POLITICS: Palestinians to Revive Proposal for UN Force

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 2000 (IPS) - A proposal for a UN observer force to protect Palestinians in Israeli-occupied territories, which was rejected by the Security Council early this week, is expected to be revived next month.

Ambassador Nasser al-Kidwa, the Permanent Observer for Palestine, told reporters Wednesday that the proposal wasn’t dead by any means. “We have not given up yet,” he said.

Asked to comment on a statement made by US Ambassador Richard Holbrooke that Washington will not permit the creation of such a UN force unless the Israelis agree to it, he said: “It is a shameful thing to suggest”.

Al-Kidwa argued that there was no reason to seek Israeli consent because the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem are not under Israeli sovereignty. “The Israelis are the occupying power,” he contended.

The proposal, which was rejected by a divided Security Council on Monday, called for a UN Monitoring Force (UNMOF) of 2,000 unarmed military observers to be dispatched throughout the territories occupied by Israel since 1967.

The proposed force was to provide “safety and security for Palestinian civilians under Israeli occupation and ensure the freedom of movement of Palestinian persons and goods, as well as freedom of worship”.

Since late September, over 300 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied territories. The UN force was to have acted as a protection force.

Last month, following a trip to the occupied territories, even the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said she believed that every effort should be made to explore the feasibility of establishing an international monitoring presence to protect Palestinians.

On a request made by the Geneva-based UN Commission on Human Rights, Robinson spent about eight days both in the occupied territories and in Israel trying to get a clearer and more objective picture of the crisis in the region. She described the human rights situation in occupied territories as “bleak” because “there is no other word I can think that can be used at the moment.

“And I must say that I was to a very real extent, shocked and dismayed and even devastated by the impact of the present conflict in the occupied territories, in particular,” she said.

She also submitted to the General Assembly a very harsh report on the ongoing human rights abuses and called for an international observer force to monitor the situation in occupied territories.

On Monday, the proposal for a UN force was rejected because it received only eight of the 15 votes in the Council, one short of the nine needed for adoption.

The co-sponsors of the resolution were Bangladesh, Jamaica, Malaysia, Mali, Namibia, and Tunisia – all members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). China and Ukraine joined them in supporting the resolution.

The remaining seven countries in the Security Council – namely the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Argentina, Canada and the Netherlands – abstained at voting time.

The composition of the Security Council is expected to change in January, with five new non-permanent members through 2002, namely Colombia, Ireland, Mauritius, Norway and Singapore. They will replace the outgoing five members: Malaysia, Namibia, Argentina, Canada and the Netherlands.

With the impending change, even the voting pattern could possibly change next month when the proposal is re-introduced.

Al-Kidwa said the Israelis had claimed victory over the rejection of the proposal. “It is ludicrous to say that getting zero votes is a victory,” he noted. After the vote, Al-Kidwa said it was “a sad day for the Security Council”.

Most of the countries abstaining on the vote argued that it was not the “appropriate time” to create a UN force to protect Palestinians in view of the new round of talks between Israelis and Palestinians scheduled to take place in Washington next week.

“Let’s wait and see in the light of the situation in Washington and the situation in the ground,” Al-Kidwa said.

Last month Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that it was necessary for both parties to agree on the proposed UN force. “Since the Israelis will not co-operate, I don’t see how such a Force could be set up,” he warned.

At a press conference Tuesday, Annan was asked to confirm or deny reports that he had told Council members that the adoption of the draft resolution calling for a UN force would really undermine his peace efforts in the Middle East.

“Let me start by first reaffirming that the Security Council is the master of its own deliberations. They follow their own instructions and their own conscience,” he said.

Annan said he was in the Council last week and indicated to them that the private contacts between the Israelis and Palestinians seemed to be yielding results. “And that if they continued, we were likely to see a resumption of the peace talks.”

He said he also appealed to the Council that on such difficult issues as the Middle East, it should try to act together.

“And that it is usually when we stand together, and the Council acts unanimously, that we get results; and that a divisive Council on difficult issues does not always help the situation.”

“Then, of course, over the weekend, it was announced that the parties were going to Washington to meet, and the Council met and took its decision. I think they should take their own responsibilities,” he added.