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Israel Rejecting Idea Of U.N. Protection Force
UNITED NATIONS, March 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Rejecting the idea of a U.N. protection force for the Palestinian territories, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres urged the Security Council on Wednesday not to be "one-sided".
Peres's comments come after members of the Council told Peres on Wednesday that almost all of them favored sending U.N. observers to the Palestinian territories
"I recommend to the Security Council not to be one-sided in a process that needs the two sides," he told reporters.
Peres had just emerged from a two-hour private meeting with council members, who then began talks behind closed doors with the Palestinian observer to the United Nations, Nasser Al-Kidwa.
Al-Kidwa earlier said the council had agreed to hold a formal debate on Thursday, when he hoped it would approve a resolution for "a U.N. presence" in the Palestinian territories.
He told reporters that "the Israeli campaign of oppression" had not stopped in spite of a council resolution, adopted on October 7th, which condemned "the excessive use of force" against Palestinian civilians.
At the time, three Israelis and 85 Palestinians had been killed in clashes that erupted in late September. The death toll has since risen to 437, most of them Palestinians.
The Council president, Volodymyr Yel'chenko, Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters that "there is no unanimity in the Security Council" on the proposed force.
But, he said, "Almost all members delivered a very strong message to [Peres] that they are in favor of it."
He said there were "many details to be discussed" and added "there is a role for the secretary general [Kofi Annan] to play, consulting the parties."
Yel'chenko said that Peres's schedule would not permit him to take part in Thursday's debate.
One council member, however, said that Al-Kidwa's request for a protection force was a non-starter.
"You would need thousands if not tens of thousands of men, and no-one is going to send troops to protect Palestinians from the Israeli army," he told reporters.
He noted, moreover, that the United States would veto any council resolution that did not meet with Israel's approval, a belief supported by Washington's acting Ambassador to the U.N., James Cunningham, who echoes the Israeli view on the matter.
"We don't think it's a good idea to pursue a path that isn't supported by both parties. The object is to get both of them back together and working together in a way that they can mutually agree, not to get into games of pushing one side or the other," CNN quoted Cunningham as saying.
The United States abstained on the 14-0 vote in favor of the October 7th resolution, which it called "one-sided" and "at variance with the totality of the facts."
The council member said that he and several of his colleagues were in favor of sending unarmed U.N. observers with video cameras to the territories, adding that they could have a calming influence.
But he said the council would not do so without the green light from Israel.
Peres politely but caustically told a reporter that he had reminded the council that "the West Bank and Gaza are not short of cameras."
Unfortunately, he said, television cameras incited violence.
He asserted that the Israeli army had intercepted a radio message in which a Palestinian commander had told youths under his orders: "Don't start throwing stones yet, CNN are stuck in a traffic jam."
Peres said Israel was ready to resume negotiations immediately with the Palestinians, but said: "You cannot shoot and negotiate at the same time. Shooting and talking are like fire and water. They do not go together."
Peres is due in Washington on Friday to prepare a visit to the U.S. capital next week by the new Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, who took office a week ago.
Sharon is expected to visit U.N. headquarters on March 20th or 21st to confer with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who will by then have returned from a visit he is making to south Asia.
The council member said that this suggested that Sharon wanted "a positive relationship with the United Nations," but Al-Kidwa retorted that little could be expected from the new government.
He described Peres as "a relatively moderate man" but said the Sharon government, as a whole, was "not reflective" of the foreign minister's views.
"The dilemma is whether the government will be influenced by Mr. Peres or whether Mr. Peres will provide a cover for the government," Al-Kidwa said, adding that, "the situation initially does not look promising."
Originally, immediately after the violence broke out in September, Israel said it was open to the idea of a U.S.-led investigation in the region. The Palestinians wanted U.N. involvement, but agreed to a U.S.-led fact-finding commission appointed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
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