Report of the Security Council/Mideast situation/Palestine question – GA debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Official Records

General Assembly 

Sixty-eighth session 

46th plenary meeting 

Thursday, 7 November 2013, 10 a.m. 

New York 

The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m.

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Agenda items 29 and 123

Report of the Security Council

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

The President: Today, we are here to discuss an issue that is important to each and every Member State, namely, the question of Security Council reform. Knowing well the interests and concerns that we all share in the singular goal of making progress on that important question, I am pleased to welcome you to this debate.

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Mr. Liu Jieyi (China), President of the Security Council (spoke in Chinese): First of all, I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on behalf of all the members of the Security Council, on your election as President of the General Assembly. I thank you for arranging today’s meeting.

As the President of the Security Council for the month of November, it is my honour to introduce the annual report of the Security Council, contained in document A/68/2. The report covers the period from 1 August 2012 through 31 July 2013.

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The Council also made great efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East. Over the past year, the Council held monthly discussions on the Israeli-Palestinian issue and supported the efforts of the parties involved to promote the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and advance the Middle East peace process.  …

Mr. Oh Joon (Republic of Korea):  …

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Another continuing issue for the Security Council is the process aimed at achieving peace between Israel and Palestine. The Republic of Korea supports a two-State solution, which envisages both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples living side by side in peace and security. We hope that the two sides remain firmly committed and reach an agreement within the agreed time frame.

On the Palestinian issue, the Council plays a peripheral but very significant role. The Council, through its debates, keeps the spotlight on the Middle East. We sincerely hope that the negotiations between Palestine and Israel, renewed with the help of the United States, will lead to a genuine and result-oriented peace process.

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 U-506. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a consolidated corrigendum.