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STORY: UN / PALESTINE
TRT: 2:58
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 DECEMBER 2018, NEW YORK CITY
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
18 DECEMBER 2018, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“The continued expansion of the Israeli settlement enterprise, in all its aspects, is illegal under international law, undermines hope among the population, trust between the parties, and the two-state solution, itself.”
4. Med shot, ambassadors
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“Each time, as the parties came frighteningly close to the brink of war, tireless efforts by Egypt and the United Nations prevented a full-fledged conflict. Ultimately, reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under a single, legitimate and democratic Palestinian Authority and putting an end to the occupation will ensure long-term peace. Meanwhile however, it is imperative that the current calm be preserved at all costs. No one can afford another war in Gaza.”
6. Med shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“Ongoing instances of incitement, provocative steps, and inflammatory rhetoric plague the public rhetoric of the conflict. They are highly dangerous and threaten to push an already volatile situation past the boiling point.”
8. Wide shot, ambassadors
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“I believe that I speak on behalf of all of us today when I say that we all share a concern that at the end of 2018 we are nowhere closer to reviving efforts for a negotiated solution. Without a political horizon, all our collective and individual efforts merely contribute to managing the conflict rather than resolving it.”
10. Wide shot, Security Council
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“This UN obsession has been entirely unproductive. It’s actually worse than that. The UN’s obsession with this issue has been counterproductive. It has sent a loud and false message to the Palestinians that they just might be able to achieve their goals by relying on the UN, rather than through direct negotiations. And it has sent a loud and accurate message to the Israelis that they can never trust the UN. This biased obsession is not the path to peace. It is the path to an endless stalemate.”
12. Med shot, Mladenov
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Nikki Haley, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“The Palestinian people are suffering terribly while their leadership clings to 50-year-old demands that have only become less and less realistic. What awaits the Palestinian people with a peace agreement are the prospects of a massive improvement in the quality of their lives and far greater control over their political future. It is time we faced a hard truth: both sides would benefit greatly from a peace agreement, but the Palestinians would benefit more, and the Israelis would risk more.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council today (18 Dec) that at the end of 2018, “we are nowhere closer to reviving efforts for a negotiated solution” adding that without a political horizon, “all our collective and individual efforts merely contribute to managing the conflict rather than resolving it.”
Mladenov said no steps have been taken by Israel to cease settlement activity as called for by Security Council resolution 2334. He added, “The continued expansion of the Israeli settlement enterprise, in all its aspects, is illegal under international law, undermines hope among the population, trust between the parties, and the two-state solution, itself.” He noted that demolitions and seizures of Palestinian-owned structures by Israeli authorities also continued across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
The Special Coordinator said violence and the threat of war also persisted with 75 Palestinians killed by Israel security forces and seven Israelis, including four civilians, killed by Palestinians.
SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“Each time, as the parties came frighteningly close to the brink of war, tireless efforts by Egypt and the United Nations prevented a full-fledged conflict. Ultimately, reuniting Gaza and the West Bank under a single, legitimate and democratic Palestinian Authority and putting an end to the occupation will ensure long-term peace. Meanwhile however, it is imperative that the current calm be preserved at all costs. No one can afford another war in Gaza.”
He expressed his concern over recent incidents and rising tensions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, were he said the risk of an explosion as grown. He said the past three months have witnessed stabbing, ramming and three lethal shooting attacks against Israelis, one of which led to the death of a baby, while a Palestinian woman was killed by a stone. He stressed that there could be no justification for any brutal acts of terrorism. Mladenov underscored that ongoing instances of incitement, provocative steps, and inflammatory rhetoric “plague the public rhetoric of the conflict” which are “highly dangerous and threaten to push an already volatile situation past the boiling point.”
United States ambassador Nikki Haley called on the UN to move away from its “obsession” with Israel which she said was “counterproductive.” She said it sent a “loud and false message to the Palestinians that they just might be able to achieve their goals by relying on the UN, rather than through direct negotiations, and it has sent a loud and accurate message to the Israelis that they can never trust the UN.” She added, “This biased obsession is not the path to peace, it is the path to an endless stalemate.”
Haley said the Trump Administration’s plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians was not just a few pages, containing unspecific guidelines, rather it was much longer and contained much more thoughtful detail. She noted that there were things in the plans that every party would like and others that every party would not like. She added that the Palestinian people were “suffering terribly while their leadership clings to 50-year-old demands that have only become less and less realistic.” She said a peace agreement would bring the Palestinian people the prospects of a “massive improvement in the quality of their lives and far greater control over their political future.” She added, “It is time we faced a hard truth: both sides would benefit greatly from a peace agreement, but the Palestinians would benefit more, and the Israelis would risk more.”
