376th Committee Meeting – 7 April 2016

Overview

Summary of the Meeting

 

 

The meeting was chaired by Amb. María Rubiales de Chamorro (Nicaragua).

 

  1. Adoption of the agenda.

 

The Committee adopted the agenda of the meeting.

 

  1. The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and developments in the political process.

 

The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, Amb. Riyad Mansour, stated that in light of intensifying hostility by Israeli settlers and recent examples of extrajudicial killings, there are efforts for to hold an “Arria-formula” meeting on the issue of protection of the civilian population under occupation, based on UNSC resolutions 605 (1987) and 904 (1994) and the recent study on past examples of protection of civilians by the Secretary-General (SG), drafted by the UN Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) and submitted to the UNSC in October 2015.

 

Palestine is also coordinating within the Arab Group regarding a draft UNSC resolution on settlements.  If there is unanimity in the Security Council that settlements are illegal and pose an obstacle to peace, then there is an obligation to act.  Such a resolution would also provide concrete support to the French Initiative. In the meanwhile, the State of Palestine was working with the International Criminal Court to bring the Israeli perpetrators of war crimes in Gaza.

 

The situation on the ground remains volatile and explosive, with Israel blocking the delivery of cement to Gaza and temporarily cutting electricity to areas in the West Bank.

 

  1. Report on the United Nations Roundtable on Legal Aspects of the Question of Palestine, held from 15 to 17 March 2016 in Amman, Jordan.

 

The Rapporteur of the Committee, the Permanent Representative of Malta Amb. Christopher Grima, delivered the report.  (See attachment)

 

The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine stated that this event was of great assistance to the State of Palestine.  Now that there has been a sufficient number of legal and human rights training, Palestine would look towards capacity-building in other areas, potentially under the umbrella of the “Agenda 2030, on climate change, water, etc.

 

  1. International Conference on the Question of Jerusalem, to be held on 3 and 4 May 2016 in Dakar, Senegal (Working Paper no. 2).

 

A representative from Senegal informed of DPR planning mission to Dakar to prepare for the Conference and that his country is liaising closely with DPR in preparing the event, substantively and in the realms of protocol, security and logistics.  For Senegal the involvement of civil society in the conference is of great importance.

 

The Permanent Representative of Namibia, Amb. Wilfred Emvula, inquired about travel and logistical arrangements and emphasised the importance of inviting speakers from Palestine and Africa.  The Director of the Division for Palestinian Right, Mr. Elio Tamburi, briefed that, as per usual practice of the Committee, details of the programme and invitations will be discussed at the next meeting of the Bureau of the Committee, on 12 April.

 

The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, Amb. Riyad Mansour, informed that back-up plans to ensure the sufficient participation of Palestinian speakers are in place and called for strong participation from Africa.

 

The Committee approved Working Paper no. 2.  (See attachment)

 

  1. Activities of the Working Group (including Screening of the film “Giraffada” on 7 April 2016 at Headquarters)

 

The Chair of the Working Group of the Committee, Deputy Permanent Representative of Malta Ms. Natasha Meli Daudey, announced the screening of the film “Giraffada” later in the day and reported on the WG Brainstorming on 3 March and the panel discussion in the margins of the 60th meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women on 14 March. She reported that the Working Group recommended that the Committee could do direct contact and strategic outreach to specific media and journalists at the PR level. In addition, the WG is preparing a Strategy Paper, which will be presented to the Committee in due course.

 

The Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine, Amb. Riyad Mansour, suggested that the WG show the Palestinian film “The Wanted 18”, organise a presentation by Palestinian writer Suad Amiry of her book “Golda slept here”, and invite Palestinian comedians to perform.

 

  1. Other matters.

 

The Acting Chair, the Permanent Representative of Nicaragua, Ms. Maria Rubiales de Chamarro, informed that the Chair of the Committee, Permanent Representative of Senegal Amb. Seck has been invited to attend the 13th Islamic Summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on 14-15 April in Istanbul.  The Summit convenes every three years and aims at jointly reviewing the international situation in the political, economic and social fields and analysing the impact on the Muslim Ummah.

 

Also, Amb. Seck will give a Committee statement to the Security Council at the next quarterly open debate on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”, scheduled to be held on 18 April.

 

*  *  *

Video

Resources

  • Press Release (English | French)
  • Message of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (Arabic,Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish)

    /or message by other entities /

  • A/AC.183/SR.xxx – Summary record of the xxxnd meeting
    // or any other document which is not a press release nor an S-G statment nor a statement by other entities — example of a document here: Agenda //
  • official website for the event – if it exists
    example text to use in this link:
    Official Website – IYSPP 2014
  • Statement /or opinion/  by the Committee / or by another entity/
  • Photos/ or documents / for Download
2021-06-25T13:13:38-04:00

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