Morocco World News
Morocco World News
New York, Nov 19, 2012
The United Nations Security Council is negotiating a press statement on Gaza, a source acquainted with the consultations told MWN in the condition of anonymity. The same source added that one country is still opposing the issuance of the statement by the Council.
If adopted, the draft presidential statement, which was circulated by the Moroccan Mission to the United Nations, in its capacity as the Arab member of the Council, would “expresses grave concern at the escalation and steep deterioration of the situation in Gaza and calls for an immediate halt to all violence.” The 15 members of the council “call the parties to stop immediately all military activities.”
To the dismay to the Arab and world public opinion sympathetic with the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza, the presidential statement does not include any strong language against the Israeli government.
As in previous instances, it equates Hamas, which defends the rights of the Palestinians to be freed from the inhuman siege imposed on them by Israel since 2006, with Israel, which violates the human rights of the Palestinian people and all relevant UN resolutions.
According to the draft statement, the members of the Council “call on the parties to stop immediately all military activities.”
They further “call on all parties to address the serious humanitarian and economic needs in Gaza and to take necessary measures to allow for the unhindered, safe and secure access of humanitarian assistance and personnel to the Palestinian people and to ensure the provision of humanitarian supplies, including supplies of food, fuel and provision of medical treatment.”
The Members of the Council call on the international community “to provide additional emergency and humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in the Gaza strip to address their urgent humanitarian needs,” while stressing “the need for the restoration of calm in full. The members of the council are due to hold another s meeting at 6pm New York time before issuing the statement.
The council has also held consultations this morning at the request of Morocco and Russia.
In a press conference at the Security Council stakeout, earlier this afternoon, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Vitaly Chrikin, told reporters that all members of the council agreed on the language of the statement, except one country, in a tacit reference to the United States.
He further said that it is important that the Council adopt this statement in order to support the efforts being exerted by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, to mediate a cease-fire.
Unlike resolution adopted under Chapter V of the UN Charter, press statement are not legally binding, although they reflect the consensus of its members and can be considered as a reflection of the international opinion.
Despite the repeated violations of human rights perpetrated by Israel for 6 decades in the Palestinian occupied territory, and its disregard for all UN resolutions calling on it to decolonize the territories occupied after the June 1967 war, the Council, because of the opposition of the United States and the United Kingdom, never adopted a single binding resolution (i.e under Chapter V) against Israel.
During her statement at the Council emergency meeting held last Wednesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations, Suzan Rice did not show any sympathy or concern for the plight of the Palestinians. She also failed to denounce the crimes being perpetrated by Israel against an unarmed Palestinian civilian population. She instead renewed its countries support to Israel in its fight against “terrorism”. The same stance was adopted by UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN, who echoed his “country’s understanding of the steps Israel takes to defend itself,” while calling on it to take “every necessary steps to deescalate” the crisis.
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