UNifeed: UN / MIDDLE EAST

UN / MIDDLE EAST

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry announces that the UN has agreed with the Israeli and Turkish governments to "take possession of and responsibility for" the humanitarian cargo confiscated by Israel in international waters. UNTV

Duration:02:31Date:15 June 2010

Categories:

United Nations Television, POLITICAL AND LEGAL QUESTIONS, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, MAINTENANCE OF PEACE AND SECURITY, ISRAEL, TERRITORIES OCCUPIED BY ISRAEL

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Full Script

STORY:  UN / MIDDLE EAST
SOURCE: UNTV
TRT: 2.31
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 15 JUNE 2010, NEW YORK CITY/ FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior UN building

15 JUNE, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Wide shot, Security Council
3.	Med shot, delegates
4.	SOUNDBITE (English) Robert H. Serry, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process:
“The United Nations has obtained the consent of the cargo owners of the three Turkish registered vessels to take possession of and responsibility for the entire cargo and ensure its timely distribution in Gaza for humanitarian purposes determined by the United Nations. The government of Israel has agreed to release the entire cargo to the United Nations in Gaza, again on the understanding that it is for the United Nations to determine its appropriate humanitarian use in Gaza.”
5.	Med shot, delegates
6.	SOUNDBITE (English) Robert H. Serry, United NationsSpecial Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process:
“The flotilla crisis is the latest symptom of a failed policy. As the Secretary-General has repeatedly stated, the situation in Gaza is unsustainable and the current policy is unacceptable and counterproductive and requires a different and more positive strategy. The closure and blockade of the Gaza Strip needs to come to an end. There is now a welcome international consensus on Gaza. It is fully agreed by the Quartet that there must be a fundamental change to the situation.”
7.	Zoom out, Security Council
8.	Wide shot, Serry walks to the stakeout microphone
9.	SOUNDBITE (English) Robert H. Serry, United NationsSpecial Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process:
“The Secretary-General has noted the Israeli announcements and he thinks that a thorough national Israeli investigation, also in the presence of two international observers can be important, but he believes that it is not incompatible with what he has been proposing, which is an international panel to look into the aspects of what happened and that in fact both can be compatible and go a long way in addressing what the Council has been asking for.”
10.	Med shot, Serry walks away
11.	Med shot, cameras
12.	Wide shot, Mansour walks to the stakeout microphone
13.	 SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Ambassador, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations:
“We are aware of this global consensus demanding an immediate lift of the blockade against our people in Gaza, and we believe that there are serious efforts by many parties - including the Palestinian leadership - to put an end to this immoral, inhuman and illegal blockade against our people in Gaza.”
14.	Wide shot, Mansour walks away
 
STORYLINE:

A top United Nations official today (15 June) stressed the need for a fundamental change in the situation in Gaza, while announcing that the UN is ready, on an exceptional basis, to accept responsibility for the cargo of the three Turkish-registered vessels and ensure its distribution in Gaza for humanitarian purposes.

United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry in his briefing to the Security Council said that the UN has obtained the consent of the cargo owners as well as the agreement of the government of Israel “to take possession of and responsibility for” the confiscated cargo.

The 31 May incident in which Israel raided a six-ship convoy in international waters that was carrying humanitarian goods and activists and heading for Gaza resulted in the deaths of nine civilians and the wounding of at least 30 others.

Serry indicated that the flotilla crisis “is the latest symptom of a failed policy” adding that the current policy is “unacceptable and counterproductive and requires a different and more positive strategy”. He stressed that the closure and blockade of the Gaza Strip “needs to come to an end” and that there is now a “welcome international consensus” and that it is fully agreed by the diplomatic Quartet – comprising the UN, European Union, Russia and the United States – that “there must be a fundamental change to the situation.”

He made clear that Israel should therefore move from the current policy, where only about 116 items are approved to enter Gaza, to a policy in which all goods and materials are able to enter Gaza unless there is a legitimate security rationale against it.

The Dutch diplomat said in remarks to reporters later in the day that efforts have focused on trying to look forward and trying to turn this crisis into an opportunity to really start to address the manifold issues confronting Gaza.

He noted that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is aware of Israeli plans for a “thorough national Israeli investigation” which he said “is not incompatible” whit Ban’s proposal for an international panel to look into the incident.

Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour talking to reporters recognized that there is now a “global consensus” demanding a lift of the blockade and said that “there are serious efforts” by many parties “to put an end to this immoral, inhuman and illegal blockade against our people in Gaza.”

Israel imposed the blockade on Gaza what it called security reasons after Hamas, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, ousted the Fatah movement in the Strip in 2007.

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