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STORY: UN / PALESTINE ISRAEL
TRT: 3:13
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 OCTOBER 2018, NEW YORK CITY
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
18 OCTOBER 2018, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Nikolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“The first is that the situation in Gaza is imploding. This is not hyperbole. This is not alarmism. It is a reality. The World Bank recently warned that the Gaza economy is in ‘free fall’ with an official unemployment rate of 53 percent, and over 70 percent among Palestinian youth. Every second person in Gaza now lives below the poverty line. All the key indicators – humanitarian, economic, security and political – continue to deteriorate. We remain on the brink of another potentially devastating conflict, a conflict that nobody claims to want, but a conflict that needs much more than just words to prevent.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:
“Israel continues to send a strong message to Hamas that nothing will justify terror and it will pay a heavy price for attacking Israel. But we have not forgotten about Abbas. Abbas is taking active measures to radicalise the people of Gaza and prolong their suffering. For his own cynical political purposes, Abbas is pushing Israel and Hamas towards a war that could begin any day.”
6. Med shot, B’Tselem Director and Palestinian ambassador
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:
“If you really want to change the reality for Palestinians and Israelis, you must change the equation. Remove the source of the culture of hate and textbook-terrorism. When that source is removed – when Abbas is gone – only then will we see a brighter future.”
8. Wide shot, Israeli ambassador addressing Security Counil
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director, B’Tselem:
“I am not a traitor, nor am I a hero. The heroes are the Palestinians who endure this occupation with courage and perseverance, who wake up in the middle of the night to find soldiers barging into their homes; who know that if a loved one is killed, impunity is all but guaranteed to the perpetrators; who stay on their land knowing that it is only a matter of time before the bulldozers arrive.”
10. Wide shot, El-Ad addressing Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations:
“The forced transfer of people, as happening in the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar and as witnessed so many times before in Occupied Palestine over the years, constitutes ethnic cleansing. This is not a mere decision by Israel’s so-called judiciary, which has proven to serve and subsidize the occupation and where the chances for minimal justice for Palestinians is nil; this is a war crime.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nikolay Mladenov said the situation in Gaza is “imploding” adding that the strip was “on the brink of another potentially devastating conflict, a conflict that nobody claims to want, but a conflict that needs much more than just words to prevent.”
Addressing the Security Council today (18 Oct) via teleconference from Jerusalem, Mladenov said his warning is “not alarmism, it is a reality.” He said the World Bank recently warned that the Gaza economy is in “free fall” with an official unemployment rate of 53 percent, and over 70 percent among Palestinian youth. He noted that “every second person in Gaza now lives below the poverty line” adding that all the “key indicators– humanitarian, economic, security and political – continue to deteriorate.” He underscored that the latest rockets fired from Gaza towards Be’er Sheva are a dangerous escalation of the situation and fit a pattern of provocations that seek to bring Israel and Gaza into another conflict. He stressed that it was the international community’s responsibility to do everything possible to avoid that outcome.
At the same time, Mladenov highlighted that there is a growing consensus and determination among key international and regional partners on moving forward to defuse the situation in Gaza. He said humanitarian efforts there are taking place in coordination with, and in support of, Egyptian efforts to bring Gaza back under the full control of the legitimate Palestinian Government. He added that the Government’s return to Gaza and the lifting of the suffocating movement and access restrictions are necessary for addressing the humanitarian and economic needs of the population in a sustainable manner.
The Special Coordinator also said that violence is on the rise and Israeli authorities have continued the demolition and confiscation of Palestinian-owned structures in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. He called on Israel to cease demolitions and other measures that run contrary to its obligations under international law. He noted the recent killings of two Israelis and one Palestinian in the West Bank, which he condemned in the strongest of terms while calling on everyone to stand up to violence and condemn terrorism.
Israeli ambassador Danny Danon said the region was on the brink of a major escalation in Gaza after Hamas set over 8,000 acres of agricultural land in Israel on fire and launched over 300 rockets this year. He blamed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for enabling an eminent war between Hamas and Israel which “could begin any day.”
SOUNDBITE (English) Danny Danon, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:
“Israel continues to send a strong message to Hamas that nothing will justify terror and it will pay a heavy price for attacking Israel. But we have not forgotten about Abbas. Abbas is taking active measures to radicalise the people of Gaza and prolong their suffering. For his own cynical political purposes, Abbas is pushing Israel and Hamas towards a war that could begin any day.”
Danon said Abbas withheld critical international funding for the people of Gaza and was exploiting the dire humanitarian situation in the strip to remain in power. He said if the international community really wants to change the reality for Palestinians and Israelis, it “must change the equation.” He added, “Remove the source of the culture of hate and textbook-terrorism. When that source is removed – when Abbas is gone – only then will we see a brighter future.”
The Council also hear from B’Tselem Executive Director Hagai El-Ad who said that Israel was carrying out a calculated process of splitting-up the Palestinian people by fragmenting their land and disrupting their lives creating isolated bits which are easier to oppress. He said Israel’s actions against the Palestinians, including turning Gaza into an open aired prison through the blockade, were not legal, moral, nor acceptable. He said as long as this methodical process does not trigger international outrage and action, Israel would continue to oppress millions while still being considered a democracy.
El-Ad said the Israeli government could not silence his organization or the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who reject the occupation.
SOUNDBITE (English) Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director, B’Tselem:
“I am not a traitor, nor am I a hero. The heroes are the Palestinians who endure this occupation with courage and perseverance, who wake up in the middle of the night to find soldiers barging into their homes; who know that if a loved one is killed, impunity is all but guaranteed to the perpetrators; who stay on their land knowing that it is only a matter of time before the bulldozers arrive.”
Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour said Palestinians’ right to self-determination and to live freely is a legitimate and inalienable right which they would never negotiate. He said, despite the extreme human rights violations being endured, Palestinians continue more often than not to choose non-violence and peaceful means to achieve their aspirations.
The Palestinian ambassador said, “The forced transfer of people, as happening in the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar and as witnessed so many times before in Occupied Palestine over the years, constitutes ethnic cleansing.” He said this was just a decision by Israel’s judiciary, “which has proven to serve and subsidize the occupation and where the chances for minimal justice for Palestinians is nil; this is a war crime.”
Mansour said the feeling of immunity enjoyed by the occupation as it kills innocent civilians and violates all norms and principles of international law, only deepens cynicism about the potential for a just peace, especially among Palestinian youth, whose hopes are evaporating.
