Posted on 10/10/2003 12:26:15 PM PDT by anotherview
Last Update: 10/10/2003 21:06
Sec. Council postpones separation fence hearing to Tuesday
Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies
The UN Security Council on Friday agreed to a U.S. request to postpone to next Tuesday an open discussion on the separation fence Israel is building in the West Bank and around Jerusalem.
The decision was reached during a closed dicussion of Security Council members on the fence, which marked the first time the UN has addressed the issue.
All UN member states will have the right to speak at Wednesday's hearing.
During Friday's discussion, Syria presented a draft resolution condemning Israel.
The Palestinians warned Washington on Friday that the Middle East peace process would be doomed if a U.S. veto allows Israel to continue building the fence.
If Israel is allowed to continue construction, "this will mean the end of the two-state solution, and that will take us to either a more drastic and radical solution or perpetual conflict. It should be looked at that seriously," Palestinian UN envoy Nasser al-Kidwa said.
Al-Kidwa called for a UN Security Council vote on Tuesday on a draft resolution seeking to bar Israel from building the fence on Palestinian land and denouncing plans for more than 600 new homes in Israeli settlements.
After initial closed-door talks on the Palestinian request, diplomats said there was broad support in the 15-nation council for a resolution on the security barrier, although changes in the Palestinian draft were likely.
Most members feel the wall "is illegal, and they want to say something about it," Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya said.
But U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte suggested Washington would use its veto to kill the measure.
"We don't think that one-sided resolutions of this kind serve any useful purpose even though we also recognize that we have our own reservations about Israeli actions with respect to construction of the wall," Negroponte told reporters.
"We think that both sides should avoid actions to escalate the situation, and we have said we don't think that building this fence is consistent with the vision of a Palestinian state living side by side at peace with its neighbor Israel."
Negroponte has said a resolution would have to denounce, by name, the militant groups that have taken responsibility for suicide bombings in Israel and also condemn last Saturday's deadly attack in Haifa, Israel, to win U.S. backing.
"I don't see our Syrian colleagues rushing forth to propose resolutions in those regards and those are utterly and totally reprehensible acts," he said. Syria, a council member, has formally sponsored the Palestinian text.
Earlier, a government source in Washington also said that the the United States was expected to veto any resolution that may follow the Security Council discussions.
The request for the Security Council session was initiated by the Palestine Liberation Organization and was followed by an official request by the Arab member-states. The meeting was the first time the UN has addressed the fence issue.
Israel says the barrier - which consists of a sophisticated electronic fence in most areas and a concrete wall in specific locations - is needed to keep out suicide bombers who have killed hundreds of its citizens during the past three years of violence. Palestinians call the project a land grab.
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The Palestians don't have a country so they don't have any land. This resolution violates Israel's sovereignty.
There, I think I've got it now.
Security Council meets on (Israel's) security fence
We think that both sides should avoid actions to escalate the situation, and we have said we don't think that building this fence is consistent with the vision of a Palestinian state living side by side at peace with its neighbor Israel.
Ambassador John Negroponte
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Sure, its the fence thats caused all the trouble the last 50 years or so.
Okay, door number one : the "more drastic and radical solution."
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