{"id":176394,"date":"1997-08-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T20:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=176394"},"modified":"2019-03-11T20:19:02","modified_gmt":"2019-03-11T20:19:02","slug":"auto-insert-176394","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-176394\/","title":{"rendered":"Situation in the OPT &#8211; Letter from Palestine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>QUESTION OF PALESTINE<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE ISRAELI PRACTICES<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>AFFECTING THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND OTHER<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong>ARABS OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong><u>Letter dated 4 August 1997 from the Permanent Observer of<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong><u>Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><strong><u>Secretary-General<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\" style=\"white-space:pre; font-size:smaller\">\t<\/span>I have been instructed to bring the following to your immediate attention.&nbsp;&nbsp;Israel, the occupying Power, has been imposing a land and sea blockade on the Palestinian territory.&nbsp;&nbsp;It has blocked its borders with the Palestinian territory and, through the use of force, has blocked the borders between the Palestinian territory and Egypt and Jordan and has prevented the use of the sea of Gaza by Palestinian boats.&nbsp;&nbsp;In addition, the Israeli occupation army has imposed a siege on Palestinian cities and villages in the West Bank, effectively isolating them from each other, confining the movement of persons and preventing the transport of goods.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\" style=\"white-space:pre; font-size:smaller\">\t<\/span>The above actions and measures are causing all forms of suffering to the Palestinian people, including shortages of food and medical supplies and total economic destruction.&nbsp;&nbsp;Those actions and measures constitute an act of aggression by Israel against the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\" style=\"white-space:pre; font-size:smaller\">\t<\/span>Furthermore, the Israeli Government has taken several other hostile measures, including blocking the transfer of important amounts of funds belonging to the Palestinian Authority and even issuing an arrest warrant against the head of the Palestinian police force.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Government has also threatened military operations in the areas under the Palestinian Authority.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\" style=\"white-space:pre; font-size:smaller\">\t<\/span>All of the above come in addition to the continuation of illegal settler colonialism against all relevant United Nations resolutions, including the resolutions recently overwhelmingly adopted by the General Assembly at its tenth emergency special session, as well as in violation of the agreements reached between the two sides.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\" style=\"white-space:pre; font-size:smaller\">\t<\/span>The Israeli Government claims that the actions and measures mentioned above are being taken in response to the bombings of 30 July 1997 in West Jerusalem, which the Palestinian side unequivocally condemned.&nbsp;&nbsp;Obviously, however, the Israeli actions and measures are directed against the Palestinian people as a whole, as well as against the Palestinian Authority.&nbsp;&nbsp;These actions represent an unprecedented form of collective punishment and they do not serve, and indeed run contrary to, the purpose of fighting violence and extremism.&nbsp;&nbsp;We are increasingly convinced that these actions and measures are politically motivated and that the Government of Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to pre-empt any possible progress in the peace process and perhaps destroy it altogether.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\" style=\"white-space:pre; font-size:smaller\">\t<\/span>The Israeli act of aggression and all other illegal Israeli actions and measures require action by the international community, and specifically by the Security Council, with the aim of bringing an immediate end to those actions and measures and reversing their destructive and dangerous impact.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\" style=\"white-space:pre; font-size:smaller\">\t<\/span>I should be grateful if you would arrange to have the text of this letter distributed as a document of the General Assembly, under items 36, 37 and 87 of the provisional agenda.<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:right;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">(<u>Signed<\/u>)&nbsp;&nbsp;Nasser AL-KIDWA<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:right;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">Permanent Observer of Palestine<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:right;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">to the United Nations&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">&#8212;&#8211;<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\">________________<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:left;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\" style=\"white-space:pre; font-size:smaller\">\t<\/span>&nbsp;*A\/52\/150.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div style=\"color:#000000;text-align:center;font-size:11pt;font-family:Times New Roman, serif;\">\n<p style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;\"><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\" style=\"white-space:pre; font-size:smaller\">\t<\/span>** An identical letter addressed to the President of the Security Council has been issued as document S\/1997\/609.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 Letter dated 4 August 1997 from the Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General I have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-176394\/\"> [&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[],"document-category":[2841],"document-source":[1365],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[6156,1769,5358,1741,1857],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-176394","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","document-category-letter","document-source-general-assembly","document-subject-agenda-item","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-ClosuresCurfewsBlockades","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-incidents","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/176394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/176394\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=176394"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=176394"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=176394"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=176394"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=176394"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=176394"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=176394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}