Sommaire: May 07, 2002: EU Statement at the General Assembly on the Middle East (New York)
Mr. President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.
We are meeting today at this resumed Tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly to discuss a draft resolution. Last Friday I had the opportunity to address the Security Council to express the position of the EU on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The European Union has expressed many times its grave concern at the tragic situation in the Middle East and has condemned in the strongest terms the cycle of violence and terror causing the loss of innocent Palestinian and Israeli lives. We reiterate that there is no military solution to this conflict. The language and the logic of war have to stop and be replaced by dialogue and negotiation. The Palestinian Authority and the Israeli Government must prove their leadership and face their
responsibilities with respect to their own people.
In the last few days, international diplomatic efforts have succeeded in bringing about the non-violent resolution of the situation in Ramallah and the freedom of movement of Chairman Arafat. We welcome the peaceful solution reached today and negotiated with the help of the EU, the United States and others to end the month-long standoff at the Church of the Nativity. Such a solution will help alleviate the extremely difficult conditions of the Palestinian civilian population living in Bethlehem
under military occupation.
Mr. President,
The EU together with the United Nations, the United States and the Russian Federation expressed at the meeting of the Quartet in Washington DC on the 2nd of May their readiness to move towards an international peace conference this summer dealing with security, economic and humanitarian issues, and the political way forward. We welcome this initiative and stand ready to attend and contribute actively to such a conference. We reaffirm in this regard, that a just, lasting and comprehensive
solution to the conflict in the Middle East must be based on UNSC 242, 338 and 1397 and on the principles of the Madrid Conference, Oslo and subsequent agreements as well as the Crown Prince Abdullah's initiative for peace supported by the Arab League.
We emphasize that peace and security for both parties can only be achieved through negotiation. It is essential that an immediate and parallel progress be made towards near-term and tangible political progress, with defined and accelerated negotiations leading to a permanent settlement. The goals are clearly set: Israel's recognition of its right to live in peace within safe and secure boundaries, guaranteed by the commitment of the international community, and in particular the Arab countries,
as well as the recognition of the right of Palestinian people to live in peace in a democratic, viable and independent state of Palestine, bringing to an end the occupation of 1967.
The EU has also reiterated on many different occasions the political roadmap to use in order to put an end to this conflict. The full and immediate implementation of Security Council resolutions, in particular, the end of Israeli military operations in the Palestinian Territories, an immediate and meaningful ceasefire and the immediate and full withdrawal of Israeli troops from all cities and areas under control of the Palestinian Authority.
The Palestinian Authority must immediately adopt all possible measures to stop terrorist attacks against Israelis, including suicide bombs, dismantling terrorist infrastructure and its financing, and putting an end to incitement to violence. We expect Chairman Arafat, as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, to use the full weight of his political authority to demonstrate leadership, combat terror and restore calm.
Israel, despite its right to fight terrorism, must stop extra judicial killings, lift the closures and restrictions in the Territories, freeze and reverse its settlement policy and respect international law. The excessive use of force cannot be justified. The actions against medical and humanitarian institutions and personnel are absolutely unacceptable and contrary to UN Conventions and international humanitarian law. Israel must extend its fullest cooperation to humanitarian agencies and
organizations and allow their unimpeded and safe access to those populations in need. In this regard, we reaffirm the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War to the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem and call for its full respect.
The EU is deeply concerned at the unprecedented damage caused by Israeli military operations to basic structures of the Palestinian Authority. Destruction of civil infrastructure cannot be justified on the basis of fight against terrorism. These facilities help Palestinians in their economic, social and humanitarian development and have been financed by the international donor community. We expect that these actions will not happen again.
Mr. President,
The EU deeply regrets that the Secretary-General was forced to disband the fact-finding team established according to Security Council resolution 1405 due to the non-cooperation of the Government of Israel. We strongly deplore this decision of Israel. In the absence of an accurate, fair and professional account of the events, serious doubts are to remain of what happened at the Jenin refugee camp. For this reason, we support the Secretary-General's efforts to collate from sources available to
him accurate information in view of forming a picture of those events which is as accurate as possible.
The EU stands ready to assist the parties in implementing their agreements. To that end, a third party monitoring mechanism on the ground is essential to the process of restoring mutual confidence and making progress on both the political and security fronts. We stand ready to participate in such a mechanism.
We want to reiterate that the EU will continue to make a full and substantial contribution to improve the living conditions of the Palestinian people by providing humanitarian assistance and helping in the economic and institutional reconstruction of the Palestinian Authority through efforts to rebuild its infrastructure, security and governance capacity, thus strengthening the economic basis of the future State of Palestine.
Thank you Mr. President.
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