S/PV.5983
5983rd meeting
Friday, 26 September 2008, 11.15 a.m.
New York
The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question
Mr. Ettalhi (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (spoke in Arabic): I would like first of all to welcome the President of the Palestinian National Authority, His Excellency Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, and the Ministers who are present at today’s meeting.
I will not conceal the fact that I always hesitate before taking the floor to address the Council when it discusses the Palestinian question in any of its aspects. That is because I know that this issue has been on the agenda of the United Nations and of the Security Council, which is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, for more than six decades. This situation has existed for six decades now, with everything that this implies in terms of war and humanitarian tragedy: six decades during which the Security Council has adopted a series of resolutions, none of which, unfortunately, have been implemented.
In fact, these days, when it comes to Palestinian issues, the Council sometimes even refrains from issuing a press release, no matter how grave the situation it has discussed.
Perhaps appearance of the Arab Group before the Security Council to ask the Council to listen to it represents a new phase concerning this subject. Unfortunately, this is the first time in the history of the Council that a State or a group of States has told the Council that all it wishes is the opportunity to express itself in this Chamber. Is this not important for the Council?
Should it not lead us to wonder what occurs every time the Israelis begin negotiations with Palestinians? What happens is an acceleration of the settlement policy and an increase in the number of settlements, which has risen considerably since the Oslo Agreement, whose anniversary was commemorated some days ago. Everyone knows that settlement activity has increased in an unprecedented manner — and I do mean unprecedented — since the Annapolis Conference.
I am basing my comments on this subject on an Israeli report. As Mr. Mahmoud Abbas said this morning, the Israelis know full well what is taking place on the ground. This report, which was published by an Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO), compares the settlement policy for the first quarter of this year with the same quarter in 2007. It says that construction activities increased by 55 per cent and that the number of tenders for new settlement construction bids increased by 550 per cent. Thus, the settlement policy in the occupied Palestinian territories has increased considerably at an accelerated pace since the Annapolis Conference, held last year.
All of this has happened despite the commitments made pursuant to the Road Map and in spite of the outcome of the Annapolis Conference and in spite of international resolutions which reaffirm the illegality of the settlement activities and call on the Israeli occupation authorities to put an end to such activities and to dismantle the settlements that have been erected.
In spite of this, the Israeli authorities have intensified this form of activity in the West Bank especially around Jerusalem. Everyone is aware of the Israeli construction of the apartheid separation wall despite the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.
Settlement activity not only impedes the peace process; even more, that policy serves the declared Israeli aim of sabotaging the very notion of the emergence of an independent, viable Palestinian State. This poses a serious threat to both regional and international peace and security.
In this regard, I would also like to cite an Israeli report from which I will draw attention to a number of extracts. Hundreds of thousands of dunums of Palestinian land have been usurped and used for the construction or expansion of numerous Jewish settlements. The Israeli authorities prevent all Palestinians from gaining access to these territories. They exploit the existence of settlements in order to justify their continued violation of numerous Palestinian rights, including the right to residence, the right to a livelihood and the right to movement. The report indicates that Israel’s radical changes to the map of the West Bank will prevent any possibility of building an independent and viable Palestinian State, in accordance with the right to self-determination. I point out that this is testimony contained in an Israeli report.
Settlement activity policy is an established, systematic policy of successive Israeli Governments. The Israeli authorities have used and continue to use every means available to them and do not hesitate to seize land under any pretext for the purpose of establishing Jewish settlements. They transfer settlers to this land and encourage settlers to expand by giving them housing allowances and tax breaks and by making investments.
The Israeli authorities encourage the settlers to tighten their grip on Palestinians and their land, compelling them to leave their land. As President Mahmoud Abbas stated this morning, the settlers have not hesitated to resort to violence against Palestinians and their property. This has happened in the full view of the occupying forces, who protect the settlers while ignoring complaints lodged by the Palestinians. I would like to refer here to the daily attacks on villages in the Nablus area — attacks perpetuated against the Palestinian people by the settlers. The most recent of such attacks resulted in the torching of dozens of olive groves in the village of Awarta on 14 September. There was a wave of assaults on Palestinians in the village of Burin on 13 September, resulting in six Palestinian deaths and eight serious injuries.
I also wish to convey another testimony reported to us. Israel has established a system of apartheid within the occupied Palestinian territories, exemplified by the establishment of two separate judiciary entities in the same region, where the human rights of an individual are based on his nationality. Such a unique system reminds us of the apartheid regime in South Africa. The report that just quoted also indicates that the territories are controlled by various means, including systematic violence against Palestinians by settlers, with the support of the Israeli army, that has also led to the expulsion of Palestinians from areas around the settlements.
It is often said that the settlement policy is based on security considerations. Establishing a link between security and settlements is unfortunately an attempt to justify Israel’s acts of violence and serves as a pretext for Israel to continue to benefit from international protection. I should like to refer to a passage from a World Bank report detailing the constraints that Israel has imposed under the pretext of security but which merely extend the settlement policy and the expansion of settlements. The report stresses the fact that the Palestinian Authority has made great efforts to honour its commitment to the road map, to ensure respect for the rule of law and to extend its authority over its territory. However, those efforts have been largely undermined by Israel’s acts of violence. Thus, Israel’s pretexts have nothing to do with security.
I reiterate that Israel’s settlement policy is systematic and rooted in the aspiration to a Greater Israel. It reminds us of David Ben-Gurion’s vision, as reflected in his view that there was no reason for Israel to negotiate with the Arabs as they both bid claim to the same thing. That means that the Israelis believe that Palestinian territory is in fact Israeli territory and that it is impossible to ascertain the extent to which the Palestinian territories are indeed Palestinian. That Israeli practice must be halted. It is a breeding ground for lasting instability in the region and a clear incitement to violence. Is that what he really wanted?
