Pakistan calls on United Nations Security Council to hold Israel accountable

Pakistan has called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to hold Israel accountable for its continued defiance of international efforts to bring about a just settlement of the Middle East dispute. “Flying in the face of the international
community’s will, Israel continues to implement policies in defiance of international law, and work towards undermining the basis of the two-state solution,” Ambassador Raza Bashir Tarar, acting Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, told the Security
Council.

“Its (Israel’s) efforts to redraw the map of Palestine through continuation of illegal settlement activity, continued persecution of Palestinians and reluctance to accept the 1967 borders as the basis for negotiations, is taking
the region to a state akin to a powder keg,” he said in a debate on the Middle East situation.

“We reiterate that continued inaction by the international community is not an option.” The Pakistani envoy supported Palestinians’ right to self-determination, as well as the creation of an independent fact-finding mission in
the ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’, including East Jerusalem.

He noted that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s February visit to the region was a “timely initiative” that would help re-focus international attention on the festering dispute. Tarar strongly condemned the April 4 announcement of
new tenders for over 1,100 Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem. These actions represent major roadblocks to peace, he said.

The Middle East diplomatic quartet – comprising the UN, European Union (EU), Russia and the United States – had reaffirmed its commitment to all elements of its road map, but he said it was disconcerting that its statement focused
more on the financial viability of the Palestinian Authority than on settlements as a basis for starting negotiations.

For its part, the Security Council should help create the conditions for restarting the peace process, the Pakistani envoy said and hold Israel accountable for its defiance. Tarar pointed out that more than 4,700 Palestinians languished
in Israeli prisons and the international community should force the occupying Power to amend its ways.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=20143

Posted by Hamza Jahangir on Apr 24 2012. Filed under Pakistan, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry