Annan tells General Assembly it can make "real difference" on Middle East
20 October - Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the General Assembly today that it "can make a real difference" in response to the recent crisis in the Middle East.
The Secretary-General addressed the General Assembly as it continued its emergency special session on illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The session, which had originally convened in April 1997 under the Assembly's "Uniting for peace" resolution, was resumed on Wednesday. With representatives of over 50 countries inscribed to speak during the debate on Friday afternoon, the Assembly was expected to vote on a draft resolution later in the evening.
Reporting on the agreements reached at the summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Mr. Annan said it was not yet certain whether normalcy would be restored. "We can only wait and hope," he said, noting that the next few days were vital. In the meantime, he recalled his statement at Sharm El-Sheikh that "words can inflame or soothe, and everyone needs a restoration of calm and quiet so as to create the best possible atmosphere for a resumption of peace talks."
Mr. Annan called the agreements reached at Sharm El-Sheikh a "vital fist step back from the brink and towards a resumption of the peace process." He stressed that the agreements should be faithfully implemented in their entirety by both sides. "Both sides need to demonstrate good faith - above all by their actions," he stressed, cautioning that "it is not going to be easy." Although it may take generations to heal the wounds, "we must move forward, painful though it is, so that the children and youth of today - angry and frustrated as they are - can have a better world to live in," he said.
Praying tribute to the "extraordinary efforts" of President Clinton in reaching the agreements, Mr. Annan said the parties had pledged to issue public statements calling for an end to the violence. They also agreed to take concrete measures to end the current confrontation, maintain calm and prevent a recurrence of recent events. It was also agreed that the United States would develop, with the Israelis and Palestinians and in consultation with the Secretary-General, a committee of fact-finding on recent events and how to prevent their recurrence. In addition, the parties agreed that in order to address the underlying roots of the conflict, they must resume their efforts to reach a permanent status agreement.
In the lead-up to the conclusion of the agreements, at times the gap between the two parties seemed "unbridgeably wide," Mr. Annan said. Despite this, he said that throughout, he believed that there would be an agreement. "For in the end, peace remains the only strategic option for Israel and Palestinians," he said. "The difficult question is: how long with the journey take, and how hard will be the road to peace?"
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