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

Official Records

General Assembly

Fifty-eighth session

31st plenary meeting

Tuesday, 14 October 2003, 3 p.m.

New York

    In the absence of the President, Mr. Andrianarivelo-Razafy (Madagascar), Vice-President, took the Chair.

    The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m.

 Agenda item 56 (continued )

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

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  Mr. Al-Shamsi (United Arab Emirates) (spoke in Arabic): …

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  The United Arab Emirates is deeply concerned at the continued failure of the Council to carry out its mandate and responsibilities with respect to the tensions in the Middle East, especially in relation to the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people. Israel, the occupying State, continues to violate international law and to show contempt for all relevant resolutions of the United Nations concerning the conflict in the area.

  The latest of those offences was its violation of Syrian sovereignty on 5 October, in an act of aggression that was deplored by the international community, which considered it a flagrant violation of international legality and of the Charter of the United Nations. Nevertheless, the Security Council took no action against Israel — because of the position taken by certain influential permanent Council members — which implies tacit encouragement to Israel. We hope that Israel will not interpret this as encouragement to encroach on the sovereignty of other States with impunity and that the situation will be redressed so that we can avoid sending a message to other States that such aggression and violations are permitted.

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 Mr. Hachani (Tunisia) (spoke in French): …

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  Turning to the issue of substance, the report of the Security Council reveals the fact that the Council has not merely reacted to threats to international and regional peace and security; it has also acted directly, resolutely and forcefully to address a great number of conflicts in Africa. However, the Council’s efforts have fallen short of our expectation vis-à-vis the Middle East. The Council’s inability to become more involved in resolving the Palestinian issue poses a serious threat to the region and to the authority of the Security Council.

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 Mr. Mra (Myanmar): …

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  My delegation is pleased to observe that the Security Council has taken a number of initiatives in introducing reforms into its working methods. The holding of frequent public meetings and wrap-up sessions and the issuing of press releases containing all statements by the President of the Council on behalf of its members show a growing trend towards transparency. The report did not lose focus in dealing with priority issues such as Iraq, the Middle East, Afghanistan and Africa. However, there have been comments that an analytical report would serve a more useful purpose than a merely descriptive report.

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 Mr. Taha (Sudan) (spoke in Arabic ): …

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  Lastly, we underscore the need to achieve balance in the relationship between the General Assembly, the principal body in our Organization, and the Security Council, its executive arm, in an effort to strengthen cooperation between the two. That should be done so that they can truly reflect the will of the international community and so as to put an end to issues that the Council failed in dealing with, and particularly to put an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian and Arab territories and to resolve the whole Middle East situation.

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  The meeting rose at 6.05 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.