Mideast situation/Palestine question – EU statement – Letter from France

Letter dated 10 October 2000 from the Permanent Representative of France

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

I have the honour to bring to your attention the statement issued on 3 October 2000 by the Presidency of the European Union on behalf of the European Union on the situation in Jerusalem and in the Territories (see annex).

I should be grateful if you would have the text of this letter and its annex circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 41, and of the Security Council.

(Signed) Jean-David Levitte

Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations

Annex to the letter dated 10 October 2000 from the Permanent Representative of France

to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

[Original: English and French]

Statement by the Presidency of the European Union on behalf of the

European Union on the situation in Jerusalem and in the Territories

On the fourth day of bloody clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, the European Union again appeals to those involved to see reason so that the violence stops.

It considers that the disproportionate recourse to force can only further aggravate the situation, increase the already particularly heavy toll of deaths and injuries and cause the prospect of peace to recede at a moment when it seemed that it would before long become a reality.

It is supporting the forming of an international commission to establish objectively what has actually happened over the past few days and is ready to make its contribution to the work of such a commission.

It remains convinced that a negotiated solution is the only way of satisfying the Israeli and Palestinian peoples’ aspirations to peace and security.