Unifeed
UN / PALESTINE PRESSER
STORY: UN / PALESTINE MANSOUR PRESSER
TRT: 02:40
SOURCE: UNIFEED-UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 27 APRIL 2016, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT – NEW YORK CITY
1. Close up, United Nations flag, headquarters
27 APRIL 2016, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer, Palestine:
“I would say that I am partially happy because the Security Council was very late to convene this session. This is the reason for being unhappy. And I am happy because, finally, this session will be convened.”
4. Med shot, reporter asking a question
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer, Palestine:
“I am not saying that protection will be provided through a resolution and the deployment of international troops to separate between the Palestinian under occupation and the occupation authorities. This would be our hope but we know that this is not in our hands and there are sides that have the ability to obstruct this in the Security Council. Despite this, we cannot accept that we do nothing.”
6. Wide shot, media personnel
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer, Palestine:
“If you throw a stone at the wall, that sends you to jail as a child for 10 years. If you throw it at a moving car of the army or the terrorist settlers, they send you to jail for 20 years. And yet, their representative in the Security Council is trying to show that all the Palestinian people who have legitimate rights to resist occupation in legitimate ways, he painted them as terrorists.”
8. Wide shot, media personnel
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer, Palestine:
“When they see international presence, even if they’re not armed, and they are also identified through their shirts or what have you – or the personnel riding UN cars, white cars with the letters UN, civilians – to be in certain places, then the behaviour of the Israeli occupying authorities, they are not as vicious
10. Med shot, reporter asking a question
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer, Palestine:
“And we keep telling the Security Council, if you tell us in all of your open and not open discussions, there is unanimity that settlements are illegal and an obstacle to peace, you have to tell us what you are going to do about that. Any doctor that you go to, that tells you that your temperature is 103 and you have diarrhea, and you have a headache, without telling you what medicine to take – diagnosis without prescribing drugs to put an end to it is no good.”
12. Zoom out, press conference ends
Palestinian Ambassador Ryiad Mansour announced today (27 APR) with “partial happiness” that the United Nations (UN) Security Council will hold an Arria-Formula meeting regarding the protection of Palestinian civilians living under Israeli occupation.
Speaking to reporters in New York, Mansour said the UN Office of Legal affairs presented the Security Council with a report on scenarios, since the time of the League of Nations, in which protection of civilians was provided to populations under occupation last October. He said the Council took its “sweet time” to discuss the issue, nevertheless he was happy this discussion is finally taking place.
Mansour said the Israeli legal system was a propellant of occupation. He said if a child says to a judge that he sign a confession statement under duress, that child could still be sentenced to a number of months or years in prison.
Mansour said all Council members welcomed the convening of the meeting with one exception, the United States. He said his government wished the Security Council would adopt a new resolution and send troops to protect Palestinian civilians but he was being “realistic and reasonable.” He said the discussion will at least send a signal the Israelis that “their crimes cannot be hidden” and also “isolates the obstructers that do not want to put pressure on Israel to stop these crimes or allow the Security Council and the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to provide protection for civilians.”
The Palestinian ambassador noted the legislation to provide protection to Palestinian civilians was available through previous Council resolution. He pointed in particular to resolution 904 which called for providing protection to the civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including through international observers and disarming settlers.
Mansour said some church groups have been escorting Palestinian children in hotspots such as checkpoints or passing by settlements, to provide them with some sort of protection. He said even something as simple as this could alter the occupation forces’ behaviour.
Mansour called on the UN Secretary-General to employee the organization’s presence on the ground and come up with innovative ways to protect civilians.
An "Arria-formula meeting" is an informal confidential gathering which enables Security Council members to have a frank and private exchange of views. Mansour said several experts will be invited to present on providing protection to the civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories including East Jerusalem.
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