S/PV.6171
6171st meeting
Monday, 27 July 2009, 10 a.m.
New York
The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question
Mr. Shalgham (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (spoke in Arabic): Allow me at the outset to express my appreciation to Mr. Oscar Fernandez-Taranco for his briefing, which clearly shows the extent of the deteriorating situation and the danger posed to the occupied Palestinian territories and to security and stability in the region.
Despite the fact that more than six months have elapsed since the Israeli forces perpetrated their massacre in the Gaza Strip and the Security Council adopted resolution 1860 (2009), we still cannot see any sign that the occupying authorities intend to change their inhuman behaviour towards the civilians in the Gaza Strip. For the third consecutive year, we see their lack of will to end the siege and the blockade, to open the border crossings closed under a policy of collective punishment that runs counter to all international and humanitarian law, and to desist from committing grave violations in the occupied Palestinian territories, some of which easily qualify as war crimes under international law and international humanitarian law.
Nor do we see any sign of international will to break the world’s silence and pressure the occupation authorities to put an end to the suffering of civilians in the Gaza Strip. That silence has encouraged the occupation forces to commit yet more crimes and to intensify their practices, behaving like a State that is above the law.
At this juncture, we would like to commend the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the efforts made by its personnel in the face of threats and danger. We strongly condemn all aggression against its personnel and the false accusations levelled against them by the occupation forces.
Conditions in the West Bank are no better than those in the Gaza Strip, which shows that, despite Israel’s allegations and pretexts with regard to the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials have not ceased to declare their intention to continue expanding their settlement activities and to apply policies that seek to rapidly Judaize Jerusalem by confiscating identity cards and land. Meanwhile, the settlers continue their crimes against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank, which more often than not are committed with the help and support of the occupation forces, which protect them while ignoring the complaints of Palestinian civilians.
Those measures have been intensified by the continued construction of the racist separation wall despite the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and by blockades of ring roads and the bypass roads that cut across the West Bank. The land that has been taken from the West Bank as a result of the settlements, the ring roads and the separation wall totals 2,703 square kilometres, which constitutes 46 per cent of the whole area of the West Bank. Yet, we still talk about the establishment of a Palestinian State at a time when 46 per cent of the West Bank has been taken by the Israelis and their settlers.
I would like to mention the situation of Palestinian detainees and prisoners, especially women. Here, I refer to the report adopted by the United Nations Development Fund for Women, which refers to the grave and distressing situation of female Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention centres. The report says that most of them are exposed to psychological and mental pressure and torture, including insults, beatings, threats and sexual harassment. The report also states that 13 per cent of these female prisoners are under the age of 18.
Any serious effort to achieve peace in the Middle East must start by putting an end to the international silence with regard to Israel. This means that the international community should not fear Israel but should dare to call on it to freeze all settlement activities and to halt and remove all settlements. The Council has been silent, which has encouraged Israel to continue those policies. It has rejected any mention of a racist State, instead talking about a Jewish Israeli State, and it has failed to condemn the enactment of new laws against the Arab people. That threatens a new Nakba, lays the groundwork for the transfer and displacement of 1.5 million Palestinians from land occupied in 1948 and denies the right of Palestinian refugees to return under international law and international resolutions.
