Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUnifeed
UN / MIDDLE EAST
STORY: UN / MIDDLE EAST
TRT: 4.13
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 21 APRIL 2010, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT 2011, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations Headquarters
21 APRIL 2010, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Cutaway, delegate
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Lynn B. Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for political Affairs, United Nations:
“I regret to report that the stalemate in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations has persisted in the last month. This is of particular concern, given the institutional achievements of the Palestinian Authority and the evolving regional situation. Bold and decisive steps are needed to resolve this decades-long conflict, with vision, leadership and responsibility from all concerned.”
5. Cutaway, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Lynn B. Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for political Affairs, United Nations:
“Both parties should be concerned that the political track is falling behind the significant progress being made by the Palestinian Authority in its state-building agenda. In its report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) meeting in Brussels on 13 April, the United Nations made clear its assessment that in the six areas where we are most engaged with the Palestinian Authority, governmental functions are now sufficient for a viable government of a state.”
7. Cutaway, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Lynn B. Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for political Affairs, United Nations:
“In the context of media reports of potential flotillas, let me state our belief that the appropriate way to meet needs in Gaza is through legitimate crossings. In this regard, I wish to recall the position of the Quartet, as expressed in its 21 June 2010 statement, that those wishing to deliver goods to Gaza do so through established channels so that their cargo can be inspected and transferred via land crossings into Gaza.”
9. Cutaway, delegates
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations:
“We thus return to the Security Council with an appeal to it to uphold its responsibility for maintenance of international peace and security vis-à-vis the question of Palestine. The Council’s resolutions remain valid, and we call for all necessary efforts for the implementation of those resolutions. The Council cannot surrender in the face of continued Israeli defiance; it must be unwavering in its calls for respect of the law and its own resolutions and act with conviction to compel Israel, the occupying Power, to cease its obstruction of peace and stability in the region.”
11. Cutaway, delegates
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations:
“I must also reaffirm the strong condemnation by the Palestinian people and their leadership of the killing of Italian peace activist Vittorio Arrigoni by extremists in Gaza. We convey our deepest condolences and sorrow to the victim’s family for their tragic loss, and we reaffirm that this brutal act in no way reflects the values and sentiments of the Palestinian people, who are o deeply grateful for the support and solidarity they receive from all over the world for their just cause.”
13. Cutaway, delegates
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Meron Reuben, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:
“I am continually astonished that some in the international community express the belief that the de facto terrorist organization now in control of Gaza (Hamas) can conduct an independent, credible, and impartial investigation into crimes that it commits on a daily basis. It is naïve at best to put such faith in this terrorist group, which time and again shows only disdain for the universal human values on which such an investigation would be based.”
15. Cutaway, delegates
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Meron Reuben, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:
“Unfortunately, the Security Council and the international community do not pay appropriate attention to the illegal smuggling of arms into Gaza – a critical aspect of Security Council resolution 1860. Despite the frequent discussions held in the Security Council about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, there has never been a serious debate in this forum about the clear threat that arms smuggling into Gaza poses to the security of Israel and to the stability of our region.”
17. Wide shot, Security Council
The United Nations political affairs chief today (21 Apr) voiced his regret over the stalemate in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and urged both parties to take bold and decisive steps to resolve the decades-long conflict, “with vision, leadership and responsibility from all concerned.”
“Both parties should be concerned that the political track is falling behind the significant progress being made by the Palestinian Authority in its state-building agenda,” said B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, in a briefing to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East.
Pascoe pointed out that in its report to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) meeting in Brussels on 13 April the UN had made clear its assessment that in the six areas where it was most engaged with the Palestinian Authority, governmental functions were now sufficient for a viable government of a State.
In parallel, Israeli measures to facilitate movement had also supported economic activity and access to basic services, he added.
Commenting on media reports about “potential” flotillas sailing to Gaza in May, Pascoe said he believed that the appropriate way to meet needs in Gaza was through legitimate crossings.
“In this regard, I wish to recall the position of the Quartet, as expressed in its 21 June 2010 statement, that those wishing to deliver goods to Gaza do so through established channels so that their cargo can be inspected and transferred via land crossings into Gaza,” he added.
Also addressing the Council, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine, appealed the Security Council to uphold its responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security vis-à-vis the question of Palestine.
“The Council cannot surrender in the face of continued Israeli defiance; it must be unwavering in its calls for respect of the law and its own resolutions,” Mansour said.
Commenting on the kidnapping and subsequent killing of Italian peace activist Vittorio Arrigoni by extremists in Gaza in April, Mansour conveyed his deepest condolences and sorrow to the victim’s family.
“We reaffirm that this brutal act in no way reflects the values and sentiments of the Palestinian people,” Mansour added.
Meanwhile Israeli Ambassador Meron Reuben expressed his concern over the fact that “some in the international community express the belief that the de facto terrorist organization now in control of Gaza (Hamas) can conduct an independent, credible, and impartial investigation into crimes that it commits on a daily basis.”
Commenting on the alleged attempt by Iran and Syria to smuggle weapons into Gaza, Reuben said that “unfortunately” the Security Council and the International community did not pay appropriate attention to the “illegal smuggling of arms into Gaza – a critical aspect of Security Council resolution 1860.”
He added that despite the frequent discussions held in the Security Council about the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, “there has never been a serious debate in this forum about the clear threat that arms smuggling into Gaza poses to the security of Israel and to the stability of our region.”
Download
There is no media available to download.
