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UN / PALESTINE SOLIDARITY
STORY: UN / PALESTINE SOLIDARITY
TRT: 1:31
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC/NATS
DATELINE: 25 NOVEMBER 2013, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations
2. Wide shot, panel in ECOSOC chamber
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Eliasson, Deputy-Secretary-General, United Nations:
“After two decades of talks and far too many adverse developments on the ground, I urge Palestinian and Israeli leaders to take the decisions to usher in a political solution to this serious and longstanding conflict.”
4. Cutaway, delegates
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Filipo Grandi, Commission-General, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA):
“We are sadly familiar with this risk of loneliness and with the need for solidarity dealing as we have dealt more than 60 years now with Palestine refugees throughout the region.”
6. Cutaway, delegates clapping
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Assaf, Arab Idol 2013 and UNWRA Regional Youth Ambassador:
“If such funds are not provided in the coming weeks, UNWRA will not be able to pay the salaries of its staff for December – this in not right. I appeal to you to support UNWRA just like they supported me.”
8. Cutaway, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ambassador Ryiad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations:
“We reaffirm these commitments and that readiness once again today, despite the diminishing hopes and the critical situation on the ground due to Israel violations.”
10. Med shot, meeting ends
United Nations officials today voiced their solidarity with the people of Palestine in their aspirations for independence and sovereignty, and stressed the importance of ongoing peace talks aimed at a two-State solution which must be given a chance to bear fruit.
Israelis and Palestinians resumed direct negotiations in August, thanks to the efforts of United States Secretary of State John Kerry, following a three-year hiatus owing to Israel’s refusal to extend its freeze on settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory.
A message by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, read on his behalf by Deputy-Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said that “after decades of talks and “far too many” adverse developments on the ground, Mr. Ban urged Palestinian and Israeli leaders to take the decisions that will usher in a political solution to this serious and long-standing conflict.”
Speaking on behalf of the UN agency responsible for assisting five million Palestinian refugees, Filippo Grandi said that solidarity – which transcends political and financial support – is crucial because it makes Palestinians feel that they are not alone.
Mr. Grandi, the outgoing Commissioner General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said his organization is “sadly familiar” with this loneliness, given how closely it works with refugees whose plight has remained unresolved for over six decades.
Mohammed Assaf, UNRWA Regional Youth Ambassador and Winner of Arab Idol 2013 appealed to the international community to contribute to the agency which has a more than (USD) 30 million deficit, so that UNWRA can pay staff salaries for the month of December. “I appeal to you to support UNWRA just like they supported me,” he said.
And Ambassador Ryiad Mansour read a statement of behalf of President Mahmoud Abbas which reaffirmed commitments and readiness, “despite the diminishing hopes and the critical situation on the ground due to Israel violations” adding that “our hand remains extended in peace.”
The special meeting held at UN Headquarters comes ahead of the International Day, observed annually on 29 November. The Day marks the date in 1947 when the General Assembly adopted a resolution partitioning then-mandated Palestine into two States, one Jewish and one Arab.
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