Palestinian ambassador to the UN addresses General Assembly
Summary
TLDRDuring a United Nations General Assembly emergency special session, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN delivered a poignant speech, highlighting the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He detailed the devastating impact of Israeli bombings on Palestinian civilians, citing over 7,000 deaths, including a significant number of women and children, in less than three weeks. The ambassador emphasized the destruction of homes and infrastructure, appealed for an immediate ceasefire, and urged international leaders to prioritize justice and humanitarian aid over continued conflict.
Takeaways
- ๐ The United Nations General Assembly held an emergency special session focused on the protection of the Palestinian civilian population.
- ๐จ The ambassador to the UN for Palestine emphasized the ongoing crisis in Gaza, with civilians under bombs and families being killed.
- ๐ฅ There is a dire humanitarian situation with hospitals overwhelmed, neighborhoods destroyed, and people fleeing with nowhere safe to go.
- ๐จโ๐งโ๐ฆ The ambassador highlighted the tragic stories of loss, including 3,000 children killed in the last three weeks.
- ๐ Over 40% of homes have been destroyed, leaving 1.4 million people homeless and displaced.
- ๐ค The ambassador questioned the justification for the war and the defense of actions that have led to such a high civilian death toll.
- ๐ There is a sense of outrage and disbelief at the lack of urgency to end the killing of civilians and the devastation in Gaza.
- ๐ฅ 70% of those killed are women and children, which the ambassador condemns as crimes and barbarism.
- ๐ The ambassador called for adherence to international law and humanitarian law, criticizing the selective application of these laws.
- ๐ค He urged the international community to act on justice, not vengeance, and to defend the law rather than justify its breach.
- โ The ambassador made a plea for a vote in favor of a draft resolution to stop the killing, allow humanitarian aid, and restore credibility to the UN.
Q & A
What is the context of the emergency special session at the United Nations?
-The emergency special session at the United Nations is focused on the protection of the Palestinian civilian population amidst ongoing violence and destruction in Gaza.
Who is speaking in the transcript?
-The speaker is the Ambassador to the UN for Palestine, Riyad Mansour, who is addressing the General Assembly.
What does the ambassador emphasize the urgency for?
-The ambassador emphasizes the urgency to stop the bombings, save lives, and prevent a greater humanitarian catastrophe and regional spillover.
What are the reported casualties in Gaza according to the ambassador?
-The ambassador reports that 7,000 Palestinians have been killed, with 70% of them being women and children, and 18,000 people wounded.
What does the ambassador accuse Israel of doing?
-The ambassador accuses Israel of committing crimes, barbarism, and war crimes against the Palestinian civilians, including the killing of innocent children and the destruction of homes and infrastructure.
What is the ambassador's stance on the justification of the ongoing conflict?
-The ambassador firmly states that nothing can justify the killing of civilians, crimes against humanity, or genocide, and criticizes those who attempt to justify Israel's actions.
What does the ambassador call for in terms of international law and humanitarian aid?
-The ambassador calls for the upholding of international law, the provision of humanitarian aid to those in need, and for action to save lives.
How does the ambassador describe the impact of the conflict on families in Gaza?
-The ambassador describes the impact as devastating, with entire families being killed, many losing 10 or more members, and the majority of the population being displaced.
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What does the ambassador imply about the perception of the conflict by different parties?
-The ambassador implies that there is a double standard, with some showing more empathy for Israeli casualties than for Palestinians, and questions the basis for this disparity.
What is the ambassador's final appeal to the members of the General Assembly?
-The ambassador's final appeal is to vote for a resolution to stop the killing, allow humanitarian aid to reach those in need, and to uphold justice, the law, and peace.
What does the ambassador highlight as the consequences of not taking action?
-The ambassador highlights that lives are at stake, and by not taking action, the United Nations risks losing credibility, and the humanitarian crisis will continue to escalate.
Outlines
๐ Urgent Call for Protection: The Plight of Palestinians in Gaza
The Palestinian ambassador to the UN addresses an emergency special session at the General Assembly, emphasizing the ongoing crisis in Gaza. He implores the international community to consider the civilian population's suffering under bombs, with families killed, hospitals destroyed, and neighborhoods leveled. The ambassador highlights the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe with 3,000 children and 7,000 Palestinians killed in recent weeks, urging the assembly to act to prevent further loss of life and regional instability.
๐๏ธ The Devastation and Human Cost of the Conflict
The ambassador provides a harrowing account of the destruction in Gaza, with 1,600 Palestinians buried under rubble and 80 families losing 10 or more members. He describes the overwhelming number of wounded, the struggle of medical personnel, and the psychological toll on survivors. The narrative underscores the impact of Israeli military action on civilian homes and infrastructure, leaving 1.4 million displaced and the Israeli foreign minister's call for a resolution that brings people home, highlighting the lack of safe spaces for Palestinians.
๐ค Challenging Perceptions: The Distinction Between Civilization and Barbarism
The ambassador questions the perceived double standards in the application of international law, suggesting that Israel is held to a different standard. He criticizes those who would justify the killing of Palestinian civilians and condemns the notion that Israel's actions are in any way minimizing civilian casualties. The ambassador calls for an end to the siege and the release of hostages, translating the impact of the crisis onto a scale that would be more relatable to the international community.
๐ข A Cry for Justice and Accountability
The ambassador calls for justice and adherence to international humanitarian law, rather than its distortion to accommodate Israel's actions. He recounts the resilience of the Palestinian people, who have endured military occupation, blockades, and wars, only to rebuild their lives and homes. He condemns those who stand by as Palestinians are slaughtered and calls for an end to the double standards that have characterized the international response to the conflict.
๐๏ธ A Plea for Action: Vote for Humanitarian Aid and an End to the Violence
In a powerful conclusion, the ambassador makes a direct appeal to the members of the General Assembly to vote in favor of stopping the killings, allowing humanitarian aid to reach those in need, and ending the crisis. He emphasizes the sanctity of every life and the moral imperative to act, urging the assembly to choose justice over vengeance and peace over war. The ambassador's plea is punctuated by the personal tragedy of a field correspondent who lost his family to an airstrike, encapsulating the human cost of the conflict.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กGeneral Assembly
๐กPalestinian civilian population
๐กHumanitarian catastrophe
๐กWar crimes
๐กBarbarism
๐กDisplacement
๐กInternational law
๐กDouble standards
๐กHuman dignity
๐กVengeance
๐กCredibility
Highlights
Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, addresses the General Assembly on the protection of the Palestinian civilian population.
Urgent call for action to prevent a greater humanitarian catastrophe and a regional spillover.
Emotional recount of the ongoing violence in Gaza, with families being killed and hospitals destroyed.
3,000 children in Gaza killed by Israel in the last three weeks.
1,700 women were killed by Israel in the last two weeks.
7,000 Palestinians killed by Israel in the last three weeks, with 70% being women and children.
900 Palestinian children are under the rubble, alive or dead, waiting for rescue.
80 Palestinian families have lost 10 or more members, with some losing up to 45 members.
18,000 people are wounded, many treated in hospital hallways without anesthesia.
Doctors and humanitarian personnel are paying the ultimate price for standing their ground.
1.4 million people are homeless and displaced due to the destruction of over 40% of homes.
Israeli foreign minister's statement questioned, with a call for accountability for the killing of civilians.
Comparison of the Palestinian situation to what it would mean for the Israeli population, emphasizing the scale of the tragedy.
Ambassador Mansour questions the double standards and calls for justice for the Palestinian people.
A plea for a ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and an end to the killing, emphasizing the sacredness of every life.
A call to uphold international law and protect civilians, rather than offering semantic reassurances.
The ambassador shares a personal story of a field correspondent in Gaza who lost his family in an airstrike.
A strong appeal to the UN to vote for a resolution to stop the violence and provide aid to the Palestinian people.
Transcripts
let me take you to the general assembly
emergency special session at the United
Nations on the protection of the
Palestinian civilian population these
are live pictures from the United
Nations this is the ambassador to the UN
the uh for Palestine let's listen in Mr
President
colleagues let us all
remember we are meeting here while
Palestinians in Gaza are under the
bombs
remember that you are speaking while
families are being
killed while hospitals are coming to a
Hal while
neighborhoods are being
destroyed while people are fleeing from
one place to another with nowhere safe
to
go I urge you to choose use your words
carefully and to act
accordingly for all those
mobilized against an even greater
man-made humanitarian
catastrophe or of a regional spell
over and these are worthy goals we
say stop the bombs or both will happen
stop the bombs and save lives as the
president of the general assembly has
indicated all
lives lives of children of
civilians of 2.3 million civilians in
the Gaza
Strip Mr President in
Gaza a father tells his daughter about
the birthday he was planning for her and
asks her not to miss it a mother laments
my children died before they had a
chance to
eat the thoughts that cross the mind of
a mother in the face of such
grief 3,000 children in Gaza were killed
by Israel in the last almost three weeks
I repeat 3,000 children innocent
children
Angels killed in Gaza during the last 3
weeks a man Embraces his
mother and pleads like a
child come back I beg
you come
back and I will take you
wherever you
want he hugs
her and can let
go but there is
no time to
mourn more death is on the
way
1,700 women were killed by Israel in the
last two
weeks a young man
wrote We will not leave Gaza
we will only leave Gaza to join the
heavens a few days later he
did 7,000 Palestinians have been killed
by Israel in the last Almost 3
weeks 70% of all those
killed are wom and
children almost all killed our civilians
is this the war some of you are
defending let me repeat is this the war
that some of you are
defending can this war be
defended these are
crimes this is
barbarism if you don't if you do not
stop it for all those who were killed
stop it for all
those whose lives we can still
save Janan a little girl under the
rubbles shouts at the people coming to
rescue
her what took you so
long there are 900 Palestinian childr
under the rebels alive or dead wondering
what is taking so long wondering if any
help is is on the
way anas a little boy who is known as
anus crawled from under the rubs not to
find light but more
darkness devastations and death all
around him his ordeal has only
started not
ended
1,600 Palestinians are under the
rubbles and no one can reach them to
save them or bury
them a doctor speaks of a term coined
during this
war wounded child with no surviving
family 80 Palestinian families have lost
10 or more of their
members sometimes up to 45 members of
the same
family were
killed
18,000 people are
wounded many treated in hospital
hallways if at all with no
anesthesia paramedics who have been who
have seen death time and time again
break down and
cry this time is just too
much
un
staff humanitarian personnel and doctors
are standing their ground and paying the
ultimate price for
it this memory is honored by some as if
a natural disaster had killed them not a
UN member
staff as hospitals turn into Mor
doctors and patients alike
wonder is help on the
way is help in the
way they are not listening to the
explanations of some leaders on why the
war has to go
on they just hear the
bombs they just feel the blast they just
face all this death trying to survive or
to honor the pledge they took to save
lives with no means to do
so people are ordered to
evacuate they look at their
children should we head
south will we be bombed on the
way or once
there should we go to a hospital
Courtyard a un School a church
a mosque sleep in our car in the streets
but bombs are
everywhere what choices do you make as a
parent when there are only impossible
choices when death is everywhere
devastations is is
everywhere a man stands in front of his
house turned into Rubble yet another
time after a long pause he
asks how do you bury a
house Israel has destroyed over
40% of all homes making an entire
population homeless and
displaced
1.4 million people in the hope to
forcibly transfer them outside the
territory the Israeli foreign minister
came to the security Council and
said this meeting should conclude with a
clear message bring them
home for millions of Palestinians there
is no home to go back
to for thousands there is no family left
to
embrace not by an act of God but by the
acts of a government represented here in
this
chamber
he spoke of families and their
pain there's not a single family in Gaza
that has not endured epic
suffering he told you horrible it was to
kill
civilians just before justifying the
killing of Palestinian civilians by the
thousands he spoke of the fear felt by
people when Rockets are launched
Israeli bombs have not spared a single
square meter of
Gaza he believes the difference between
civilization and
barbarism is who is doing the killing or
how they do it he believes the laws of
humanity and of our International
law-based order apply to others but not
to
Israel that they protect Israeli lives
and allow the killing of Palestinians
and taking Palestinian lives he believes
Israel can pretend it it is abiding by
the very laws it is breaching live on
your TV screens and before your
eyes that if you say Hamas enough times
the world will not be able to object to
wiping off the face from the face of
Earth entire families four generations
at a time or to a Siege where you let in
enough humanitarian Aid to pretend you
have a sense of humanity but nowhere
enough to address the immense needs that
are grow growing
exponentially as you keep bombing a
besieged
territory he says release the hostages
and takes 2 million Palestinian
hostages let me translate these
numbers compared to the population of
Gaza this is the equivalent
of
28,000 Israelis killed including 12,000
children and
6,800 wom
72,000 wounded
5.6 million
displaced is it more shocking
now more
unacceptable more
outrageous why some feel so much pain
for Israelis and so little pain for us
the
Palestinians what is the
problem do we have the wrong
Faith the the wrong
skin
color the wrong
nationality the wrong
origin let me address all those who have
in these past few days explained why one
should not call for a
ceasefire how can representatives of
States
explain how horrible it is that 1,000
Israelis were killed and can not feel
the same outrage when 1,000 Palestinians
are now killed every
day 1,000
Palestinians killed every
day why not feel a sense of urgency to
end their
killing nothing can justify war
crimes crime against
humanity and
genocide nothing can justify The Kill
of a single Palestinian
child
nothing nothing at
all why not feel a sense of urgency to
end our
killing nothing can as I said justify
war
crimes you are sitting us back 80 years
by trying to justify what Israel is
doing now how naive one has to be or how
hypocritical to pretend they don't know
Israel is Vol voluntarily killing
Palestinian
civilians who can believe that those
killed by Israel are for
70% children and women and that entire
families were killed while Israel is
trying to minimize civilian death they
kill all of us they kill thousands of us
and they say they are trying to
minimize killing
civilians how would it look like if they
were trying to maximize killing
Palestinian civilians if killing 7,000
is to
minimize killing 700,000 would be
possible to maximize
we don't need you to offer us semantic
reassurances about
IHL and protection of civilians we need
you to honor these Norms honor these
Norms not recall them only to justify
their breach seconds
later this selective outrage is
outrageous and needs to stop and need to
stop
now these people you watch in your
screens for a few minutes a day every
night while they are being
slaughtered they have survived Decades
of military
occupation a 16 years long
blockade and five wars in the Gaza
Strip they built and rebuilt and rebuilt
their lives
and their homes again and again Against
All Odds despite tremendous
suffering they are walking
Miracles how could you leave them to be
killed once
again the answer to the killing of
Palestinian civilians is not the killing
of Israeli
civilians and the answer to the killing
of Israeli civilians Is Not the Killing
of Palestinian
civilians vengeance is a dead
end the only path forward is
Justice the only path forward is justice
justice for the Palestinian
people don't distort the law don't bend
it don't break it don't betray it to
accommodate
Israel uphold it and uphold it high this
is what we are here for as a United
Nations to save future Generations from
the scor of
War uphold it for the sake of all
Nations for The credibility of these
United
Nations Mr
President was reporting on the massacres
in Gaza for those of you who do not
who is D he is the field correspondent
of Al jazer in the Gaza
Strip as he's been doing relentlessly
for days now when he received the news
of an Israeli air strike that killed his
wife his son and his
daughter he he did something many
parents do in these circum cumstances
he spoke to his
son waiting for an answer that never
came he told him didn't you tell me you
wanted to be a
journalist his son wanted to be a
journalist even though journalists are
Targets in
Palestine remember
Sharina
now the dream of the
son will HT
father W said a few words that I want
you to hear
well he
said they took their Vengeance out on
our children he then said in a
heartbreaking
voice
malish allow me to
explain explain it to you literally it
means that's
okay but let me tell you what I believe
he meant let me do it in
Arabic shame on this reality where Gaza
is being slaughtered again
shame to on those who do not have
respect to our
Humanity our
dignity our suffering shame on those who
justify the acts of the criminal all
those who stand by the
predator or just
or give condolence to the victim
explaining that the Killer is not
responsible shame on those who abandoned
our
people as we are reallying
under these
massacres shame if a word of Truth is
not
uttered shame if I leave the
field to rather than defending our
people innocent
people God is our
Rock and he is the dispenser of all
[Applause]
affairs
finally I appeal to all of
you vote to Stop The
Killing vote for humanitarian Aid to
reach those whose very survival depends
on it vote to stop this
madness you have a chance to do
something to give an important signal
choose Justice not
Vengeance choose to defend the law not
justify its breach choose peace not more
wars vote to put an end to two almost 3
weeks of the worst double standards we
have seen in decades to restore some
credibility of this place and the rules
it is supposed to EMB
body do not miss this
chance lives are hanging in the balance
and every life is sacred please save
lives save lives save lives vote for our
draft resolution and I thank
[Applause]
you watching Z we're bringing you
coverage of a general assembly emergency
special session on the protection of the
Palestinian civilian population that was
the Palestinian ambassador to the United
Nations Riyad Mansour getting a very
strong and powerful speech there uh
telling emotional stories of describing
the lives of people in Gaza his voice
breaking as he told of 7,000
Palestinians killed since October the
7th 70% of them he said were women and
children he said these are crimes this
is barbarism stop it he said for all
those lives we can still save
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