MIDDLE EAST: USUN LEADS WALK-OUT AFTER LIBYA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000394 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PTER KPAL KWBG KPKO UNSC SY IS LE LY SUBJECT: MIDDLE EAST: USUN LEADS WALK-OUT AFTER LIBYA COMPARES GAZA TO NAZI CAMPS REF: USUN 280 ¶1. (SBU) Summary. The UNSC held its monthly discussion on the Middle East on April 23. Following last month's rancorous debate (reftel),SC members agreed to a public briefing by the UN Secretariat, followed by closed consultations. DPA A/SYG Angela Kane briefed on recent attacks in Gaza and southern Israel, the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, continuing settlement expansion and barriers to movement in the West Bank, and the Friends of Lebanon statement adopted in Kuwait on April 22. Most Council members repeated standard positions criticizing Palestinian rocket and other attacks against Israel as well as Israel's "disproportionate" and "excessive" military operations in Gaza. They also criticized continuing Israeli settlement activity and lack of progress towards dismantling barriers to movement. France and Panama supported former President Carter's recent efforts. ¶2. (SBU) Summary, cont'd. At the end of the morning's consultations, Costa Rica and South Africa complained at length that the Council "just listened" to repeated briefings about a worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza but failed to take any action. Costa Rica then proposed a short UNSC press statement expressing concern about the humanitarian situation and the security situation, which the Council considering during an afternoon session. After Amb Wolff said the U.S. could not support a statement that did not address the terrorist rocket and other recent attacks, Libyan Polcouns Ibrahim al-Dabbashi angrily responded that the situation in Gaza was worse than in concentration camps of Nazi Germany. At this point, Amb Wolff walked-out of the consultations, and was followed by the French PR, Belgian PR, Costa Rican DPR, and British DPR. Dabbashi continued speaking, arguing that the core problem of the conflict is Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian lands, which he argued justified and explained rocket attacks and suicide bombs. Dabbashi reiterated his remarks to the press on April 24 and claimed they represented official Libyan Government policy. End summary. DPA Links Gaza Crisis to Terrorism -------------- ¶3. (SBU) DPA A/SYG Angela Kane briefed the Council in a public meeting followed by closed consultations April 23. Kane said that 69 Palestinians and six Israelis had been killed in the reporting period in Palestinian attacks and Israeli military operations. She reiterated the SYG's condemnation of rocket or other attacks against civilians or crossing points into Gaza as well as his condemnation of civilian casualties in IDF operations. Describing the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Kane noted that the attacks on the fuel depot at Nahal Oz and the Kerem Shalom crossing had caused the situation to worsen. Her report on the deterioration of the humanitarian situation included the fact that 15-20 percent of the population only had access to water for three-five hours every four days, a point later picked up by South African PermRep Kumalo who claimed this condition was worse than anything he had experienced as a child in Zululand under apartheid. ¶4. (SBU) Kane recalled Israel's intention to remove obstacles in the West Bank, but reported that of the 44 obstacles actually removed (out of the 61 Israel said it would remove), only 5 were significant obstacles to movement and the other 39 did not appear on the list of obstacles previously maintained by the UN. She criticized Israel's continuing settlement activity. Turning to Lebanon, Kane recalled Secretariat support for the Friends of Lebanon statement SIPDIS adopted on April 22. She briefed the Council on the March 30-31 incident in south Lebanon in which a UNIFIL patrol was blocked from searching a truck carrying armed personnel, noted this was the first time UNIFIL had confirmed the presence of unauthorized armed elements in south Lebanon since August 2006, and described UNIFIL-LAF efforts to prevent a recurrence of the violation. Criticism of Israel and Hamas -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Most Council members repeated familiar positions criticizing both rocket and other attacks against Israel as well as Israel's "disproportionate" and "excessive" military operations in Gaza. Most delegates also criticized the closure of Gaza and continuing settlement expansion in the West Bank. Russia said preparations for the Moscow Conference continue and that the Syrian-Israeli and Lebanon-Israeli tracks should also be addressed. After USUN NEW Y 00000394 002 OF 002 recalling its support for the EU position that Hamas must fulfill the Quartet conditions, in particular the renunciation of violence, France expressed support for former President Carter's recent efforts. Panama also expressed support for President Carter's efforts to engage Hamas. China, Russia, and Indoensia explicitly called for unity between Hamas and Fatah. Croatia strongly supported Israel's right to self-defense, while calling for all actions to be in accordance with international law. Libya Compares Gaza to Nazi Camps -------------- ¶6. (SBU) At the end of the consultations, Costa Rica and South Africa complained at length that the Council "just listened" to briefings about Gaza that describe a worsening humanitarian situation, while consistently failing to take any action. The South African PermRep also accused the United States of double standards, arguing that the U.S. sought action on domestic matters in countries such as Burma and Zimbabwe while refusing to address the crisis in Gaza that posed a unambiguous threat to international peace and security (the Council's charter). Costa Rica then proposed a UNSC press statement to encourage the parties to continue their negotiations, express concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, and welcome the April 22 statement adopted by the Friends of Lebanon in Kuwait. South Africa, Libya, Indonesia, France, and Italy expressed support for such a statement. Russia welcomed the proposal but said it could not agree to any reference to the April 22 Lebanon statement without more time to consult Moscow. Given the sensitive issues involved, delegations then agreed to reconsider the proposed statement during afternoon consultations. ¶7. (SBU) When delegations reconvened in the afternoon, Amb Wolff said the U.S. could not support a statement that did not address the terrorist rocket and other attacks that caused the deterioration in the humanitarian situation in Gaza, nor one that ignored the illegal Hamas take-over of Gaza -- on which the UNSC has never pronounced itself. Libyan PolCouns Ibrahim al-Dabbashi then launched an angry appeal for the Council to take action on Gaza, and said the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza was "worse than the concentration camps of Nazi Germany." At this point, Amb Wolff walked-out of the consultations, and was followed by the French PR, Belgian PR, Costa Rican DPR, and British DPR, in that order. Dabbashi continued his intervention, asserting that the primary cause of the conflict is Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian land, which justified and explained rocket attacks and suicide bombs. In comments to the press one day later, Dabbashi reaffirmed his earlier remarks, and said they represented the policy of the Libyan Government. Lebanon: Support for Friends Statement -------------- ¶8. (SBU) European delegations as well as Burkina Faso expressed support for the Friends of Lebanon statement adopted on April 22 in Kuwait. Several of these countries called for presidential elections to be held immediately without prior conditions and for Lebanon and Syria to normalize their relationship. Libya, South Africa, and Indonesia were also prepared to "welcome" the Kuwait declaration in the context of the press statement on Gaza proposed by Costa Rica. The Russian Mission told USUN that Moscow had issued "strong instructions" to block any reference to the Kuwait statement because Russia was reportedly invited to the Friends of Lebanon meeting at the last minute and shown a copy of the proposed declaration 20 minutes before it was supposed to be adopted. "That is no way to treat a lady," complained the Russian Middle East expert. Khalilzad