19 November 2003
U.N. Security Council Reaffirms Endorsement of Mideast Roadmap
Negroponte: Roadmap way to realize goal of two states
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- The Security Council November 19 unanimously adopted a resolution endorsing the roadmap as the way to settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and called on the two parties to fulfill their obligations under the plan in cooperation with the Quartet on the Middle East.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said that the United States supported the resolution, one of a very few Mideast resolutions that have received U.S. support in the past few years, because "it calls on parties to fulfill their obligations under the Roadmap and in cooperation with the Quartet." [The Quartet is the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, working together in support of the Middle East peace process.]
"We remain fully committed to the vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security as outlined by President Bush," Negroponte said. "The roadmap is the way to realize this vision."
Speaking with journalists after the vote, the U.S. ambassador emphasized the need to end terror in the region and to have direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.
"The roadmap is a framework through which the parties can pursue a settlement. The roadmap is the way to go. It lays out a framework; it charts a course. But this does require the implementation of the parties themselves," he said. "In the end (Security Council resolutions) 242, 338 ... recognize that the ultimate land for peace and a peaceful settlement in the Middle East has got to be negotiated between the parties. It cannot be imposed."
"There's got to be direct negotiations between the parties. We've got to have progress on the ground. There has got to be an end to terrorism. The conditions for peaceful settlement of the dispute have got to be created and the parties themselves must engage in negotiations going forward," Negroponte said.
The resolution, originally introduced by Russia, welcomes and encourages the diplomatic efforts of the Quartet. It endorses the roadmap and calls on the parties "to fulfill their obligations under the roadmap in cooperation with the Quartet and to achieve the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security."
U.N. Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast briefed the council on the situation before the vote, saying that the past month has been one of relative quiet that has been met not with positive steps but with inaction.
"Everyone has waited for others to act," Prendergast said. "The government of Israel waited for the Palestinian Authority to form an empowered government and for terrorism to end. The Palestinian Authority waited for Israel to halt military operations and take steps to ease the closures that have so deeply damaged Palestinian life, for the international community to lead the parties toward peace, and for its own political wrangling to end."
The international community, he said, "waited for the parties to make progress on their own, despite the accumulation over the years of compelling evidence that they are incapable of making peace without international intervention."
Calling for an end to the "period of inertia, excuses and conditionality," Prendergast said that "it is neither worthwhile nor constructive to spend time on analyzing who has what authority in the Palestinian government or on speculating as to the seriousness of the Israeli government's commitment to the process. Let us rather take this opportunity to judge the parties by their actions."
"These actions and the readiness of the international community to play its part will speak louder than any words," he said.
The undersecretary general said that even without face-to-face negotiations, there is much Israelis and Palestinians can do to meet their Roadmap obligations.
The Palestinian Authority must confront and rein in the militant groups that carry out terrorist attacks on Israelis, he said. "Performance, not lines of authority, should be the basis on which the Palestinian Authority is judged," he said.
Israel should take immediate steps to build confidence such as easing closures, removing settlement outposts, freezing settlement activity, and halting construction of its so-called security fence on the West Bank, Prendergast said. "Bolder steps, such as evacuating settlements in the Gaza Strip, might be necessary if there is to be a renewal of hope and confidence and the process is to be put back on track. Israel, too ... should be judged on its performance."
The humanitarian situation in the West Bank and Gaza continues to worsen because of both the Israeli security measures and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency's lack of funds, he said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2003&m=November&x=20031119171853ndyblehs0.6260645&t=usinfo/wf-latest.html
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