INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ENCOUNTER ON QUESTION OF PALESTINE, PARIS, 18 JUNE

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ENCOUNTER ON QUESTION OF PALESTINE, PARIS, 18 JUNE

(Received from a UN Information Officer.)

Afternoon Session

At the beginning of the afternoon meeting each of the morning panelists reacted to statements made in the morning session.

IBRAHIM DEGUENE KA (Senegal) stated that the Palestinians could not renounce the right of return. The modalities of implementation of this right were another matter. The Observer for Palestine stated that for the achievement of peace in the Middle East, Israel, not United Nations policies, had to change. He also recalled that settlement activities were illegal.

YULI TAMIR, accepting the explanation that the United Nations would try to bring more Israelis to meetings such as this Encounter, stated that overall better representation would allow for better dialogue. She urged that the United Nations put aside declaratory issues on international law and take the path of negotiations. She stressed that practical ways would have to be found to implement the rights of the Palestinian people while preserving the Jewish nature of Israel.

CLOVIS MAKSOUD questioned the idea of bending international law to achieve negotiated objectives. He also said that objectivity did not mean giving equal weight to aggression and resistance.

STEPHEN COHEN recalled that many years had passed without a solution in the Middle East, proving that the old approach was self-defeating. What was important was the outcome and reconciliation between the peoples.

In concluding the debate, SHASHI THAROOR said that international law and negotiations at the United Nations should be seen as two sides of the same coin. International law was developed by the General Assembly and the Security Council. The Secretary-General -- on the basis of international law and also of personal diplomacy, as well as the trust he had built among both parties -- was taking the path of negotiations and dialogue.  Mr. Tharoor then invited Enrico Macias, Messenger of Peace of the United Nations, to address the meeting.

Mr. MACIAS, noting that the peace process was in a deadlock, said that violence was not the solution. He also said that public opinion should look beyond a peace accord between Palestine and Israel, supporting Palestine with its reconstruction process and helping Israel to live in peace. He called for funds to be immediately pledged for the reconstruction of Palestine.

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