YouSaid · the spoken record

Wehbe

lines on the record: 606
first: 1997-03-06
most recent: 2003-09-04
sittings or episodes: 78
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

“Fourthly, the international community should clearly recognize that the visit by Sharon to Al-Quds Al-Sharif was deliberate and was planned to provoke the national and religious feelings of Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims and Christians alike. The Security Council is called upon to clearly condemn Sharon's provocative visit and to condemn the Israeli Government for protecting it, which indicates an alliance between the Israeli Government and the Likud Party against the Palestinian cause, Al-Quds and Palestinian sovereignty over Al-Quds. Fifthly, this horrible massacre, which has involved the killing of children, puts the credibility of the Security Council to the test. The Council cannot remain silent, unable to adopt a resolution necessary to put an end to Israeli aggression against the Arab inhabitants in the occupied Arab territories.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Secondly, the Council should assume its responsibilities for safeguarding international peace and security, in accordance with the Charter, and not apply different yardsticks or double standards. It should condemn aggression and the horrible crimes perpetrated by Israel, the occupying force in the occupied Palestinian territories and the Arab occupied territories. It should call for Israel to respect the Charter, all United Nations resolutions, international law and humanitarian international law. It should ask Israel to fully the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Thirdly, the Council should once again reaffirm that Al-Quds is an integral part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. International law and humanitarian international law are applicable to Al- Quds, as well as to all the occupied Arab territories.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Unfortunately, the signs we see before our very eyes, particularly what has taken place in the past few days, give us an idea of what could happen in the occupied Syrian Golan, particularly because Israeli policy since 1991 has been vague about the different tracks of the peace process. There has been a deliberate distortion of Syria's clear position concerning peace. In the light of those facts, we call on the Security Council to take the following steps. First, the Council should put an immediate end to the Israeli aggression, ensure the withdrawal of the Israeli forces to their bases and put a stop to their aggression against the unarmed Palestinian people.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Peace will not become a reality unless Israel implements the resolutions of international legitimacy, the Madrid principles and references and resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), as well as the principle of land for peace. This will not happen until Israel withdraws from the occupied Arab territories, including the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967. Syria has shown its sincerity and credibility in calling for a comprehensive and just peace. Our position has always been clear concerning our rights and has been accepted by the entire world. Syria believed in the true wish of the co-sponsor of the peace process and in President Clinton's and Mrs. Albright's efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Why is it not implementing the resolutions of international legitimacy, particularly Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973)? Why is it continuing to occupy Arab territories? Why does it not accept the return of Al- Quds to the Palestinian people? Why is it continuing its expansionist policies and settlements at the expense of the occupied Arab territories? And why is it attempting to impose conditions on some Arab parties? Peace is still absent. The peace process is going through a very difficult phase because of the Israeli Government's obdurate and intransigent attitude and its non-recognition of the need to withdraw to the line of 4 June 1967, in accordance with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). We should all be aware that peace has to be just and comprehensive or else there is no need for it.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The aggression of the occupying Israeli forces - aggression that continues even now - killing unarmed Palestinians, using live ammunition aimed at their heads and at their hearts, killing them in cold blood, destroying their properties - demonstrates that Israel is committing a blatant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which is applicable to all the Arab Palestinian occupied territories, including Al-Quds. Moreover, such acts are a blatant violation of the Charter, the principles of international law and international humanitarian law. I reaffirm that Israel is proving day after day that it is not interested in peace, contrary to what its leaders say. If Israel wants real peace, why is it prevaricating in the peace negotiations?”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The Syrian Arab Republic, which has always supported the Palestinian struggle, denounces and firmly condemns the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and the horrible massacres perpetrated by Israel against our Palestinian brothers in Al-Quds and in the occupied territories, and against the Arabs of 1948 who hastened to support their brothers and to defend Al-Quds and the holy shrines and their Arab identity and dignity. Syria expresses its heartfelt condolences to the brotherly Palestinian people as a whole and to the families of the martyrs who have died in defence of their legitimate rights.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“It has been denounced and condemned by the Arab States, the Islamic States and many other countries, including States friendly to Israel. The events seem to confirm the fact that Al-Quds is indeed the basic issue, the symbol for all Arabs and Muslims and Christians, and it would seem that the destiny of the people of Al-Quds is to stand up to Israeli plots that aim at Judaizing Jerusalem and usurping its Arab identity.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Fifthly, the blood of the martyrs of Palestinian children, youths, women and old people, and the anger of the Palestinian streets, the anger in Damascus and Baghdad, in Oman, in Cairo, in Lebanon - everywhere- are all irrefutable proof that the Arab Palestinian people will never give up their legitimate national rights, nor their sacred and holy shrines. The Palestinian people will safeguard their identity and their nation. Israel's attempts to take over Al-Quds in its entirety and to invent a new Al-Quds outside the city will face Palestinian resistance defending its legitimate rights and their holy sites with blood and stones. Sixthly, Israeli aggression and crimes, particularly the visit of Sharon to Al-Haram Al-Sharif, triggered religious feelings and anger all over the world.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Fourthly, this massacre all over the Arab territories confirms once more that Israel is not interested in peace even though the Arabs have accepted peace. It shows once again that the peace process is going through one of its most difficult and complicated crises. This raises another important question. Is Israel really willing to achieve a comprehensive and just peace? And where does the Security Council stand in the face of Israel's refusal to implement its resolutions, most important of which are resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), apart from other resolutions which by now form quite a volume.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Secondly, the Israeli Government told its forces that were deployed all over Al-Quds and all over the West Bank to use live ammunition in addition to all kinds of other weapons to face children, the children we have been talking about, to face Palestinian youths defending themselves with blood and stones. Is a stone equal to a missile to live lethal ammunition? Thirdly, the Israeli forces are committing collective, deliberate murder in operations that are no less horrible than "ethnic cleansing". They do so against all Palestinians, including the Palestinians of the interior who have been in Israel since 1948. All those acts are aimed at terrorizing and humiliating the Palestinians, at putting an end to Palestinian rights and at facilitating Israel's takeover of Al-Quds.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“What can we conclude from this openly waged war - a war that is still claiming until this very moment more martyrs from amongst the Palestinians who are defending themselves with stones when faced with live ammunition and missiles? Everything seems to indicate that the Israeli Government most probably planned this massacre, particularly if we bear in mind the following facts. First, in the course of the last two months the Israeli Government has provided the settlers with state- of-the-art lethal weapons so that they might contribute to the current massacre. That is what we see on television screens.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“His father is being treated at the moment for the wounds that he received and is calling upon the world to avenge the killing of his child. And yet another child was killed by Israeli snipers as he was climbing on one of the buildings, as was another child, a girl aged two. The Israeli forces also killed the driver of the ambulance carrying the child, Mohammed Al-Durra. They are attacking the ambulances constantly not to mention the continuous killing. The visit of Sharon and its very serious consequences raise a question. Why are the Israelis challenging the religious and national feelings of the Palestinians with the support of the Israeli Government?”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“No sooner had the innocent worshippers denounced such racist behaviour than they were ruthlessly shot by the Israelis on the basis of prior orders that they had received in an attempt to bring the Palestinian people to their knees - a people who have refused to kneel and to give up. We have all seen on television the use of aeroplanes, tanks, armour-piercing shells and anti-tank missiles directed at the heads and bodies of children who were killed in cold blood, not to mention the unjustified destruction of their homes and property. We have all seen and wept at the tragic events and the deliberate killing of children, the killing of the child mentioned by the Ambassador of Bahrain, the child who was in his father's arms, who was pleading for the Israeli snipers not to kill him.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Nor was it the first time that Israel perpetrated an act of aggression against the holy Arab and Islamic sites in Al-Quds. We all remember the attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as the massacre at the Ibrahimi Mosque and the person who perpetrated it, to whose memory a statue was erected. We all know about the tunnel that was dug under the Al-Aqsa Mosque at that time. Now, Israel has added yet another massacre to the long list of massacres perpetrated against the Arabs in the occupied territories. The visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Sharon, who was surrounded by military and police forces, was a blatant provocation and an affront to the human dignity of our people, and could not but inflame their religious emotions.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Sharon, leader of the extremist Likud Party, and the support of the Israeli Labour Government for his visit - he was accompanied by military forces that receive their instructions not from Mr. Sharon, but from the Israeli Government itself - reflect the clear and unequivocal responsibility of the Israeli Government for the visit and the bloodshed, and confirm that there is coordination between Barak's Labour Government and his former rival in Likud, Mr. Sharon, in planning the events for internal Israeli reasons. The lives of innocent Palestinian citizens have been the fuel for this Israeli war, waged against the Palestinian people. Sharon's past is well known to everyone. This was not the first time that he had committed such a barbarous act leading to massacres.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The number of those killed can now be counted in scores, and more than 2,000 have been wounded, according to today's information, many of whom will join the list of martyrs as a result of their serious wounds and because the hospitals can no longer absorb the Victims of this Israeli massacre. I listened with great attention to the statements of those who spoke yesterday afternoon and this afternoon. It is very clear that they all consider the provocative visit by the leader of the Likud Party to Al-Quds Al-Sharif to be directly responsible for triggering the bloodshed and the tragic events in Al- Quds and the Palestinian territories. The visit by Mr.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“I also extend my gratitude to all the representatives of Member States who supported the convening of this meeting, in particular, to my brother the Ambassador of Tunisia, who sent a message on behalf of the Arab Group, and my brother Ambassador Hasmy Agam of Malaysia, the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement caucus in the Security Council and of the Islamic Group. There were six days of bloodshed before this meeting was convened - days that witnessed the martyrdom and wounding of many of our Palestinian brothers in Al-Quds and the occupied Palestinian territories, including the Palestinians who were within Israel in 1948.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“Mr. Wehbe (Syrian Arab Republic) (spoke in Arabic): It is my pleasure to congratulate you, Sir, on your accession to the presidency of the Council for this month. We are confident that your efforts will be crowned with success. I also wish to express my sincere thanks to you for your swift response in convening this emergency meeting of the Security Council to discuss the crisis situation that resulted from the savage Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in Al-Quds and the occupied Palestinian Arab territories. I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to Mr. Moctar Ouane for his efforts last month.”
2000-10-04 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.4204Resumption1 (2000) · source
“The issue requires that the Security Council move effectively and decisively and take the necessary practical measures to rescind the decision and plan of the Israeli Government to expand the boundaries of Jerusalem and to bring pressure to bear on Israel in order for it to resume the talks on all tracks from the point where they stopped. In this regard, it is necessary to reaffirm the necessity of avoiding any double standard, especially with regard to the maintenance of peace and security, and most particularly when it comes to an issue such as Jerusalem. This is so especially because Israel's continuation of this extremist policy would lead to the destruction of the peace process and would endanger security and stability in the region.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“The Security Council should adopt the necessary and mandatory measures and procedures that would prevent Israel from implementing its plan to expand the boundaries of Jerusalem, particularly since the Council is duty-bound to apply the provisions of the Charter with regard to giving effect to its resolutions without any double standard. Here we would like to recall these Security Council resolutions: 252 (1968), 267 (1969), 271 (1969), 298 (1971), 446 (1979), 452 (1979), 465 (1980) and 476 (1980). We believe that a mere expression of concern or denunciation by this Council is no longer enough to have Israel change its aggressive decisions and settler and expansionist plans, either in the Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, or in other Arab occupied territories, including the occupied Syrian Golan and southern Lebanon.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“The Security Council should also reiterate Israel's commitment to apply its relevant resolutions and those of the General Assembly, particularly resolution 446 (1979) to the effect of establishing an international commission of the Security Council to monitor and follow up the situation in order to prevent settler activities in Jerusalem and the Arab and Palestinian occupied territories. At a time when we support the Palestinian people in order to guarantee their legitimate rights, we would like to urge the international community to provide all types of assistance and support to them. In the light of the above, we look forward to the Security Council's taking a position on the side of the right and the just, a position of determination to protect international peace and security.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“In view of this bitter reality at which we have arrived through what is called the "Israeli political kitchen", and the misleading attempts of the head of the Israeli Government to justify its measures, the Security Council is now called upon to bear its responsibilities in the maintenance of international peace and security by defending its credibility and its resolutions, by having Israel respect these resolutions, by condemning the Israeli decision to expand the geographic boundaries of Jerusalem and by compelling Israel to rescind this serious and provocative decision which, among other measures, represents another time bomb that would lead to an explosion of the whole region.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“The Israeli Government, by turning its back on its agreements, pledges and commitments reached during the peace process that started in Madrid in 1991, is solely responsible for destroying the peace process. While we appreciate the increasing international awareness of the reality of Israeli policies and their objectives, which are inimical to peace, we would like to urge the sponsors of the peace process, the countries of the European Union and friendly and peace-loving States, to continue their serious work in order to compel Israel to commit itself to the implementation of the resolutions of international legitimacy and to fulfil the agreements, pledges and commitments which have been agreed upon as well as to resume the negotiations on both the Syrian and Lebanese tracks from the points at which they stopped.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“Syria will never give up one iota of its land, and will not permit regression from what has been achieved through previous negotiations. We will always insist on resuming the negotiations from the point where they stopped. In this regard, we would like to reiterate that strategic option of the Arabs for the establishment of a just and lasting peace is based on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978), which all demand the complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967, and from southern Lebanon and the Bekaa to the recognized international boundaries. Moveover, Syria will always do its best to guarantee the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination and to the establishment of its independent State on its own soil.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“If it were not for the deceptive appearance of movement once in a while that does not deal with the matters of substance on the Palestinian track, during the last two years, the world would have seen the true picture in a tangible manner and would have realized that the Israeli Prime Minister has completely stopped the peace process from his first day in office, especially by having followed the policies of his ancestors in the expulsion of Arabs from their lands and bringing in new Jewish settlers from all over the world to replace them. Nevertheless, the international community is about to discover the glaring truth, since the conflict between the extremists in the Israeli Government which was about only 2 per cent of the lands of the West Bank, has become a very explosive issue which may affect the American sponsor as well.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“The President of the Israeli Knesset associated himself with his Prime Minister by saying: "The appropriate Israeli response to the statement by the United States Secretary of State with regard to Jerusalem lies in the intensification of settler activities in the city and the implementation of Israeli designs Without heed for any declarations or positions against it." The policies of the extremist Israeli Government have led to a total paralysis of the peace process on all of its tracks.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“The list is very long. This pattern of behaviour by the Israeli Government would lead us to say that the accumulation of oppression, injustice and tragedy to which the Palestinian people and the other Arab citizens in occupied Arab territories are subjected can only lead to an explosion endangering the security and stability of the Whole region. It is unimaginable for those who live under occupation to accept it or to adapt and adjust themselves to the practices of the Israeli occupation. The Israeli Prime Minister recently declared that his Government Will continue to build settlements in every place in the Holy City, and reiterated his commitment to build the settlement in Jebel Abu Ghneim in defiance of international resolutions and calls of condemnation.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“In this context, since the Israeli Prime Minister took power he has taken the following actions in contradiction of Security Council and General Assembly resolutions: digging a tunnel next to the Al-Aqsa Mosque; establishing a new settlement in Jebel Abu Ghneim and planning for the construction of 6,500 housing units; undertaking archaeological excavations at Burj al-Laqlaq, within occupied East Jerusalem, as part of Israeli plans to build a settlement in the heart of occupied Jerusalem; providing protection to extremist settlers and support for their attempts to confiscate housing units such as those in Silwan, in East Jerusalem; confiscating additional occupied Arab lands in order to build settlements; making plans to build new settlements and encircling roads; demolishing Palestinian houses and withdrawing Palestinian identity cards; and persisting in not adhering to agreements, commitments and the destruction of the peace process.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“Scores of resolutions have been adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly to demand that Israel withdraw from the occupied Arab territories, cease the confiscation of land and refrain from taking any action that would alter the geographic, demographic and legal status of the occupied territories. However, Israel has treated those resolutions with total disregard. We believe that this raises the following questions. Why are laws, resolutions and international sanctions made applicable to certain States but not to Israel? Why does Israel remain an outlaw? Why does it challenge and defy these laws and the Council?”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“Palestinians, who have always lived on the land of their forefathers, now hold only 0.5 per cent of their land; while the Israelis, who have brutally and through repression and mass massacres confiscated the land, control 99 per cent of all Palestinian land. It is noteworthy that international warnings have been addressed to certain countries. Navies are being moved on the high seas and planes are being redeployed, While those who commit those actions do not bother to denounce in their statements or in a few words Israel's actions as being contradictory to human rights and to the purposes and principles of the United Nations and the Geneva Conventions.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“The decisions taken by the Israeli Government with regard to Jerusalem and its policies of annexing occupied Arab territories are the practical embodiment of the policies of "ethnic cleansing" that were strongly denounced and condemned by the international community with regard to Bosnia, for example. These measures taken by Israel remind us of the cantonization policy adopted by the racist regime of South Africa before the victory over apartheid. The process of "ethnic cleansing" conducted by Israel against the Palestinian people has led millions of Palestinians to leave their homeland and, if this continues, will force scores of thousands more to go into exile.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“Security Council resolution 478 (1980) stresses in paragraph 3 that, "all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and in particular the recent 'basic law' on Jerusalem, are null and void". This new Israeli decision is yet another flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and of the Hague Convention of 1907. The Syrian Arab Republic considers this new Israeli decision as null and void and of no legal consequence. The new plan of the Israeli Prime Minister is within the framework of systematic procedures and steps aimed at destroying the peace process in its entirety.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“This would result in erasing its Arab identity and altering its demographic composition while Judaizing it totally. While my country believes that this Israeli decision represents one aggression in a series of Israeli aggressions against Arab and Palestinian occupied territories, we strongly and categorically condemn and reject it. The Syrian Arab Republic regards that decision as not only a provocation of the Palestinian and Arab peoples, in particular, and of the peoples of the world, including Muslims and Christians, in general but also as a flagrant violation of international law and the resolutions of the Security Council, especially the 16 resolutions the Security Council has already adopted on Jerusalem.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“President, and for the response of the other members of the Security Council, to the request made by the Arab Group to hold this emergency meeting to consider the serious decision, taken by the extremist Israeli Government on 21 June, to adopt the programme declared by the Israeli Prime Minister on 18 June aimed at strengthening Israel's illegitimate grip on Jerusalem. That provocative decision was intended to expand the municipal boundaries of the city of Jerusalem to include Israeli settlements on the West Bank, to establish greater municipal authority and to annex more occupied Palestinian territories into the municipality of Jerusalem, thereby erasing the Arab character of the city and altering its status from a Holy City characterized by love and tolerance into a city that is totally within the Israeli grip.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“Mr. Wehbe (Syrian Arab Republic) (interpretation from Arabic): It gives me great pleasure to begin by extending to you, Mr. President, our sincere congratulations. We would also like to take this opportunity to express our condolences on the death of Mr. Alioune Blondin Beye, who lost his life as a martyr in the performance of his mission as the Special Representative of the Secretary- General for Angola, while carrying out his noble humanitarian effort. I would also like to express our sincere appreciation for your response, Mr.”
1998-06-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3900Resumption1 (1998) · source
“Israel cannot build settlements and drive out the Arab peoples; it can bring in Jewish settlers who have never before lived in that region and whose ancestors have never lived in that region. Israel can continue to expand. It can continue to demolish houses and to kill people in the occupied Arab territories, but everyone must be aware that Israel will not be able to stifle the Arab will. Israel's only choice, therefore, is to work towards a genuine, just and comprehensive peace. Today, the eyes of the world are on the Council. We are waiting for the Council to shoulder its responsibilities and adopt a resolution that demands that Israel, the occupying Power, immediately put an end to its settlement activities in all the occupied Arab territories, including Jerusalem and the Golan.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“All those who are trying to convince the world that peace exists in the region are only lying to themselves, because a just and comprehensive peace cannot be achieved except through Israel's total withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories, through the respect for international legality and the principles of international law, and by restoring to the Palestinian people their legitimate rights, including the right to self-detemiination. This is what the countries of the region and the countries of the world at large want. This is how we will be able to achieve a just and comprehensive peace. This is how peace and stability will be brought to the region and to the world.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“If Israel is truly serious, if it wants to pursue the peace process, if it wants to achieve a just and comprehensive peace on the basis of Madrid, the principle of land for peace and Security Council resolution 242 (1967) and other resolutions, then Israel must continue negotiations from the point where they were interrupted during the tenure of the preceding Israeli Government. It must also withdraw to the line of 4 June 1967, without any attempt to impose preconditions, because these are the underpinnings and the frames _ of reference of the peace process -- not preconditions. The road to peace is open, and it is known to all. The security of States cannot be based on occupation, on expansion and on the refusal to recognize the rights of others.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“We also invite the two sponsors of the peace process H the United States and the Russian Federation -- as well as the States of the European Union to play their role in order to save the peace process, which is at an impasse and could even be in a state of regression. Syria is fully prepared to conclude a just and comprehensive peace. We believe this to be a strategic choice as long as Israel participates seriously in the achievement of that goal in a way that ensures justice and human dignity, because this is in the interest of the peoples of the region. These are vital interests for the region and for the world.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“It is for this reason that we invite the Council and all the States of the world, and in particular the two sponsor States of the peace process and the European Union, to work speedily in order to put an end to the expansion of Israeli settlements; to dismantle existing settlements and to put pressure on Israel, the occupying Power, to respect the Hague Convention of 1907 and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 - which prohibit any change in the demographic or urban character of the occupied territories, including Jerusalem and the occupied Syrian Golan -- and to invite Israel to respect the resolutions of Security Council 3745th meeting (Resumption 1 ) 6 March 1997 Fifty-second year the Security Council and of other organs of the United Nations.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“The Israeli decisions that constitute provocation violate international law and internationally binding decisions and resolutions, and they undermine the foundations of the peace process This can only undo the efforts that have been undertaken over the past five years, plunging the region back into a cycle of instability and conflict.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“Yesterday, the representatives of the United Kingdom and of many other countries addressed the Security Council; we are grateful to them for their statements. We also heard the representative of Israel, who tried to give us a history lesson. We are not here for history lessons. I believe that statements by representatives of States in the Security Council and in the General Assembly are in themselves a response to the historical, political and geographic situation of the city of Jerusalem. On this basis, my country strongly condemns all these measures, such as Israel's settlement activities, be they the building of new settlements or the expansion of existing ones. My country considers that all these measures are in violation of the principles of the peace process.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“Israel's arrogance stands in complete disregard of internationally binding decisions and of the position of the international community against the building of settlements. We have seen many Israeli statements, including Mr. Netanyahu's recent insistence that Jerusalem was the eternal, indivisible capital of Israel. In the face of this assault and in the face of the recent statement by the Israeli Minister of the Interior, as quoted in The Washington Post on 25 February, that the "battle of Jerusalem had begun", the Security Council, which bears responsibility for the maintenance of international peace, must succeed in seeing through all this and issue a presidential statement. It must take action commensurate with the need to put an end to the occupation of all the occupied territories, including Al-Quds and the occupied Syrian Golan.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“They considered that the establishment of settlements and the introduction of settlers violate the Geneva Conventions and the Madrid framework and represent an impediment to the peace process. There should thus be a halt to all Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Syrian Golan and the occupied Palestinian territories, especially Jerusalem, and the settlements should be removed. The leaders affirmed their rejection of any alteration to the physical characteristics or legal status of Arab Jerusalem. We, cannot remain silent about the settlement policy, because that policy could return the region to the cycle of violence and tension; this would be the sole responsibility of the Israeli Government.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“In the light of all these facts, and of the fact that Israel arrogantly continues its settlements and expansion despite the Arab choice of peace as its strategic option, we are obliged to ask a number of very important questions, relating not only to the seriousness of the Israeli Government, which is not respecting the peace process, but also to the Israeli intention to undermine that process. We would recall that the leaders meeting at the Arab Summit held at Cairo from 21 to 23 June 1996 reaffirmed their commitment to the United Nations resolutions requiring non-recognition and non-acceptance of any situation resulting from Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Arab territories, inasmuch as such activities are unlawful and create no rights and no obligations.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“It seems to me that Israel simply wants the Arabs to yield, in order to demonstrate what it would call political wisdom. True political wisdom dictates that the Arabs view the peace process as a strategic policy that must exist within a framework of international legality; this requires a serious commitment by Israel to continue the peace process and to restore rights in the occupied territories, in order to guarantee a balanced peace for all the countries of the region. This cannot take place if Israel continues to build settlements and undermine the whole peace process.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“With great arrogance, the Israeli Government has asked Arab leaders to shoulder their responsibilities and "cum, uuuuun gl'uln meeting mesumpuuu I] Fiftyvsecond year 6 March 1997 demonstrate political wisdom -- at a time when the Israeli Government is doing its best to destroy the peace process, with no regard for a just and comprehensive peace, while seeming determined to strike blow after blow against the peace process, thus to kill that process. We wonder, therefore, whether it is political wisdom to continue building settlements in the Holy City in the face of condemnation from the entire international community. Is it political wisdom for the Israeli authorities to harden their policies and attempt to return the peace process to square one?”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“Sixth, the international community is urged firmly to condemn past, present and future settlement policies. Seventh, the question of Al-Quds is extremely sensitive, and could become explosive, Some condemnations of the settlement policy have been moderate. There have been appeals for an urgent meeting of the Al-Quds Committee presided over by His Majesty King Hassan II of Morocco, for an Arab summit, and for meetings of the Security Council. Yesterday and today in this Chamber, we all listened most attentively to the reactions of the representatives of many countries. They all called for prudence in the light of possible reactions to the Israeli decision.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source
“The Israeli authorities were called upon to end their settlement policies aimed at changing the demographic nature of Al-Quds, desecrating its Muslim and Christian holy places with a View to judaizing it, sealing it off and isolating it from the rest of the West Bank. International reaction to these latest Israeli Government measures to intensify the settlement policies has focused on the following points: First, settlement activities undermine the peace process. Second, the Israeli decision raises doubts and does not inspire trust. Third, it could mark a return to violence and tension in the Middle East. Fourth, it constitutes a declaration of war against the Arab, Muslim and Christian worlds, against the peace process, and against efforts to revive that process. Fifth, the settlement policies foreshadow a new catastrophe in the region.”
1997-03-06 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.3745Resumption1 (1997) · source