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UN / PALESTINE VOTE PART II
STORY: UN / PALESTINE VOTE PART II
TRT: 5.02
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 NOVEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
29 NOVEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY
2. Zoom in, General Assembly
3. Med shot, President Mahmoud Abbas walks to the podium
4. Med shot, Palestinian delegation
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority:
"Palestine comes today to the General Assembly because it believes in peace and because its people, as proven in past days, are in desperate need of it. Palestine comes today to this prestigious international forum, representative and protector of international legitimacy, reaffirming our conviction that the international community now stands before the last chance to save the two-state solution. Palestine comes to you today at the defining moment regionally and internationally in order to reaffirm its pressure and to try to protect the possibilities and the foundations of a just peace that is deeply hoped in our region."
6. Wide shot, Ambassador Ron Prosor walks to the podium
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ron Prosor, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:
"The truth is that 65 years ago today, the UN voted to partition the British Mandate into two states, a Jewish State and an Arab State. Two states for two people. Israel accepted this plan; the Palestinians and the Arab nations around us rejected it and launched a war of annihilation to throw the Jews into the sea."
8. Pan right, audience
9. SOUNDUP (English) Vuk Jeremić, President of the United Nations General Assembly:
“Those in favour of draft resolution A/67/L.28 please signify it.”
10. Close up, hand voting
11. Med shot, US Ambassador Susan Rice
12. Med shot, Israel delegation
13. Med shot, Palestinian delegation
14. Wide shot, voting board
15. Zoom out, Palestinian delegation celebrating
16. Wide shot, voting board
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
“I stand ready to fulfil my role and report to this Assembly as requested in this resolution. My position has been consistent all along. I believe that the Palestinians have a legitimate right to their own independent State. I believe that Israel has the right to live in peace and security with its neighbours. There is no substitute for negotiations to that end. Today’s vote underscores the urgency of the resumption of meaningful negotiations.”
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“Today’s unfortunate and counterproductive resolution places further obstacles in the path to peace. That is why the United States voted against it. The backers of today’s resolution say they seek a functioning, independent Palestinian State at peace with Israel. So do we. But we have long been clear that the only way to establish such a Palestinian State and resolve all permanent status issues is through the crucial if painful work of direct negotiations between the parties.”
19. Wide shot, General Assembly dais
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“Progress toward a just and lasting two-State solution cannot be made by pressing a green voting button here in this hall, nor can passing any resolution create a State where none indeed exists, or change the reality on the ground. For this reason today’s vote should not be misconstrued by any as constituting eligibility for UN membership.”
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Gérard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations:
“As early as 1982, before the Knesset in Jerusalem, President Mitterrand called for the creation of a Palestinian State. Since then France has spared no efforts to promote this solution. It is part of this history whereby President Hollande in 2012 has committed himself to support international recognition of the Palestinian State. France could not miss this rendezvous which is a new stage towards the two-State solution. France could not fail to hear the appeal of President Abbas for the resumption of a credible peace process."
22. Pan right, audience
The General Assembly today (29 November) voted to grant Palestine non-member observer State status at the United Nations, while expressing the urgent need for the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians leading to a permanent two-State solution.
The resolution on the status of Palestine in the UN was adopted by a vote of 138 in favour to nine against with 41 abstentions by the 193-member Assembly.
The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, told the Assembly before the vote that "Palestine comes today to the General Assembly because it believes in peace and because its people, as proven in past days, are in desperate need of it.”
Abbas said Palestine had come to the UN seeking international legitimacy, “reaffirming our conviction that the international community now stands before the last chance to save the two-State solution.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, said his delegation could not accept today’s resolution.
He pointed out that 65 years ago today, when the General Assembly voted to partition the British Mandate into two States ”Israel accepted this plan; the Palestinians and the Arab nations around us rejected it and launched a war of annihilation to throw the Jews into the sea."
The Israelis and Palestinians have yet to resume direct negotiations since talks stalled in September 2010, after Israel refused to extend its freeze on settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In the resolution, the Assembly also voiced the hope that the Security Council will “consider favourably” the application submitted in September 2011 by Palestine for full UN membership.
The Palestinian bid for full UN membership stalled last year when the 15-nation Council, which decides whether or not to recommend admission by the Assembly, said it had been “unable to make a unanimous recommendation.”
After the vote, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would abide by the resolution “and report to this Assembly”.
He said his position “has been consistent all along” in the belief that “the Palestinians have a legitimate right to their own independent State” and “Israel has the right to live in peace and security with its neighbours.”
He stressed that “there is no substitute for negotiations to that end.”
Ambassador Susan Rice of the United States, which voted against the resolution, said “today’s unfortunate and counterproductive resolution places further obstacles in the path to peace.”
She insisted that “the only way to establish such a Palestinian State and resolve all permanent status issues is through the crucial if painful work of direct negotiations between the parties.”
Rice stressed that “progress toward a just and lasting two-State solution cannot be made by pressing a green voting button here in this hall, nor can passing any resolution create a State where none indeed exists, or change the reality on the ground.”
She added that “today’s vote should not be misconstrued by any as constituting eligibility for UN membership.”
Ambassador Gérard Araud of France, who voted in favour of the resolution, said “as early as 1982, before the Knesset in Jerusalem, President Mitterrand called for the creation of a Palestinian State.”
Since then, he said “France has spared no efforts to promote this solution.”
Araud said today’s decision was “part of this history whereby President Hollande in 2012 has committed himself to support international recognition of the Palestinian State.”
Today’s action comes on the same day that the UN observed the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Established in 1977, the Day marks the date in 1947 when the Assembly adopted a resolution partitioning then-mandated Palestine into two States, one Jewish and one Arab.
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