22 June 2003
Quartet Members Stress Need to Stop Palestinian Terrorism
(Powell, Solana say burden belongs on Hamas, other groups) (3050)
Secretary of State Colin Powell and European Union High Representative
Javier Solana say that rather than looking to blame the Israeli
government or the Palestinian Authority for failing to implement
President Bush's roadmap for peace, the ones who must be blamed are
the Palestinian terrorist groups who continue to attack Israelis.
"We should put the burden where it belongs on terrorist organizations,
organizations such as Hamas," Powell said in a media briefing by the
Quartet June 22 in Jordan. "We can put blame elsewhere, we can talk
about what the Israelis ought to be doing, what the Palestinian
Authority ought to be doing, but it begins with putting the blame
first and foremost on organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic
Jihad and others, which continue to conduct terrorist attacks,
requiring response from the Israeli side and keeping the day further
away when the Palestinian people can find peace and security," Powell
said. He added that the Quartet members had discussed how to help the
Palestinian Authority give its people the kinds of social services
they need, and mentioned that the United States has pledged an
additional $50 million for such purposes.
Solana, replying immediately after Powell, said, "I think that what
Secretary Powell has said is correct."
Other members of the Quartet at the briefing, including U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan and Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, also
voiced their opinions. Annan gave the opening remarks, beginning by
summarizing the Quartet's formal statement, and then adding his view
that "the principle of parallelism should be maintained. We must
address security, humanitarian and political issues at the same time,"
Annan said.
Papandreou, speaking as a European member of the Quartet, said "We are
saying that we are not going to allow this process to be undermined
and that those who do want to undermine it are trying to undermine the
political will of the international community. We are acting together,
there is a commitment to the roadmap, a commitment to the vision of
two states, a viable Palestinian state and a safe Israel, and there is
a need for action now, for the implementation."
The transcript of the Quartet's briefing follows:
(begin transcript)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Dead Sea, Jordan)
JOINT PRESS BRIEFING
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell,
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan,
Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov,
European Union High Representative Javier Solana
and Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou
At the World Economic Forum
June 22, 2003
SECRETARY GENERAL ANNAN: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The
Quartet principals discussed today the situation in the Middle East
following the recent release of the roadmap and the beginning of its
implementation. We reviewed steps that should be taken by both sides
in order to move ahead as well as the support we in the international
community need to give to the renewed peace process.
I would like on behalf of the Quartet to welcome the (inaudible)
engagement of President Bush, which was demonstrated in Sharm
el-Sheikh and the Aqaba summits. His continued involvement is going to
be vital to the progress in the months ahead.
We commend Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister
Sharon for their statements of commitment of peace. We pledge our
support to the parties to carry out those commitments. It is essential
that a way be found to break the cycle of violence, counter-violence
and revenge.
I believe that there is agreement that moving along the roadmap's path
will require determination and courageous decisions on both sides. We
call on the Palestinian Authority to make all possible efforts to halt
immediately the activities of individuals and groups planning and
conducting terror attacks on Israelis.
However, it is obvious that the Palestinians cannot combat terrorism
and end violence without Israel's active cooperation. Israeli military
actions that result in the killing of Palestinian civilians do not
enhance security and undermine trust and prospects for cooperation.
Israel must make every possible effort to support the Palestinian
government and to take immediate actions to ease the plight of the
Palestinian people.
Finally, the Quartet reaffirmed its commitment to a just, lasting and
comprehensive peace based on Security Council Resolutions 242, 338 and
1397, and look forward to continuing to work together in close
consultation with the parties.
Now I would want to say a few words in my capacity as Secretary
General of the United Nations. I would wish to say that in keeping
with the approach laid out in the roadmap, the principle of
parallelism should be maintained. We must address security,
humanitarian and political issues at the same time. I call on the
Israelis not to use disproportionate force in civilian areas, carry
out house demolitions, or engage in extra judicial (inaudible). Unless
the Palestinians feel a positive change in their daily lives, feel a
change in their daily lives including movement restrictions, freezing
settlement activities and reestablishing economic activity, I fear
that there will not be sufficient public support to sustain peace.
Simultaneously, the Palestinian Authority must not spare any effort to
bring to an end all acts of terror against Israelis anywhere. Terror
is not only morally wrong, it is also counterproductive to our common
goal: the full end to the occupation that started in 1967, the
establishment of a Palestinian state, and the universal recognition of
the State of Israel and the State of Palestine, living together as
best of neighbors. Thank you very much.
QUESTION: Secretary Powell, what is your reaction to Israel's killing
of a senior Hamas leader last night, how much of a setback do you
regard it to the peace process, and did you regard this man as a
"ticking bomb?" Did you regard the man killed as a "ticking bomb?"
SECRETARY POWELL: I regret that once again we had an incident that
could be an impediment to progress. As I have said previously and in
my conversations with the Israeli side, we can understand the
situation of, quote, a ticking bomb, when there is immediate threat
that has to be dealt with, but anything that [is] sort of out of that
immediate definition has to be looked at in light of the consequences
it will have to our ability to move forward. I don't know all the
details on this incident, I've only seen press reports concerning it,
but it is a matter of concern.
Having said that, it's still important for us to remain committed to
moving forward and to remind the parties of the obligations that they
entered into in Aqaba. We can't allow ourselves to be stopped or allow
this process to come to an end because of these incidents. We have to
keep moving forward.
QUESTION: Thank you very much. Mr. Secretary General, you have
appealed umpteen times to the Israelis and called on them to stop this
assassination, what you call, you have legal word for it, but it's
downright, basically against international law to go with
assassination. Are you embarrassed that you are the Secretary General
of the United Nations, all your appeals have gone unheard? And Mr.
Secretary, the same thing: you say that you want, you say to the
Israelis stop it and they ignore you. Is this embarrassing for you,
and is it true that some say that the roadmap was written in a way so
that it is "unimplementable?"
SECRETARY GENERAL ANNAN: Let me say that I think it is important that
voices be heard when things are going on that we think should be
corrected. The fact that one raises one's voice to try and change
direction, to try and appeal to people to do the right thing, the fact
that it doesn't happen today does not mean that it's irrelevant and
one should not speak out. I think, even the fact of individuals or
third parties getting involved and saying, "Stop it, it's enough, the
people don't deserve this, your people have had enough," is an
important message. And I think we should keep raising our voices even
if it doesn't stop the fighting today or tomorrow.
SECRETARY POWELL: I agree with the Secretary. It's not a matter of
embarrassment. It's a matter of not allowing this kind of incident to
stop us. I regret it happened. I regret that we continue to find
ourselves trapped in this action and counteraction, provocation and
reaction to provocation. What we're trying to do with the roadmap is
to get both parties to start meeting their obligations and commitments
under the roadmap and move forward.
We've had a start on that. We have had a start on the side of Israel
by them taking down some of the outposts, by releasing prisoners. On
the Palestinian side, we've seen a new seriousness with respect to
doing something about terror and violence, the Prime Minister speaking
out clearly about the need to end the armed intifada.
We knew it wouldn't be easy, we knew it would not simply happen the
day after Aqaba. We're two and a half weeks in, we're committed to
moving forward, both sides are committed to moving forward because
what is the alternative to moving forward? Going back to where they
were? I don't think that's an alternative. I don't think that's an
alternative that the people of the region, be they Palestinian or
Israelis, can accept and will accept, and I hope that political
leaders in both sides will understand the need to take actions as we
move forward that will allow us to continue to move forward.
FOREIGN MINISTER PAPANDREOU: Could I just add the European voice,
Javier and I here? On this point, on this question that we are the
Quartet, standing here, saying that the international community is
united in working towards peace. We are saying that we are not going
to allow this process to be undermined and that those who do want to
undermine it are trying to undermine the political will of the
international community. We are acting together, there is a commitment
to the roadmap, a commitment to the vision of two states, a viable
Palestinian state and a safe Israel, and there is a need for action
now, for the implementation.
I would also say that the European Union very much has welcomed the
acceptance from both sides of the roadmap and very much has welcomed
President Bush's commitment, statements and actions on this issue.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you said you regret the killing of the Hamas
leader Kwasmeh, but if he's a terrorist, wouldn't it help to stop
terror, if Israel does the work, even to the Authority, the
Palestinian Authority, by killing Hamas leaders, and Mr. Papandreou I
would like to understand if the EU sees the difference between the
military of the Hamas, the military people or the political leaders of
the Hamas or they are all a part of the Hamas, and is of course
against the roadmap.
SECRETARY POWELL: I regret the continued loss of life. I regret the
fact that as we are moving into this new period, where a roadmap has
been put in place that shows us how we can get forward, how we can get
to the political objective that we all desire, we still see this kind
of activity in both sides, which is essentially the cycle that has
been going on for a long period of time, has led nowhere, has not led
to peace, it has not led to security, it has not led to the prospect
of two states living side by side in peace.
I regret that these incidents continue to happen, I can't get into the
details of whether this was a ticking bomb incident or somebody who
was responsible for ticking bombs. I don't know the details of the
incident. My regret is the fact that these incidents continue to
occur, and we continue to see this kind of loss of life, and we
continue to see that with this unending cycle, we're not getting
closer to the objective that we all have in mind and the objective
that was discussed and committed to at Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh. It's
the incident I regret. I would much rather [that] on a Sunday morning,
I wake up to find that we are moving forward and it was not necessary
to have this kind of activity on either side. That is my regret, and
we have to punch through this, we have to punch through this.
FOREIGN MINISTER PAPANDREOU: First of all, we have very much been
supporting Prime Minister Abu Mazen's efforts in getting a cease-fire
as a first step to a total disarmament demilitarization of these
groups, and we have in our statement yesterday from the Thessalonica
summit demanded that Hamas completely comply with this effort by Abu
Mazen and have a total ceasefire, and we have also said that our
Ministerial Council is urgently examining the whole issue of the
funding of Hamas.
QUESTION: There has been a lot of focus in recent weeks on dealing
with the security issue in Gaza in particular, the possibility of
turning over all of Gaza to the Palestinian Authority. How much of a
gamble is that at this point, if the Palestinian Authority is not able
to ensure security? Alternatively, should there be a focus on the
economic problems in the Gaza, should there be funding provided to the
Palestinian Authority so that they can start building hospitals,
providing college tuition and filling the role that Hamas now plays in
Gaza as a first step rather than putting so much of an emphasis to
have all the cards on the table at this point to have them prove
themselves on security, and I would be interested if all interested
part[ies] addressed it.
SECRETARY POWELL: We are anxious to see the security arrangements
reach where the Palestinian Authority can take control of Gaza, and
the Israelis can remove their forces. That will immediately open up
Gaza for the kind of economic activity and humanitarian assistance
that you described, and it will also give the people of Gaza, I think,
hope that their situation is improving.
It doesn't mean that [there] will never therefore after that be an
attack or anything that happens in Gaza or coming out of Gaza against
Israel, nobody can make that guarantee and I think people understand
that there will always be a level of risk as long as there are people
who are committed to terrorism and committed to not seeing two states
living side by side in peace and that exists whether Gaza's under the
control of the Palestinians or the Israelis. But if Palestinians are
prepared to and have the capacity to take over security in Gaza, they
have tools that they can bring to it. It's their land and they know
that they're trying to end terror and violence in their land, working
with the Israelis, sharing of intelligence, sharing of information,
but there will still always be the risk.
We should put the burden where it belongs on terrorist organizations,
organizations such as Hamas. We can put blame elsewhere, we can talk
about what the Israelis ought to be doing, what the Palestinian
Authority ought to be doing, but it begins with putting the blame
first and foremost on organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic
Jihad and others, which continue to conduct terrorist attacks,
requiring response from the Israeli side and keeping the day further
away when the Palestinian people can find peace and security and we
can help them to the kind of life that you are describing for them and
so the burden goes to those organizations who conduct terrorist
attacks.
In our meetings, we did discuss how we can help them and the United
States is providing another $50 million to the effort that you're
familiar with and the Secretary General made an impassioned plea to
all of us to do what we could in our own capacities, in our
organizational capacities, to help these desperate people who are in
need. I [yield] to my colleagues.
HIGH REPRESENTATIVE SOLANA: I think that what Secretary Powell has
said is correct. The people in Gaza, they think, the Palestinians in
Gaza think they have the capability to take the full responsibility
for security but at the same time, you have the obligation and we have
the obligation to the international community as you as Europeans are
going to do it to have them to reconstruct their hospitals, schools,
etc. But those both phases should not be [in]compatible; you want to
give some hope, they have to have hope that they can control the
movement of their people, the security of their people, and at the
same time to have development in school, hospital, etc. and the
quality of life that unfortunately now is not the type of life that we
hope they will have in the future. So, both phases have to be done and
we're ready to go and help in both directions.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, just an analogy, what do you say about the
analogy between what happened in '93 -- this Gaza-Jericho first, and
what's happening today?
SECRETARY POWELL: I'm sorry I can't hear....
QUESTION: I will repeat the question, and the question was: what kind
of an analogy would you make between what's going on today in the
Palestinian territories and what was going on 10 years ago in 1993
with the Gaza-Jericho starting the Oslo process?
SECRETARY POWELL: I'm not dealing in analogies today, I'm dealing with
the situation that exists today, and the situation that exists today
is that we have a roadmap, we have plan to go forward, we have a
Palestinian Authority that is willing to take over responsibility in
Gaza and an Israeli Government that is prepared to transfer
responsibility to Gaza once a few security details are worked out, and
I hope that we will see that come to pass in the not too distant
future.
FOREIGN MINISTER PAPANDREOU: I want to say that in this historic
opportunity, we must take it and we here are determined to help.
FOREIGN MINISTER IVANOV: I agree with you.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
