Press Briefing on the Occasion of the United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace

VIENNA, 28 June 2006 - UNIS Vienna held a press briefing today on the occasion of the United Nations International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace, being held in the Vienna International Centre on 27 and 28 June, convened by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The speakers were H.E. Ambassador Paul Badji, Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations (New York), and H.E. Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations (New York).  The briefing was moderated by Nasra Hassan, Director, UNIS.

Ambassador Badji introduced the work of the  Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, emphasizing that the Committee had always condemned disproportionate military strikes, incursions and extrajudicial assassinations by Israel.  In the last few weeks these had led to deaths of a large number of Palestinian civilians, including children. The Committee had also consistently condemned attacks by Palestinian militants targeting Israeli civilians, including acts of terrorism and rocket attacks. The need for assistance and solidarity to the Palestinian people was now more urgent than ever. Yesterday, the Meeting had looked at the current situation, which was very alarming. Many experts believed that the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem was reaching the level of humanitarian crisis, especially in the Gaza Strip, and worse was on the way. Today, the Meeting was looking at the challenges of the moment as far as the peace process is concerned, and international efforts in support of Israeli-Palestinian peace, including the role of the Quartet, of the United Nations, and contributions from the donor community and civil society.

Ambassador Mansour condemned the recent "blatant Israeli aggression" in Gaza. He demanded the immediate cessation of this operation and the withdrawal of the Israeli army to where they started this aggression from, ie. outside Gaza and for Israel to abide by its obligations under international law as an occupying power and behave accordingly. Ambassador Mansour said the Meeting was intentionally convened in Vienna, as Austria was currently chairing the European Union (EU) presidency, and the EU was a key player in the Quartet. "The EU is playing a very important role in advancing the peace process and we are hoping that this conference will be similar to the one in Cairo; a contribution to the effort of reviving the peace process and going back to negotiations  between the Palestinian side and the Israeli side," he added. Ambassador Mansour said that he expected a declaration to be adopted at the end of the meeting condemning the killing of the large number of Palestinian civilians, demanding from Israel that it stop such violations of international law, support the resumption of negotiations and also praise the efforts of President Abbas [Chairman of the Palestinian Authority] in calling for the resumption of negotiations and his efforts that culminated yesterday in the unification of the position of the different Palestinian political groups.

The briefing was followed by a question and answer session.

A media representative asked why the captured Israeli soldier had not been released, as the Palestinians, as well as the Committee were calling for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Why had the soldier been captured, since it was known that there would be an Israeli response? Was the kidnapping of the soldier not a "penalty-free-kick"?

Ambassador Mansour answered that the Israeli military mobilization around Gaza had begun before the kidnapping incident, in retaliation against rockets fired from Gaza into Israel. Israeli experts participating in the Meeting had themselves said that thousands of shells had been fired by the Israeli army into Gaza, a disproportionate response, illegal according to international law, stated Ambassador Mansour. Prime Minister Olmert was insisting on proceeding with unilateral action contrary to the wishes of the Israeli public, stated Ambassador Mansour. The other possible course was negotiation and trying to defuse the situation. President Abbas and his Cabinet were doing their utmost to convince those who had captured the soldier to treat him in accordance with international law and to secure his release.

In response to a question whether the release of the soldier would end the situation, Ambassador Mansour answered that one could not know for sure until one faced that situation.

In response to a question on how he interpreted the participation of representatives of the Israeli parliament in the Meeting, Ambassador Mansour answered that the Committee, in all its meetings, had put great effort into bringing representatives of both sides to attend. Sometimes Israel had participated in a limited way, sometimes not at all. Ambassador Mansour said he was very pleased that Ms. Colette Avital, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset (Labour), was participating in the Meeting.

In response to a question on the significance of the unification of the position of the different Palestinian parties, as announced on 27 June, Ambassador Mansour said it was very important to recognize the transformation in the position of political groups. It had taken Hamas 10 years to agree to participate in elections. Yesterday's accord was a significant step. Being in government was helping Hamas to speak in a language acceptable to the world. This should be supported, stated Ambassador Mansour.

The briefing was attended by media representatives including ORF Austrian television, Al Alam television, BBC Arabic Service, Egyptian Media Service, Okaz Daily (Saudi Arabia), WAFA press agency, and Kuwait News Agency, as well as NGO representatives. Following the briefing, bilateral interviews were arranged for Ambassador Badji and Ambassador Mansour with Al Alam television, and for Ambassador Mansour with Okaz daily.

Note: ORF television is scheduled to broadcast the press briefing in its main evening news on 27 June at 19:30 Vienna time, within the context of a report on the current situation in the Palestinian Territories and in Israel.