On
Jerusalem After Trump Speech, Haley Speaks,
Here, UN
Guterres Took
No
Questions
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Periscope,
Photos
UNITED NATIONS,
December 6 -- UN senior
administration officials
confirmed to the Press at 5:30
pm on December 5 that
President Trump would on
December 6 not only recognize
Jerusalem as Israel's capital
but also order the US State
Department to act to move its
embassy there. On December 6
in front of the UN Security
Council chamber Ambassador
Llorenti Soliz of Council
member Bolivia said that if
Trump makes the announcement,
at 1 pm, he will ask for an
open Security Council meeting.
It's now said that might be
Friday afternoon. Inner City
Press Periscope video here.
After Trump spoke, Nikki Haley
issued this: "For twenty-two
years, there has been an
overwhelming bipartisan
consensus in favor of moving
the U.S. embassy in Israel to
its rightful place in the
Israeli capital city of
Jerusalem. Today, the
President took a courageous
and historic step that was
long overdue. Across the
globe, America has its embassy
in the capital city of the
host country. Israel will now
be no different. It is the
just and right thing to do?"
Earlier at the stakeout they
started setting up for a
belated media availability by
UN Secretary General Antonio
Guterres, less than an hour
after he excluded the Press
from a ceremony always Open
Press in the past, amid the
multiple scandals already
surrounding his
administration. Then just
before noon they canceled the
UN's daily noon press briefing
on all other topics, from
North Korea to Yemen to
Cameroon, in order to promote
Guterres' stakeout at 1:30
pm. But when Guterres
and his entourage - minus
Katrin Hett in North Korea and
Alison Smale God knows where
-- showed up, Spokesman
Dujarric said, "No questions."
This is a new low. Here's
Guterres' statement: "From day
one as Secretary-General of
the United Nations, I have
consistently spoken out
against any unilateral
measures that would jeopardize
the prospect of peace for
Israelis and Palestinians.
Jerusalem is a final status
issue that must be resolved
through direct negotiations
between the two parties on the
basis of the relevant Security
Council and General Assembly
resolutions, taking into
account the legitimate
concerns of both the
Palestinian and the Israeli
sides. I understand the deep
attachment that Jerusalem
holds in the hearts of so many
people. It has been so for
centuries and it will always
be. In this moment of great
anxiety, I want to make it
clear : there is no
alternative to the two-state
solution. There is no Plan B.
It is only by realizing the
vision of two states living
side-by-side in peace,
security and mutual
recognition, with Jerusalem as
the capital of Israel and
Palestine, and all final
status issues resolved
permanently through
negotiations, that the
legitimate aspirations of both
peoples will be
achieved. For my part as
the United Nations
Secretary-General, I will do
everything in my power to
support the Israeli and
Palestinian leaders to return
to meaningful negotiations and
to realize this vision of a
lasting peace for both
people." From the UN's
December 5 noon briefing, by
Guterres' holdover spokesman
Stephane Dujarric: "on
Jerusalem, I mean, like you we
have seen the press
reports. I'm not aware
of any direct communication
between the US and the
Secretariat on this particular
issue here in New York.
We obviously await to see an
official announcement." We'll
see what happens on December
6, after Guterres swears in
his censor in chief Alison
Smale, who has upheld without
even attempting to defend the
nearly two year restrictions
on the investigative Press
which most aggressively covers
the UN, in favor of n0 show,
no question Egypt state media
Akhbar al Yom. The UN is not
only corrupt but also
disgusting. Back on March 22
when Palestine's Permanent
Observer Riyad Mansour came to
the UN Security Council
stakeout after a meeting with
UN Secretary General Antonio
Guterres, he said it was a
good meeting but that it
remains unclear if Guterres'
report on Israeli settlements
on March 24 will be in writing
or merely oral. On the
choreographed withdrawal of
the ESCWA report on the topic,
a question was not answered,
but Mansour said he was going
to meet the Security Council
president but the press could
wait for a read-out in an
hour. Periscope video here.
Some media were blocked from
following Mansour down the
second floor hallway and
complained; for more than a
year, following trying to
cover the UN Ng Lap Seng
bribery scandal in the UN
Press Briefing Room, Inner
City Press has been banned
from that second floor hall,
following or not. This remains
the case in December 2017...
***
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
Past
(and future?) UN Office: S-303, UN, NY 10017 USA
For now: Box 20047,
Dag Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other,
earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in
the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright
2006-2017 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
for
|