On
Jerusalem After Trump Speech, 8 UNSC
Members Request
Meeting, UN
Guterres Took
No Qs
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.
Inner City Press Periscope
video here.
Now this: "“In light of the
statement today by the
President of the United States
regarding the status of
Jerusalem, the delegations of
Bolivia, Egypt, France, Italy,
Senegal, Sweden, the UK, and
Uruguay kindly request the
Presidency to organize an
emergency meeting of the
Council, with a briefing by
the Secretary-General, to be
held in the Chamber before the
end of this week. On behalf of
the delegations of Bolivia,
Egypt, France, Italy, Senegal,
Sweden, the UK, and Uruguay."
After Trump spoke, Jordan's
State Minister for Media
Affairs Mohammad al-Momani,
said that "'this recognition
is legally invalid as it
enshrines the Israeli
occupation of the eastern part
of the city, which was
occupied by Israel in June
1967,' the minister said,
pointing out that the UN
Security Council resolution
No. 478 doesn't recognize the
Israeli Basic Law on Jerusalem
and calls on countries that
have established embassies in
Jerusalem to close them. He
added that all of Israel's
actions in Jerusalem, which
aim at changing its character
and legal status, including
its declaration as its
capital, are null and void, as
confirmed by relevant UN
Security Council resolutions,
in particular resolutions No.
465, 476 and 478. He indicated
that the Kingdom and Turkey
had agreed to hold an OIC
summit and foreign ministers'
meeting in Istanbul on
Wednesday to discuss the
issue." 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
|
,
