Mideast situation – GA general debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Official Records

General Assembly

Fifty-ninth session

26th plenary meeting

Tuesday, 12 October 2004, 10 a.m.

New York

    The meeting was called to order at 10.05 a.m.

Agenda items 11 and 53 ( continued)

Report of the Security Council (A/59/2)

Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and related matters

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 Mr. Toro Jiménez (Venezuela) (spoke in Spanish ): …

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  With respect to the Middle East, Venezuela is convinced that a lasting solution to the question of Palestine is the principal approach for restoring peace in the region. Venezuela endorses the agreements reached between Arabs and Israelis in the search for a peaceful, negotiated settlement. We reaffirm our support of the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination, and we support the right of States of the region to exist within secure, internationally recognized borders. We believe that a just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict must be based on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). However, the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is concerned at the recent military actions in the Gaza Strip, which have caused a high number of deaths and injuries among the civilian Palestinian population. We therefore insist that the aforementioned Security Council resolutions must be complied with. Our position has always been based on the principles of domestic and foreign policy contained in our Constitution, including the promotion and the protection of human rights — in this case, in order to contribute to peace in the Middle East.

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 Mr. Kuchinsky (Ukraine): …

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  We believe that the Security Council could do more than just hold monthly briefings and rare open debates in dealing with the crisis in the Middle East. Resolution 1515 (2003), with its endorsement of the Quartet’s road map, has become a truly important step forward. It has reaffirmed the wide consensus in the international community that that plan provides the best way to realize the vision of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security. But additional concerted efforts are absolutely indispensable to achieving this result.

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 Mr. Guterres (Timor-Leste): …

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  Regarding Western Sahara and Palestine and other conflicts under consideration, we urge the Security Council to continue its efforts to devise new initiatives in order to find a peaceful solution that is acceptable to the peoples concerned.

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 The meeting rose at 1.05 p.m.

This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the interpretation of speeches delivered in the other languages. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room C-154A. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a consolidated corrigendum.