Palestinian women – SecCo verbatim record (excerpts)

Provisional

Security Council

Fifty-seventh year 

4589 th meeting

Thursday, 25 July 2002, 10.30 a.m.

New York

Agenda

Women, peace and security.

    The meeting was called to order at 10.40 a.m.

Adoption of the agenda

 The agenda was adopted. 

Women, peace and security

/…

 Mr. Mekdad (Syrian Arab Republic) (spoke in Arabic) : …

/…

  Here I should like to remind the international community of the status of women in the Syrian Arab Republic, in Palestine and in Lebanon and of their suffering as a result of foreign occupation. Israel’s practices — oppression, killing, destruction, torture and displacement — against Arab women represent a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, of basic human rights and of all objectives set out by the United Nations in this field.

  Arab women in the occupied Syrian Golan and in the occupied Palestinian territories live under tragic and inhumane circumstances. They do not enjoy even a minimum level of protection, health care, employment or education, in addition to being denied their basic human rights.

  Under such circumstances, the status of Arab women, who suffer from the oppression of occupation and the inhumane practices carried out by the occupying forces, will not improve unless those practices come to an end. Those practices run counter to everything we heard in the statements made so far this morning. Furthermore, the establishment of a just and comprehensive peace would help Arab women to continue their struggle against poverty and all forms of violence.

  Here we would like to draw attention to the fact that many of the victims of the Israeli massacre in the Gaza Strip two days ago were women and children.

/…

 Mr. Mahbubani (Singapore): …

/…

  My next question is to Ms. King and Ms. Heyzer. One of the points made in these discussions about the role of women is that women actually can and do make a difference when they are involved in delivering peace. For example, I understand that President Clinton said in July, after the Camp David talks, that “If we had women at Camp David, we would have an agreement.”

  We also know that when they are involved in peace, women actually make a difference in some areas. I have been given the example of something called Jerusalem Link, a federation of Palestinian and Israeli women’s groups. In 2000 apparently its platform served as a blueprint for negotiations over the final status of Jerusalem during the Oslo process. Of course, we all know how difficult the Jerusalem issue is.

/…

  Mr. Mbanefo (Nigeria): …

/…

  The important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building cannot be overemphasized. Women played a significant role in the peace process in Afghanistan, especially during elections to the Loya Jirga. In West Africa, the Mano River Women’s Peace Network continues to make important contributions to the peace process within the Union. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, we are aware of the gender issues being negotiated by women in the inter-Congolese dialogue. We also note and commend the efforts of Palestinian and Israeli women in the Arias-formula meeting on the situation in the Middle East, in the context of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). Nigeria salutes the efforts of these women.

/…

The meeting was suspended at 1.15 p.m.

This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the interpretation of speeches delivered in the other languages. The final text will be printed in the Official Records of the Security Council . 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-178.