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8011th Security Council Meeting: Situation in Middle East, Including Palestinian Question - Part 1
Both Sides Accused of Incitement to Violence Fuelled by Different Motivations
Swift, decisive action was required to revive negotiations and end the crisis in Jerusalem and beyond before rising tensions dragged both Israel and Palestine into a vortex of violence and a religious conflict, the Special Coordinator of the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today.
“Let us make no mistake that while events in Jerusalem may be taking place over a couple of hundred square metres, they affect hundreds of millions of people around the world,” Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov said in outlining developments that followed the killing of two Israeli police officers on 14 July. They included the closure of holy sites, a deadly terrorist attack and the Palestinian Authority’s decision of 21 July to freeze all contact with Israel.
Despite peace efforts and new-found agreement that States would stand united against terrorism and radicalism, he said, societies continued to fracture along ethnic or religious lines, with non-State actors maintaining control over large territories as events in Jerusalem resonated across the region. “The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not only about land and peace,” he emphasized. “It is about two peoples who both have legitimate national aspirations for statehood and recognition,” he said, declaring: “Two nations whose histories are intertwined and whose future is forever intricately linked.”
Commending decisions by Israeli and Palestinian authorities to restore access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and services to Gaza, he called upon both sides to refrain from activities that could exacerbate tensions. “We must not lose focus on the need to restore a political perspective, on the need to bring Palestinians and Israelis back into an environment that is conductive to negotiations on a final status arrangement and avoids turning the national Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a religious one,” he stressed.
Representatives of both sides also shared their respective perspectives. “We are clearly at the tipping point,” said the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine, adding that Israel had once again inflamed the fragile situation in occupied East Jerusalem, as the occupying Power pressed ahead with its reckless and destructive agenda against Palestinian people and holy sites, including Al-Haram al-Sharif. Israel’s stoking of a religious conflict was unfolding rapidly as it persisted in its illegal actions, even as occupied East Jerusalem was besieged by military checkpoints, occupation forces, settlements as well as violent, armed settlers. Meanwhile, conditions in the Gaza Strip were “unliveable for humans”, he said, appealing for immediate action to save Palestinian civilians there and avert another explosive crisis.
Israel’s representative said that terrorist attacks followed relentless incitement to violence by Palestinian officials, payments to convicted terrorists and their families, the naming of schools and monuments for them and the celebration of horrific events. “This incitement, this culture of hate, this glorification of terror must end now,” he emphasized. Whereas Israel’s top priority was to maintain the safety and security of all Temple Mount worshipers and visitors, the Palestinian Authority had mastered the art of deceit and the international community had fallen for it, he said. Convicted terrorists were called “political prisoners” and almost 30 per cent of foreign aid was used to bankroll terror. The Security Council must end “this vulgar exploitation of international aid”, hold the Palestinians accountable, and ensure that their children were taught to seek peace, he stressed. Only then would real peace be possible in the region.
The Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People described the question of Palestine as the longest-standing item on the United Nations agenda. The Committee had repeatedly stressed the illegality of the Gaza blockade, which amounted to collective punishment and had generated one of the worst humanitarian crises. It had constantly pronounced itself on the illegality of Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, she said, emphasizing that Israel’s recent announcement of an additional 4,000 settlement housing units pointed to a complete lack of accountability.
Council members condemned the recent violence, with some highlighting the ongoing schism between Fatah and Hamas, as well as Israel’s announcement of new settlement activity on Palestinian lands as factors putting a return to the peace process in jeopardy. Many delegates voiced concern over the deteriorating situation in Gaza, where 2 million citizens lived amid shortages of electricity, water, sanitation and other critical services. Speakers called on Israel to uphold its obligations as the occupying Power, and on Palestinian authorities to reconcile their differences, urging both sides to take a broader view and further steps long the road towards a two-State solution and lasting peace.
Others shared their ideas on forward movement towards that goal. China’s representative said his country had proposed a tripartite effort, alongside Israel and Palestine, to promote progress towards a breakthrough. Relevant resolutions must be implemented and firm efforts to advance peace must support the two-State solution, he said, adding that both sides must base their efforts upon United Nations resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative. Calling for implementation of resolution 2334 (2016) and an immediate halt to all settlement activities, he emphasized that the international community must do its part to calm the current tensions.
Egypt’s representative said that dangerous events in and beyond Jerusalem were exacerbating the situation in the Muslim world. Urging all sides to refrain from provoking religious tensions, increasing Palestinian suffering and harming the prospects for lasting peace, he said Egypt remained committed to working with Israel and Palestine towards a just solution. Efforts to relaunch negotiations and end the divisions among Palestinians would continue, he said, pointing out that Arab countries had committed themselves to a land-for-peace solution, and a recent summit in Amman, Jordan, had reiterated its support for that approach.
Jordan’s representative said the events at Al-Haram al-Sharif risked exacerbating the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, and terrorists could exploit them to justify their own activities. The potential repercussions could plunge the region into a religious war, she warned. The Security Council must prevent the situation from spiralling out of control, by tackling the deep-rooted causes of the tensions, she said, reiterating calls for an emergency ministerial meeting to address access to holy sites in Jerusalem.
Saudi Arabia’s representative condemned Israeli actions in Jerusalem, recalling that all worshippers had been treated with respect under Muslim Arab rule. Under the occupation, however, an Israeli settler had attacked worshippers Israelis had been seen kicking praying worshippers, he said. Such actions demonstrated the doctrine of Israeli occupation — that of terrorizing Palestinians.
Iran’s representative said that the Israeli authorities, emboldened by the support of the new United States Administration, were questioning and challenging the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to their homelands more than ever before. The latest brutal crackdown had been carried out to prevent Palestinian worshippers from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque, he said. Additionally, Israel’s fast‑growing illegal settlements constituted not only a grave breach of the fourth Geneva Convention, but also a war crime, he said, emphasizing that world Powers, especially the United States, were undermining the counter-terrorism efforts they claimed to champion, while bombing Syria and Yemen and preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid at the same time.
Indonesia’s representative said any attack on Al-Aqsa should be considered a “very dangerous red line”, noting that its closure had not only exacerbated the situation, but also signalled to the world how strongly Israel wished to distance itself from any two-State solution. The closure constituted a blatant move in Israel’s continuing effort to alter the geographic and demographic character of Jerusalem, he said, emphasizing that the international community must push back against any such attempt. Continuous efforts to curtail and hamper the ability of worshippers to enter the mosque contravened the basic tenets of decency, he said, adding that those actions had generated greater mistrust, as well as further animosity and extremism.
Cuba’s representative said the Council must adopt specific measures to end the occupation and the crisis, warning that a two-State solution and a lasting settlement would be impossible if Israeli continued to violate international law. Cuba would continue to support the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, she said, urging the Council to take up its responsibility after a decade of the Gaza blockade.
Others speaking today were representatives of the United States, Kazakhstan, France, Bolivia, Senegal, Russian Federation, Sweden, Ethiopia, Japan, Italy, Uruguay, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Lebanon, Brazil, Pakistan, Peru, Argentina, Iran, Turkey, Namibia, Indonesia, Kuwait, South Africa, Qatar, Syria, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan (for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation), Morocco, Venezuela (for the Non-Aligned Movement), Botswana, Nigeria, Iceland, Viet Nam, Bahrain, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the European Union and the Holy See.
Representatives of Syria, Israel and Saudi Arabia took the floor a second time.
The meeting began at 10:07 a.m., suspended at 1:12 p.m., resumed at 3:04 p.m. and ended at 6:10 p.m.
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