Jerusalem/Settlements – Letter from Palestine

GENERAL ASSEMBLY SECURITY COUNCIL

Fifty-second session Fifty-second year

Agenda items 36, 37 and 87

QUESTION OF PALESTINE

THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE

  TO INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES

  AFFECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE

  PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND OTHER ARABS

  OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Identical letters dated 19 September 1997 from the Permanent  

Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the  

Secretary-General and to the President of the Security Council

Israel, the occupying Power, continues with its drive to colonize Occupied Arab East Jerusalem.  It has allowed illegal settlers to occupy a house in Ras al-Amud, a crowded Arab neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.  This represents another flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and many Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, including resolutions ES-10/2 of 25 April 1997 and ES-10/3 of 15 July 1997, adopted at the tenth emergency special session on illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  This action is also another serious blow to the imperiled peace process.

The Israeli action came after some internal haggling, with the obvious aim of reaching the least costly method to achieve the goal of the present Israeli Government.  The Israeli media have asserted that several ministers indeed knew in advance of the intention of the settlers.  Some asserted that the Prime Minister himself knew and that he had asked for the postponement of the action until after the departure of the United States Secretary of State from the region.

One of the antagonists in this matter is a United States citizen, Irving Moskowitz.  We informed you about some of his illegal actions in our letter of 20 August 1997.  in this regard, we must stress the personal responsibility for the violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which was emphasized in General Assembly resolution ES-10/3.

We stress also the duties of the international community, especially the Security Council, to take immediate action with the aim of reversing the Israeli action and bringing an end to their repeated violations.

I would be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of the present letter distributed as an official document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 36, 37 and 87, and of the Security Council.

                                             (Signed)  Dr. Nasser AL-KIDWA

                                                 Permanent Observer of Palestine

                                                      to the United Nations

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sett.pub.97