Generální tajemník OSN k palestinskému násilí: "reagovat na okupaci je lidská přirozenost"

"Jak utlačované národy prokázaly v průběhu věků, reagovat na okupaci je lidská přirozenost", řekl dnes Pan Ki-mun na zasedání Rady bezpečnosti OSN.

Pan Ki-mun dále uvedl, že progres na cestě k míru vyžaduje, aby Izrael zmrazit budování dalších osad, což považuje za "urážku palestinského lidu a mezinárodního společenství a vyvolává otázky, zda Izrael stojí o dvoustátní řešení".

Maan News:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday lent his voice to mounting international criticism of key Israeli policies and said it was "human nature" for Palestinians to react violently to Israel's nearly 50-year military occupation.

Speaking at the UN Security Council's Middle East debate, Ban said the new year had begun as 2015 ended -- "with unacceptable levels of violence and a polarized public discourse across the spectrum in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory."

He condemned a series of violent attacks carried out by Palestinians in recent months, but said that Israeli security measures were failing to "address the profound sense of alienation and despair driving some Palestinians -- especially young people."

Ban said: "Palestinian frustration is growing under the weight of a half century of occupation and the paralysis of the peace process. Some have taken me to task for pointing out this indisputable truth.

"Yet, as oppressed peoples have demonstrated throughout the ages, it is human nature to react to occupation, which often serves as a potent incubator of hate and extremism."

The UN Secretary-General urged drastic change to key Israeli policies toward the occupied territory.

"So-called facts on the ground in the occupied West Bank are steadily chipping away the viability of a Palestinian state and the ability of Palestinian people to live in dignity," he said.

"Continued settlement activities are an affront to the Palestinian people and to the international community. They rightly raise fundamental questions about Israel’s commitment to a two-state solution."

He said that Palestinians must be allowed development in land classified Area C, where Israel has complete civil and military authority and which comprises more than 60 percent of the West Bank.

He also drew attention to reports on Tuesday that Israel's Civil Administration has recently approved a further 150 homes in settlements across the West Bank, and the announcement last week that Israel was seizing 1,500 dunams of land south of Jericho.

"These provocative acts are bound to increase the growth of settler populations, further heighten tensions, and undermine any prospects for a political road ahead," he said.

He criticized Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes and highlighted the situation of Palestinian Bedouins currently facing forced transfer in the Jerusalem area.

The UN secretary-general also spoke of the "perilous" humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, where he criticized continuing rocket fire by militant groups and called on Palestinians to recognize a single, unified government.

Gaza remains governed by the Hamas movement and attempts to bring the coastal enclave under a national consensus government based in Ramallah have failed in recent years.

Ban also called on the international community to meet its responsibility in the region, pointing in particular to UNRWA's recent emergency appeal for over $400 million to support vulnerable Palestinian refugees.

"The whole international community must be ever more committed to actively help Palestinians and Israelis to rebuild trust and achieve an enduring peace before it is too late," he said.

He warned that without a lasting agreement, the region could face further violence, the possible collapse of the Palestinian Authority, "ever greater isolation of the Israeli government," another war in Gaza, and "a creeping moral blindness."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quickly responded to the comments saying they "give a tailwind to terrorism."

He said: "There is no justification for terrorism. The Palestinian murderers do not want to build a state – they want to destroy a state and they say this openly.

"They want to murder Jews simply because they are Jews and they say this openly. They do not murder for peace and they do not murder for human rights."

The prime minister added that "the UN lost its neutrality and moral force a long time ago and the Secretary General's remarks do not improve the situation."

Ban's comments follow weeks of mounting international criticism of Israeli key policies.

Last week, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said the US was "concerned and perplexed" by Israeli policies such as state support for illegal settlements, land use in the West Bank, and a legal double standard for Palestinians and Israelis.

At the same time, the European Union reiterated "its strong opposition to Israel's settlement policy and actions taken in this context, such as building the separation barrier beyond the 1967 line, demolitions and confiscation -- including of EU funded projects -- evictions, forced transfers including of Bedouins, illegal outposts and restrictions of movement and access."

Last month, US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that key Israeli policies were "imperiling" the viability of a two-state solution and raised "honest questions about Israel's long-term intentions."

He added: "The current path is not leading to a more peaceful future. I am concerned that if a significant effort is not made to change the current dynamic, it will only bring more violence."

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