Threats to international peace and security – SecCo meeting – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Security Council
Sixty-second year
5615th meeting
Monday, 8 January 2007, 10 a.m.
New York  

Agenda

Threats to international peace and security

    The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m.

/…

Threats to international peace and security

/…

  Sir Emyr Jones Parry (United Kingdom): …

/…

  The year ahead promises to be no less challenging. We must ensure that international efforts intensify to bring an end to suffering for the people of Darfur. We must continue to tackle the threats of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The international community needs a comprehensive Middle East strategy. We must redouble our efforts to support those who want to achieve peace rather than to perpetuate turmoil in that region. At the core of that strategy will be the question of Israel and Palestine. This meeting is an opportunity to reflect on how the Council, in partnership with the Secretary-General and the Secretariat, as well as with other United Nations organs, regional bodies and international actors, can improve its capacity to meet those challenges.

/…

 Mr. Jenie (Indonesia): …

/…

  In the Middle East, peace remains far from a reality. The situation there will remain grim and protracted if the Israel-Palestine conflict is not resolved in a just and peaceful way. My delegation holds the view that the Israel-Palestine conflict is at the core of all problems in the region, and therefore believes that the Council should give high priority to resolving the conflict. Settling the Israel-Palestine conflict in a way acceptable to all parties will have a profound impact on the prospects for peace in the region.

  Reports of the recent decision of the Israeli Government to approve the building of a new settlement in the occupied West Bank, which is in contradiction to its commitment under the Road Map, and the continuing incursions and raids by the Israeli Defense Force into several West Bank cities and towns in the last few days are of deep concern to my delegation. We think that those manoeuvres are indeed against the spirit of the agreement between the Israeli Prime Minister and the President of the Palestinian Authority. The Security Council should respond to that development, as is consistent with its mandate and responsibility.

/…

 Mr. Kumalo (South Africa): …

/…

  In recent years, the Security Council has been too quick to threaten or authorize enforcement action in some cases, while being silent and inactive in others. For example, the Palestinian-Israeli issue is a legitimate agenda item for this Council. However, it has become quite noticeable how this Council has failed to act even in the face of the most shocking contraventions of international law.

  Instead, the Council has increasingly resorted to taking up issues that do not fall within its mandate. Often, the Council has resorted to Chapter VII of the Charter as an umbrella for addressing issues that may not necessarily pose a threat to international peace and security, when it could have opted for alternative provisions of the Charter to respond more appropriately, utilizing other provisions of the same Charter. Chapter VII should be invoked, but as a last resort.

/…

  The Secretary-General: …

/…

  Equally, I will strive to inject new momentum into our search for peace and stability in the Middle East. This means rededicating ourselves to the work of the Quartet in resolving differences between Israel and Palestine — differences which carry such a unique symbolic and emotional charge for people far beyond the physical boundaries of the conflict. It means supporting Lebanon in everything from its physical reconstruction to its quest — as yet incomplete — for a peaceful, democratic and fully independent future. And, in the wider reaches of the region, it means continuing our efforts to address the political and security challenges of Afghanistan and Iraq.

/…

 The meeting rose at 12.25 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-154A.