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GA / CULTURE OF PEACE WRAP
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STORY: GA / CULTURE OF PEACE WRAP
TRT: 5.32
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ ARABIC/ NATS
DATELINE: 11, 12 NOVEMBER 2008, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN building
12 NOVEMBER 2008, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, General Assembly
3. Med shot, Condoleezza Rice and US delegation
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, President of the General Assembly:
"Our world is experiencing an extremely difficult period, the worst since the founding of the United Nations. In fact it would not be an exaggeration to say that the future of humankind depends on our ability and willingness to take advantage of the lessons and opportunities presented by today's multiple and interrelated crises. It is a time of numerous bankruptcies, but the worst is the moral bankruptcy of humankind's self-proclaimed 'more advanced societies'"
5. Pan right, General Assembly
6. Med shot, Israeli delegation
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
"Anti-Semitism remains a scourge. Islamophobia has emerged as a new term for an old and terrible form of prejudice. And other kinds of racism and discrimination show a dismaying persistence. Sometimes it seems as if none of history's awful lessons have been learned. One of the great challenges of our time must now surely be to ensure that our rich cultural diversity makes us more secure, not less."
8. Wide shot, Saudi delegation
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdullah ben Abdel Aziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Holy Mosques:
"Every tragedy suffered in today's world is ultimately a result of the abandonment of the paramount principle enunciated by all religions and cultures: The roots of all global crises can be found in human denial of the eternal principle of justice. Terrorism and criminality are the enemies of every religion and every civilization."
10. Med shot, Jordanian delegation
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Abdullah II bin Al Hussein, King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan:
"It is impossible to talk about interfaith harmony, especially between East and West, without also discussing conflict resolution in the Middle East. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is the core conflict in our region. It is a political conflict, and it demands a just, negotiated solution, one that brings statehood and freedom for Palestinians and security and more regional acceptance for Israel."
12. Med shot, Israeli delegation
13. Med shot, Palestinian delegation
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Hamid Karzai, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan:
"Religion is not the source of terrorism. The term 'Islamic terrorism', which is frequently used to describe acts of brutality and violence, is fundamentally misleading. Islam, a religion of peace and moderation, not only condemns unequivocally any act that violates the life and property of an innocent individual. The Holy Koran has, in fact, equated murdering an innocent person to the killing of all humanity."
15. Wide shot, General Assembly
16. Wide shot, dais
17. Wide shot, press
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Simon Peres, President of the State of Israel:
"But the fact that we did build a strong army also enables us to go for a little peace. We go without trembling, without hesitation. Never did a victory throw us aside to be tempted by gaining territories or anything else, nothing whatsoever. A day of war did not postpone a day of democracy and an occasional victory never reduced our desire to make peace."
19. Wide shot, press
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Tzipora Livni, Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel:
"Hamas represents this extreme Islamic ideology that has nothing to do with the national aspirations of the Palestinians. In a way, the need to fight Hamas or to fight this kind of extremism is a shared goal of Israel, the National Palestinian Movement and the entire Arab world."
11 NOVEMBER 2008, NEW YORK CITY
21. Tracking shot, Secretary-General and Israeli President entering room
22. Various shots, Secretary-General and Saudi King
23. Med shot, Ambassador Khalilzad and Israeli President
24. Med shot, Secretary-General and Saudi King at the table
A high-level gathering of leaders and senior officials from all over the world began today at the United Nations with the goal of bridging the divide between cultures and religions.
Heads of state and senior officials from Israel, Palestine, the United States, Bahrain, the United Kingdom and more than 70 other countries participated in the "Culture for Peace" event, an initiative put forward by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah.
General Assembly President Miguel D'Escoto told the gathered leaders that the world was facing its most difficult period since the founding of the United Nations. He said that "humankind depends on our ability and willingness to take advantage of the lessons and opportunities presented by today's multiple and interrelated crises".
D'Escoto noted that social responsibility was a basic law in each of the world's religions and in all ethical and philosophical traditions, but said that the dominant culture today was guided by the spirit of selfishness and individualism.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the meeting that as economies merged and boundaries disappeared as a result of globalization, extremist ideologies were on the rise, societies were more polarized, anti-Semitism persisted and Islamophobia had emerged.
He said that "sometimes it seems as if none of history's awful lessons have been learned".
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, speaking to the forum, said that "terrorism and criminality are the enemies of every religion and every civilization."
Jordanian King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein said it was "impossible to talk about interfaith harmony" without discussing conflict resolution in the Middle East. He called for a negotiated solution that brings "statehood and freedom for Palestinians and security and more regional acceptance for Israel".
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that "religion is not the source of terrorism" explaining that Islam is "a religion of peace and moderation".
While leaders met in New York, Israel launched an air strike against militants in Gaza after rockets were fired into Israel. Following the morning session, Israeli President Simon Perez and Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni answered questions from the press.
Peres said that the fact that Israel had built a strong army also enabled it "to go for a little peace" and that "a day of war did not postpone a day of democracy and an occasional victory never reduced our desire to make peace".
Livni stated that Hamas represented an "extreme Islamic ideology that has nothing to do with the national aspirations of the Palestinians" adding that "the need to fight Hamas" and other extremists "is a shared goal of Israel, the National Palestinian Movement and the entire Arab world."
Last night, the Secretary-General and General Assembly President hosted a dinner reception for the world leaders attending the meeting.
President George W. Bush of the US and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown are among more than 30 high-level officials slated to speak tomorrow.