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Statement by Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, Ambassador, Permanent
Observer of Palestine to the United Nations, before the United Nations Security
Council, 19 April 2004:
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Mr. President,
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We return to the Security Council less than one month since this body
last met to address the crisis in the
Occupied
Palestinian
Territory because
Israel, the
occupying Power, continues its reign of terror against the Palestinian
people. To be more precise,
Israel has never
ceased its campaign of death and destruction in the
Occupied
Palestinian
Territory, including East
Jerusalem, as the Israeli occupying forces have relentlessly,
continuously and daily been committing war crimes, State terrorism and
systematic human rights violations against the Palestinian people. As the majority of the international
community watches in shock and disbelief, the occupying Power continues to carry
out the extrajudicial executions of Palestinian leaders and to kill, wound and
maim defenseless Palestinian civilians, including women and children, in grave
breach of international law, including international humanitarian law and human
rights law.
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Two days ago, on Saturday, the 17th of April, less than four
weeks after the extrajudicial execution of Sheik Ahmed Yassin in Gaza City, the Israeli occupying forces committed
yet another extrajudicial execution when they killed Dr. Abdel Aziz Al-Rantisi, a political leader of Hamas. The
occupying forces fired missiles at the vehicle in which he was riding, killing
Dr. Al-Rantisi as well as two other Palestinian men
who had been with him. This was in
fact the second time that the occupying forces targeted Dr. Al-Rantisi for assassination. The first attempt was in June of 2003,
when seven missiles were fired at his car on a crowded street in
Gaza
City. Although he survived that attack, two
Palestinians, including a woman, were killed and 25 other people were
wounded.
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While it has
become common practice for the occupying Power to launch such military attacks
against targets in densely populated civilian areas in the
Occupied
Palestinian
Territory, endangering the safety and
lives of thousands of civilians, it is by no means a legitimate or justified
practice. The deliberate,
excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force, including the
extrajudicial executions, being carried out by Israel against the Palestinian
civilian population constitutes a grave breach of international law and of
Israel’s obligations as an occupying Power, as enshrined in international
humanitarian law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention.
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This latest
in a long series of war crimes committed by the occupying Power was carried out
in fulfillment of the repeated threats of Israeli Prime Minister Sharon and
other Israeli government and military officials to continue targeting
Palestinian leaders for assassination in flagrant violation of international law
and in complete and total disregard for the condemnation, pleas and demands by
the international community for the cessation of such an illegal and barbaric
policy. Indeed, following the
attack on Saturday, Mr. Sharon and other high-ranking Israeli officials publicly
boasted and congratulated themselves on the success of the operation and
proceeded to declare more threats against Palestinian leaders.
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Mr. President,
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It is without a doubt that the recent failure of the Security Council to
condemn the extrajudicial execution of Sheikh Yassin
and to take urgent measures to address the deterioration of the situation, due
to the veto cast by one of the Council’s Permanent Members, has further
emboldened the Israeli government to continue carrying out such illegal actions
with impunity. Without concern for
reproach and punishment or for the consequences of its actions,
Israel continues
to behave as a State that is above the law. Unable to uphold its duties for the
maintenance of international peace and security when it comes to the situation
in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Security Council has allowed Israel
to continue acting beyond the parameters of international law, permitting it to
use the most oppressive measures and practices to impose more death and
destruction and loss on the Palestinian people under its occupation.
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All of the
atrocities being committed by Israel, the occupying Power, have been committed
against an unarmed and defenseless civilian population that according to the
provisions of international humanitarian law governing military occupation
should be considered protected persons.Â
The occupying Power is obligated to ensure the safety and well-being of
these persons. Â Failing that, those
persons are entitled to and should be accorded international protection. Yet time and again the Security Council
has failed to take the necessary measures to ensure the protection of the
Palestinian civilian population in the
Occupied
Palestinian
Territory, including East
Jerusalem, leaving them at the mercy of the brute force and illegal
policies and practices of the occupying Power.
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Mr. President,
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Parallel to, and in conjunction with, its illegal actions against the
Palestinian people, the government of Israel has intensified its attempts to
carry through unilateral actions intended to further entrench the illegitimate
measures already taken by Israel on the ground in the Occupied Palestinian
Territory, including East Jerusalem.Â
The meeting last week of Prime Minister Sharon and United States
President Bush and their exchange of letters and assurances took these attempts
to impose a unilateral “disengagement” one step further. The content of those letters violates
relevant provisions of international law, as reaffirmed in numerous Security
Council resolutions, and violates the rights of the Palestinian people.  It is an attempt to confer legitimacy on
some of Israel’s
illegal settlements, to negate the rights of the
Palestine refugees and to dilute
international opposition to the catastrophic expansionist Wall. The content also is in complete
departure from the Road Map, its substance as well as the principle of achieving
a peaceful settlement through negotiations between the two parties and without
prejudgement or preemption of final status
issues. As such, the content makes
the work of the Quartet extremely difficult if not possible to carry out.
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Even with
regard to Gaza, the proposal falls
far short from any real withdrawal, keeping control of international borders,
airspace and water in the hands of the occupier and maintaining the so-called
“right” to military attacks against
Gaza. This is an extremely negative and
dangerous development that the international community must confront. We should reaffirm the rule of
international law, reaffirm the principle of the two-State solution based on the
1967 borders and reaffirm the right of all States and peoples to live in peace
and security, free from attacks, terror and destruction. Â Indeed, it has often been reaffirmed
within this very Council that there can be no military solution to this conflict
and there can be no alternative to adherence to international law and a
negotiated and just and comprehensive political resolution.
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Mr. President,
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Before I
conclude, I wish to say a word on fighting terror – the repeated pretext used by
Israel to
justify all its actions, particularly the extrajudicial executions, against the
Palestinian people. We reiterate in
this chamber that this is not what the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is
about. Terrorism and violence
constitute one of the dynamics of this conflict. It is a dynamic that has taken more
prominence only in recent years, but it does not constitute the conflict
itself. Any parallels drawn between
Israel’s actions
against the Palestinian people and the war being waged against global terrorism
are inappropriate and completely erroneous, and
Israel’s
constant attempts to draw such parallels and to exploit the international fight
against terrorism must be rejected.
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What this
conflict is about is the belligerent military occupation of another people and
their land by a foreign power for nearly four decades. It is about the
unrelenting aggression and transgressions against the land and the people of
Palestine by
Israel, the
occupying Power. Â Â It is about
Israel’s refusal
to end this occupation, seeking all the while to acquire more land by force and
to eliminate more of the indigenous population by wreaking widespread wanton
death, destruction and misery in the attempt to fulfill its expansionist
designs. And all the while,
Israel has been
unconstrained in carrying out its unlawful and unjust policies and practices
before the eyes of the international community.Â
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The time is
way overdue for the international community to take urgent measures to address
this ongoing tragedy. This Security
Council must take the lead in this regard.Â
The United Nations has a permanent responsibility towards the question of
Palestine until it is resolved in
all its aspects. The Council must
take bold and courageous actions to ensure compliance with its resolutions,
adherence to international law and to bring an end to the cycle of violence and
bloodshed that has prevented the two peoples and the entire region from the
realization of genuine peace, freedom and security for so many decades.
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Thank you, Mr.
President.