potential threats to civilians. So the work that the United Nations police do can inform the entire mission and the way those missions are calibrated to serve their foundational function.”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“There are 64 today, and at the Leaders' Summit on Peacekeeping six weeks ago, Member States pledged an additional 15. Earlier this year, just to give one telling example, we authorized the deployment of more United Nations police to just one Mission - in the Central African Republic - than were stationed globally 21 years ago. That is just one reflection of the large numbers, but it is the incredible relevance of these police in post-conflict societies and in societies that are still experiencing conflict and in weak States. This is an extremely important function, and as the Security Council we need to reflect that in our engagement with and support for the United Nations Police Division. It is not just about numbers.”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“I thank Under-Secretary-General Ladsous for his briefing and welcome all the Police Commissioners. We thank them above all for their service, often in very difficult environments and for being here to brief us. We wish to express our special thanks to the United Kingdom for convening this important briefing. It is extremely important that this become an annual event, not only because of what happens in the briefing itself but for all of the side meetings that take place where we get to hear directly from the Police Commissioners, who offer a perspective that we do not get day to day, which I will come back to shortly. The world of United Nations policing is changing rapidly. Just three years ago, there were 52 formed police units (FPUs) participating in United Nations peacekeeping missions around the world.”
2015-11-13 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7558 (2015) · source
“The Somali people deserve a Government that puts the public's needs first and is committed to serving all Somalis. The Mogadishu international book fair points to the readiness of Somalis to put war behind them. As one of the fair's organizers said, "Next year will be bigger and better, God willing". He was referring to the fair, but his words ring equally true for his country. Somalia's future can be bigger and better if security and political progress continues. The United States stands alongside Somalis in their determination to see that happen.”
2015-11-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7551 (2015) · source
“To that end, we welcome President Hassan Sheikh's repeated commitment to holding elections in 2016, which have been reiterated by his administration, the Parliament and regional officials. We urge the Somali Government to work with the international community to ensure a process that is free and fair and that ultimately represents the will of the Somali people, including internally displaced persons and refugees. We also appreciate the President's public commitment to improving accountability and transparency in the security sector. The same high standard must be rigorously applied across the entire public sector. There can be no tolerance for corruption, fraud or abuse within the Government or the electoral process. Such misconduct will threaten the entire transition.”
2015-11-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7551 (2015) · source
“Ultimately, lasting security in Somalia will come through the development of a professional and effective Somali National Army that respects human rights and civilian control. The United States has provided some $300 million in training and other support, and we will continue to help the Somali National Army build capacity so that it can defend its people. But a new Somalia will not come through military force alone, needless to say, and improving governance in Somalia must be a huge and urgent priority. The security gains of AMISOM. and the National Army have created a historic opportunity. It is now up to Somalia's political leadership to seize it and, with the help of the international community, to lead the transition to a stable, national and representative Government.”
2015-11-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7551 (2015) · source
“Maintaining momentum on the security front will require continued bilateral support for AMISOM. The African troops fighting for Somalia's future have achieved major successes, but not without significant costs - first and foremost the scores of AMISOM troops who have given their lives to this important mission and whose sacrifice we deeply respect and honour. The United States will remain a steadfast partner of the AMISOM. troop-contributing countries, providing equipment, pre-deployment training and other assistance. And, as we do with United Nations peacekeeping operations, we will continue to urge that AMISOM. investigate reports of serious violations or abuses of human rights, including those that involve the killing of civilians or sexual exploitation and abuse, and that AMISOM. hold accountable those responsible.”
2015-11-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7551 (2015) · source
“Resolution 2245 (2015) will help ensure that the United Nations, through the renamed United Nations Support Office in Somalia, improves its logistic support to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the Somali National Army and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia. The recently completed strategic review of UNSOA identified key ways to improve our support to the political transition, and we very much appreciate the United Kingdom's leadership in addressing the report's recommendations through today's resolution. The number of personnel supported by UNSOA has more than quadrupled, to more than 33,000. The area of operations has increased 4,000 times over. It is extremely important that the changes in resolution 2245 (2015) have now taken account of those new circumstances and responsibilities.”
2015-11-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7551 (2015) · source
“Thanks to the perseverance and sacrifice ofAfrican Union soldiers, and with support from the United Nations Support Office for the African Union Mission in Somalia (UNSOA), the territory that Al-Shabaab controls is shrinking, while Government authority is expanding, as seen, for instance, in the recapture of key towns such as Baardheere and Diinsoor. But while Al-Shabaab is diminished, its brutal strikes on civilians in Mogadishu and large-scale attacks on AU peacekeepers demonstrate that it is not defeated. Fulfilling that mission will require continuing the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union.”
2015-11-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7551 (2015) · source
“We all know the fragility of the political transition, and we all know the horrors still being inflicted by the terrorist group Al-Shabaab, which continues to assault Somalia's Government and people. But it is important to recognize that there have been security and economic gains and that those gains are meaningful and important. The international community's focus must now be on building and sustaining momentum on two critical and interconnected fronts - improving security through increased military and police pressure on Al-Shabaab and improving governance by supporting accountable Government institutions.”
2015-11-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7551 (2015) · source
“They bought books, attended readings, participated in panels and discussed issues ranging from literature to education to local governance. According to one report, more than half the books sold were written by women. That such an event could occur and so many people would attend demonstratedjust how much is changing in Mogadishu. Locals recalled the open-air book fairs that used to take place in the 1980s. One said, "With events like this, Mogadishu is gradually reclaiming its image". A Somali who travelled from the northern city of Hargeysa told a reporter, "It is my seventh time in Mogadishu. This time it is different. So much creativity and talent displayed in one place... It is beautiful being here." The change under way in Somalia is real.”
2015-11-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7551 (2015) · source
“I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting and for the United Kingdom's deep commitment to stability and democracy in Somalia. I would also like to thank Prime Minister Sharmarke forjoining us today and for his leadership. I am grateful to Mr. Kay, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, for his dedicated work and for all he has given and the risks he has taken for Somalia over the years, and to Ambassador Antonio for all that the African Union (AU) has invested in and sacrificed for Somalia. At the end of August, Mogadishu experienced something it had not had in years - an international book fair. More than 1,000 people came from around the country and abroad. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was one of them.”
2015-11-09 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7551 (2015) · source
“We hope that tomorrow's meeting between Secretary Kerry and Foreign Minister Lavrov will result in Russia's recommitting, in words and in action, to a political solution for Syria based on the Geneva communique' (S/2012/523, annex). At the same time, we call on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take every possible measure to reduce tension and restore calm on the ground. Throughout the region, a return to political dialogue represents the only real path through these darks days of terror and fear.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“Civilians are on the move in terror, and ISIL is on the move gaining ground. Let me be clear. Aiding and abetting Al-Assad's military as it targets the very groups that we need to bring to the negotiating table will only prolong the conflict and push a political solution further from reach. This conflict will not end until Syria is free of Al-Assad. Supporting him now only ensures that, by the time a political transition is negotiated, ISIL will only be stronger - its recruitment having been bolstered by the actions of Russia, Iran and the regime - and the Syrian State will only be weaker, the country more fragmented, and the heartbreak for families across the country more widespread. Peace in Syria cannot be secured overnight, any more than the fear that clouds Jerusalem today will immediately dissipate.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“The Russian offensive has also been profoundly counterproductive, even in relation to its stated goals, as it concentrates its firepower not on the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), but on groups that in many cases have taken huge casualties fighting ISIL. Russia says that it is targeting terrorists, but Russia is in fact targeting groups and individuals opposed to Al-Assad's violent rule. Just yesterday, Reuter's reported a very credible study of Russian strikes, which showed that 80 per cent of the targets that Russia has hit are located outside of ISIL control. By attacking non-extremist groups, Russia has boosted, perversely, the relative strength of ISIL, which has taken advantage of this campaign by seizing new territory in Rural Aleppo. Since Russia began its strikes, the Syrian map has shifted in ISIL's favour.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“That is 85,000 people newly displaced in a relatively short period of time. Returning from southern Aleppo earlier this week, Dr. Zedoun Al-Zoabi, head of the Union of Syrian Medical Relief Organizations, said, "People are scared to death. Everyone is on the move". Russia says that it is defending Syrians, but according to credible Syrian observer groups Russian strikes around Aleppo City have primarily struck critical civilian infrastructure, including schools and markets. At least 100 civilians have been killed by these strikes to date, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“In September alone, the Syrian Network for Human Rights reported that the Al-Assad regime dropped 1,715 barrel bombs on its own people, hitting mosques, hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure. The death toll over the course of the conflict has surpassed 250,000 people, and that figure does not include the tens of thousands of missing Syrians. In addition, more than 10 million Syrians are displaced. The new Russian military offensive has worsened an already dire situation. Around Aleppo and Homs, Russian airstrikes are providing cover for an offensive by Al-Assad's forces, supplemented by Iranian and Hizbullah fighters. According to the United Nations, the new offensive has forced as many as 50,000 more Syrians from their homes in the south-western districts of Aleppo City, and another 35,000 from Hama.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“Both agreed that there is a need to stop incitement, to reduce tension and to restore calm. The Secretary will discuss this further when the Quartet Ministers meet in Vienna tomorrow, and he will then travel to Jordan, where he will meet separately with President Abbas and King Abdullah on Saturday. In his meetings, the Secretary will be encouraging efforts to restore calm and bring an end to the violence. We cannot discuss peace and security in the Middle East and not address the horrific situation in Syria, which has escalated dramatically since we gathered for our last quarterly open debate on the Middle East (see S/PV.7490). The repercussions of events there also reverberate well beyond the region. After four and a half years of war, Syrian civilians continue to endure barrel bombs, extremist violence and widespread deprivations.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“Indeed, they will enhance stability and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike. We continue to believe that the best way to reduce tension is to work towards a political solution that will result in two States living side by side in peace and security. Only through a solution negotiated by the two sides will true peace and security be achieved. Secretary Kerry had a constructive meeting earlier today with Prime Minister Netanyahu. They discussed the security situation in Israel, the West Bank and the region, as well as the situation on the Haram Al-Sharif/ Temple Mount. A number of constructive proposals were suggested, including steps that Israel could take to reaffirm its continued commitment to maintaining the status quo on the Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“Prime Minister Netanyahu has publicly committed to that point. In the longer term, we remain concerned that the trends on the ground, including violence and settlement and outpost activity, are dangerously imperiling the Viability of a two-State solution. As the Quartet statement of 30 September said, the United States and its partners support concrete steps to help stabilize the situation, show meaningful progress towards a two-State solution and restore hope. Together we must continue to press for meaningful steps that will lay the groundwork for achieving a negotiated two-State solution. Significant policy advances, particularly in Area C, will be critical to increasing the Palestinian Authority's ability to address key economic and institutional challenges. These can be pursued while respecting Israel's legitimate security needs.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“We have also expressed our deep concern about the deaths and injuries of Palestinians due to live fire from Israeli security forces, and we have urged Israel to take steps to prevent an escalation of the Violence. As always, it is critical that every possible effort be made to guard against unnecessary loss of life, protect the innocent, reduce tensions and restore calm. We have also raised our heightened concern about the increased Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank. Most immediately, we urge all sides to take affirmative steps to restore calm and reduce tensions. In that regard, we welcome Israel and Jordan's commitment to maintaining the status quo at the Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount, and we strongly support the efforts of all sides to ensure that this status quo is indeed maintained.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“We mourn the loss of all life and continue to stress how important it is that both parties condemn the violence and avoid provocative statements that could further inflame tensions. Both sides must exercise restraint. There is growing frustration on all sides as the prospect of reaching a two-State solution appears to be diminishing. But that frustration is not a justification for reprehensible acts of violence against civilians. Stabbing innocent people as they go about their day is not an acceptable way of expressing anything. It is, as the Deputy Secretary-General just said, attempted murder, full stop. Such attacks must be unequivocally condemned in Israel, as they would be in any of our countries. We support Israel's right to defend its citizens, and we mourn the senseless and deliberate taking of innocent lives.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“The best strategy for me was to keep the children home from school". In Jerusalem, shoppers and merchants are on edge. An Israeli shopkeeper said that his customers came, bought and fled, and that people are afraid. Said an Arab shopkeeper in the Old City, "When I prepare the juice, I am scared to cut the oranges in case someone sees me with the knife and shoots me". That mutual fear risks worsening the already dangerous cycle of violence. The United States is deeply concerned, and condemns in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attacks and the recent and ongoing violence. The human suffering inflicted by these acts has been grave and continues to deepen.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“I would like to thank you, Mr. President, for presiding over today's meeting, Deputy Secretary-General Eliasson for his thorough briefing and the Foreign Ministers present for joining us today. Across Israel, Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, clouds of fear have settled in. In the context of the recent violence, one Israeli told a reporter, "I just don't feel safe any more I watch to see who the people are around me. I want to know who is behind me". A young Palestinian said, "[Y]ou are worried that someone will shout, 'This is an Arab, this is an Arab,' and someone will shoot without you doing anything." An Israeli tenth-grader said, "I'm petrified. Children are scared to leave the house. They won't go to the shop or walk around the neighbourhood". Across the city, a Palestinian father said, "I don't feel safe.”
2015-10-22 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7540 (2015) · source
“The harrowing accounts of innocent civilians injured and killed in the past two weeks on both sides underscore why we all must redouble our efforts to diffuse the crisis and find a pathway back towards a two-State solution.”
2015-10-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7536 (2015) · source
“As we and our partners emphasize in the statement of the Quartet, we strongly support "concrete and significant steps that will help stabilize the situation, reverse current trends by showing meaningful progress towards creating a two-State reality on the ground and restore hope among Palestinians and Israelis that a negotiated peace is possible". It is important to emphasize that those steps can be taken without impacting Israel's legitimate security concerns. In fact, they can enhance security for Israelis and Palestinians alike. We continue to believe that the best way to ensure the safety of all is to work towards a political solution - again, two States living side by side in peace and security. Only through a solution negotiated by the two sides will true peace and security be achieved.”
2015-10-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7536 (2015) · source
“As the Middle East Quartet principals meeting on 30 September made clear in their statement, we are concerned that "current trends on the ground - including continued acts of violence against Palestinians and Israelis, ongoing settlement activity, and the high rate of demolitions of Palestinian structures - are dangerously imperilling the viability ofa two-State solution". The status quo is not sustainable. The Quartet has stressed the importance of both sides demonstrating a genuine commitment to a two-State solution in order to rebuild trust and avoid a cycle of escalations.”
2015-10-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7536 (2015) · source
“In the face of this violence, we remain committed to advancing a two-State solution. Indeed, events right now underscore just how critical it is to achieve two States living side by side in peace and security. To that end, the United States continues to urge all sides publicly and privately to take affirmative steps to restore calm. We welcome Israel and Jordan's commitment to maintaining the status quo at the Temple Mount and Haram Al-Sharif, and strongly support efforts to ensure that the status quo is maintained. We know Prime Minister Netanyahu's public commitment on that point. United States Secretary Kerry has spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Abbas and King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein in recent days. He will travel to the region at the appropriate moment.”
2015-10-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7536 (2015) · source
“There is absolutely no justification for reprehensible acts of violence, including terrorist attacks against innocent civilians. We understand that every Government needs to take the necessary steps to protect its people. We continue to support Israel's right to defend its citizens. As always, it is critical that every possible effort be taken to protect innocents, to de-escalate tensions and to guard against unnecessary loss of life. We also reiterate our deep concern about increased Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank. We mourn the loss ofall life, Israeli and Palestinian, and continue to stress the importance of both parties condemning the violence and avoiding provocative statements that can further inflame tensions.”
2015-10-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7536 (2015) · source
“Since 1 October, Israelis have faced 38 attacks in which at least seven Israelis have been killed and more than 40 injured, some gravely. During the same period, 18 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds injured in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza by live fire or rubber bullets from Israeli security forces in the course of demonstrations or clashes. According to Israeli authorities, an additional 14 Palestinians have been killed while carrying out attacks or while suspected of attempting to carry them out. The cycle of violence and mistrust has been exacerbated by viral images and videos shared on social media, which further polarize narratives and foster suspicion and even hatred on both sides. Among Israelis and Palestinians, there is a growing frustration as the prospects of reaching a two-State solution appear to be declining.”
2015-10-16 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7536 (2015) · source