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Israeli Cabinet to Convene in Coming Hours; U.S.-Russia Meeting; India Seeing Death Toll 3,000+ Daily for Nearly a Month; Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Speaks at U.N. Joint Debate. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired May 20, 2021 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): I very much appreciate the support from these governments and especially the
support of our friend, U.S. President Joe Biden, for the state of Israel's right to self-defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Support, yes; but we are learning that America's president growing increasingly impatient with Israel's prime
minister. What that means for the conflict is ahead.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Russians have managed to extend the runway to a point where they can land even their
heaviest aircraft here, including strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
ANDERSON (voice-over): CNN gets rare access to a Russian air base in the Arctic. Moscow's growing footprint and firepower in the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): And India reports hundreds of cases of black fungus infections linked to COVID patients. One state now reporting at least 90
deaths from the illness. We'll connect you live to India.
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ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. It's 6:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi.
We begin with breaking news out of Israel, where the cabinet is set to meet two hours from now on the operation in Gaza. The intelligence minister says
they could discuss a cease-fire.
This after growing international pressure to ease up its airstrikes or stop them altogether. There's a period of quiet over Gaza earlier today. Israel
says it struck more Hamas tunnels there; from the militants, there was the longest lull so far in rocket fire like this towards Israel.
There were more than eight hours of quiet before those strikes resumed. Yesterday indicated a cease-fire was imminent. A U.N. official now in Qatar
for talks on ramping down the tensions.
And the German foreign minister is in the region, talking with both sides. And perhaps the strongest words coming from the U.S. President yesterday,
calling on Israel to de-escalate significantly and immediately. A short time later, the Israeli prime minister said the operation would continue
until Israel meets its goals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: There are only two ways that you can deal with them. You can either conquer them -- and that's always an open possibility -- or you can
deter them. And we are engaged right now in forceful deterrence. But I have to say, we don't rule out anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, 230 people have been killed in the conflict in Gaza. And 12 have died in Israel. The Gaza figures come from the health ministry,
which is run by Hamas. The Palestinian leader accused Israel of committing war crimes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator): What the occupation is doing in Gaza, including vicious attacks on civilians,
deliberate shelling of residential areas and institutions, destruction of infrastructure, as well as the killing of women, elderly and children, is
organized state terrorism carried out by the Israeli occupation and war crimes punishable by international law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Let's get you on the ground. Nic Robertson is near the Gaza border. Hadas Gold is in Jerusalem.
Hadas, Israel's cabinet meeting two hours from now. You've been working your sources.
What can we expect?
HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, the Israelis have known they are on sort of a ticking time clock, that the Americans
were holding off on pressuring them but as we've seen, the pressure is rising from the Americans.
We understand that President Biden is getting more -- giving them more pressure, getting increasingly frustrated with Netanyahu and how he has
been reacting to the words from the Americans.
The Israeli security cabinet is supposed to meet in a couple of hours where they'll be discussing the possibility of a cease-fire. A Hamas official
telling CNN in the last 24 hours that they think that a cease-fire is imminent, perhaps within the next 24 hours.
And Israeli media is reporting that tomorrow is the possible day of that cease-fire. But in a situation like this, anything can change; a rocket
landing in the wrong place; a missile attack by Israel in a part of Gaza could trigger -- could change the course of a possible cease-fire.
[10:05:00]
GOLD: But all sides are pointing towards that direction. The Israelis have wanted to -- prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been clear about wanting
to continue this operation because, for the Israelis, they think that every target they hit, every day of this operation, they say buys them more
quiet, degrades the Hamas militant capabilities, degrades their rocket launching capabilities, degrades the leadership of Hamas.
They know that they won't necessarily wipe Hamas out of Gaza but, for them, they want to continue the operation to reach all of their military
objectives.
Now we are hearing from sources in the U.S. that the Americans think the Israelis are running out of fixed targets in Gaza and that now the clock is
on and the pressure has continued to grow and grow to the point that the Israelis know, I think, that they need to respond to this.
And perhaps, at the security cabinet meeting, we will hear from them, perhaps afterwards about some sort of cease-fire. But today, as Nic can
probably attest to, the action is continuing. The red alert sirens are continuing to go off across southern Israel and the Israelis are continuing
to target their military objectives in Gaza.
Of course, all at the cost of civilians on both sides of this conflict. I think we should note, something that's very important to note is reporting
that CNN has been doing about the coronavirus situation in Gaza and how it is potentially getting worse by this conflict. Becky?
ANDERSON: Yes, you make a very good point, Hadas. Thank you.
Nic, to you. You are on the border and let's talk about what we understand to be going on today with the strikes. Also, multiple sources telling CNN
that the Biden administration is becoming increasingly impatient with Benjamin Netanyahu. This is a big test for these two allies.
What do you make of these developments?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, they're both very experienced politicians. And they both know each other pretty well and
have had the measure of each other for some time. They'll perhaps have a sense of the edge of the envelope.
And it does seem from the American perspective that prime minister Netanyahu is reaching the edge of that envelope. What we've witnessed here
close to the border is continuing rocket fire coming out of Gaza that intercepts overhead here. Occasional artillery fire by the artillery --
Israeli Defense Force artillery behind me.
We know that just a few miles that way, the air force has targeted what they say were tunnels being put under construction and, after that
targeting, we could see the big plume of smoke and then rounds of artillery shells being fired in afterwards.
So the sense here close to the border is that the conflict is still very much underway. The cities of Ashkelon, Ashdod, Be'er Sheva have all been
struck by rockets today. So I think, you know, when it comes to testing that relationship between President Biden and prime minister Netanyahu, all
the signaling is there coming from Washington now.
It's been slowly, slowly stepped up to prime minister Netanyahu. This is the moment where he must put a pause on these actions. However, it does
appear -- and I'm going to quote you some polling numbers; I would caveat them by saying we don't know the question that was asked and we don't know
precisely how many people were asked.
But what we do know is this polling done by Channel 12 in Israel will be the polling that the people of Israel see and that the prime minister sees.
I think that's critical when he's trying to weigh out his options here, which will come for him at a military and political level; 72 percent of
the people in Israel think he should continue with the actions, according to this polling.
So with the prime minister, when he reads that, he can see that he still has public support and also the cost that he might face if he stops down
too soon and Hamas strikes back. That would be a political loss for him. This is a politically sensitive time for him, with potential elections
coming up soon.
ANDERSON: And into that calculation, of course, this: the Israeli prime minister earlier blaming Iran for a drone intercepted near the Jordan
border.
He said, and I quote, "While we are fighting on various fronts, the true backer of much of this aggression is Iran."
And he went on to say, "While we were engaged in these hostilities a few days ago, Iran sent an armed drone to Israel from Iraq or Syria. Iranian
forces launched a drone, armed drone, which our forces intercepted on the border between Israel and Jordan."
Nic, the significance of this latest news.
ROBERTSON: I think two ways it's significant. One is the way that it was announced and how it was announced. But also it plays into, you know,
Israel's worst fears here, if you will.
[10:10:00]
ROBERTSON: Being attacked on multiple fronts, not just by Hamas here but there were rockets fired from Lebanon, four rockets fired into the north of
Israel yesterday from Lebanon.
So if you add into that mix drones, potentially armed drones, backed by Iranian-backed forces being flown into Israel, that's going to be a very
big concern for the government here.
The way that the prime minister played this out was very much on the international stage because there is a broader international concern for
Iran's perceived malign activities, destabilizing the region.
And it was played out in this way. The German foreign minister was meeting with the prime minister today here in Israel and that prime minister gave
the chairman a piece of that drone.
You can call that political theater but that makes a very big point to the international audience. And that does appear to be where prime minister
Netanyahu was trying to sort of make that point, that Israel is under pressure on all sides.
Today it may be from Gaza; it could be the north from Lebanon on another day and, in his mind, for many Israelis, certainly that pressure exists
from Iran. So you know, the prime minister, you can see, trying to keep that international support behind him for the -- to provide what he
believes is the way to give Israelis security here.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is on the ground at the Gaza-Israel border. Hadas in Jerusalem.
To both of you, thank you.
That is the politics. And as Hadas was reporting, a meeting, a cabinet meeting less than two hours from now, where, as we understand it, a cease-
fire could be discussed. That's the politics.
Let's not forget the human toll in all of this, the tragic loss of life and horrible devastation. We'll be talking about that and more next hour with
the Middle East director of the International Red Cross, the ICRC.
There is a flurry of diplomatic activity in the Middle East. There's also plenty of action in Iceland. That is where U.S. secretary of state Antony
Blinken and the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov held their first meeting on Wednesday.
Now the two discussed key areas of concern, like the Russian military build-up near Ukraine and the health of the jailed opposition leader,
Alexei Navalny.
One important development: the U.S. waived sanctions on the company building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany. The move will help
Washington's standing with European allies. Let's bring in Matthew Chance joining us live from Moscow.
What were the key takeaways to your mind from this meeting, Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, according to both sides, particularly the Russian side, which I have been
looking at and following their readouts, they are saying this was a constructive meeting between Antony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state, and
Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister.
Of course, there are areas where they don't agree but which could form the basis of future discussions. But the Russian side came out of this, saying,
look, we've met face-to-face -- and I'm paraphrasing them, of course -- there's plenty of areas for us to discuss, particularly the resumption of
normal diplomatic relations.
The diplomatic members in each country have been severely eroded over the past several years to the extent that, at the moment, there's not even an
ambassador present in either of the countries.
And so that's something that I think the Biden administration indicated to Antony Blinken that it was open to discussing. Of course, that would be
something the Russians want.
You mentioned that Nord Stream 2 sanctions waiver. That came -- news of that came before the meeting in Iceland took place and I think would have
had the effect on putting this warm glow on those talks because it's something the Russians have been very anxious to achieve.
On this issue in particular, the pipeline, which takes gas -- will take gas from Russia to Germany, is 95 percent completed. But because of the threat
of further U.S. sanctions on it, there was some question over whether it actually would go ahead and actually would be fulfilled. That threat now
seems to have been lifted.
You mentioned that the U.S. did that because it wanted to preserve the relationship with several European allies; the ally in particular is
Germany. But of course, the cost -- you know, also made the Kremlin very happy -- the cost of it, though, Becky, will, of course, the -- would be
the alienation to some extent of Ukraine, which gets billions of dollars in transit revenue from pipelines across its territory, something it will
be cut out of when this pipeline goes ahead.
[10:15:00]
ANDERSON: Matthew Chance is in Moscow. Always a pleasure. Thank you.
Ahead of the Arctic Council meeting, the U.S. secretary of state voiced concerns about Russia's military build-up in the Arctic. Russia
constructing nearly 500 military installations in the High North over the past few years as climate change opens up previously inaccessible areas.
My colleague, Fred Pleitgen, got a rare look at a Russian base in the Arctic. Have a look at it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN: The course, due north: flying for hours to Russia's northernmost military installation. Moscow granted us a rare visit to its
base on Franz Josef Land, a barren archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, which Russia believes is key to dominating the Arctic.
This entire air base is covered in ice and yet, the Russians have managed to extend the runway to a point that they can land even their heaviest
aircraft here, including strategic bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
The effort Moscow is making to upgrade its Arctic bases is massive, inside the modern housing complex, called a Trefoil, the air commander confirms to
me that even Russia's dangerous to TU-95 strategic bombers, a plain similar in size with the U.S. B-52s can now operate at the airfield here.
Of course they can, he says, have a look. We can land all types of aircraft on this base.
A chilling prospect for the U.S. and its allies, considering Franz Josef Land is only about 160 miles east of NATO territory. That's well within
range of these powerful coastal defense rockets the Russians also showed us. They're capable of hitting ships more than 200 miles off the coast, a
threat that worries of the U.S.
BLINKEN: We have concerns about some of the increased military activities in the Arctic, that increases the dangers, the prospects of accidents, we
calculations.
PLEITGEN: The main reason why the standoff between the U.S. and Russia is heating up in the Arctic is climate change. As polar ice melts, the region
is becoming more accessible and Russia is moving fast to stake its claims.
Much of that effort is led from here, the headquarters on the northern fleet in a closed military town of Severomorsk, which we also got asked to.
Russia has been upgrading its fleet for years, his flagship is the Peter the Great nuclear battle cruiser, outfitted with an array of weapons to hit
targets on sea and land and fight off planes and submarines.
Russia has a clear strategy up here in the Arctic and essentially revolves around three different things. On the one hand, a very strong military.
Then dominating the Northern Sea route and also tapping and exploiting natural resources.
And Russia is warning the U.S. and its allies, not to mess with that plan.
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: It has been absolutely clear for everyone for a long time, that this is our territory, this is our land. We
are responsible for our Arctic coast to be safe, everything that our country does there is absolutely legitimate.
PLEITGEN: Rhetoric that increasingly has the U.S. and Russia on a collision course in the high north, with Moscow so far in a stronger
position -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Severomorsk, Russia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Up next, as India reels from COVID, record COVID death tolls, it's got another infection to fight. I'll be talking to a doctor on "The
Lancet's" India task force about that, just ahead.
And as the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo runs out of ICU beds, it is easing social distancing restrictions. More on how the government in one of the
world's hardest-hit places is handling the pandemic.
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[10:20:00]
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ANDERSON: Every day this week I've been telling you about the heartbreak engulfing India, record COVID deaths, compounded by a monster cyclone.
There are people wondering where their loved ones are because dozens of crew members are still missing from a sunken barge.
The ongoing search and rescue operations have recovered 37 bodies. The barge went down Monday off Mumbai's coast during the cyclone, the strongest
storm ever to hit India's west coast.
That disaster adding destruction and more death to India's devastating second wave of COVID-19. The number of deaths reported there each day has
been consistently above 3,000 since April the 28th, reaching new records this week.
Doctors in India are also facing a new challenge. It is called black fungus. It attacks COVID sufferers and those who have recently recovered
from the virus. Now hundreds of cases have been reported across several Indian states and New Delhi. It's taken the lives of at least 90 people in
the hardhit state of Maharashtra alone.
My next guest says he has seen an explosion of black fungus cases. He has himself suffered from COVID twice, once after being vaccinated. He's a
member of "The Lancet" COVID-19 commission task force on India and joins me live from Rota, not far from India.
Good to have you, sir. I'm glad that you are better. On top of that climbing death toll -- and those are shocking numbers -- India's seven-day
case average hovering just below 300,000. And experts say infections and deaths could be five times higher than these official numbers.
You have expressed optimism that India could be turning a corner.
How so, sir, given these headlining numbers, which are still so high?
DR. DHRUVA CHAUDHRY, "THE LANCET" COVID-19 COMMISSION TASK FORCE ON INDIA: Becky, that's true,, that we had an explosion in the month of April and, at
that time the capital region was very badly affected.
And when I (INAUDIBLE). And we were really deluged (ph) by the number of cases and, along with it, we had an oxygen crisis at that point, which has
now been tackled (ph) (INAUDIBLE).
You are right that the numbers are bad. You need to look at the population of the country also. New Delhi itself has a population of more than 20
million actually and along with the (INAUDIBLE) practically delivered 100 million people here in two states of the northern India.
I am not of Delhi (ph) and we have seen that, over the last seven days, we had the peak of 57 percent positivity, has not come down to (INAUDIBLE) 22
percent. We are seeing a constant decline. That is why we are optimistic. Our admissions have declined and we have started getting beds in the
intensive care unit.
At the peak in my own institution, we had more than 380 patients admitted and now today the numbers have gone down to 320 and we are opening up more
and more in India now, ready with oxygen (INAUDIBLE). In my own institution we can easily accommodate 1,000 oxygen (INAUDIBLE).
So things have improved. And the data have started showing it but yes, the people who were sick earlier, that is what is the number that's still going
up a bit. And we expect a decline in the next couple of days to start.
ANDERSON: And -- yes, that is good news. And I know that you will be the first to say that any death is a death too many.
[10:25:00]
ANDERSON: And there has been a lack of testing in India, which makes it hard to properly understand the scope of this current crisis. There are
experts who fear that this new highly infectious variant could be totally out of control at this point.
And if that proves to be the case, how concerned are you that the situation could get worse in terms of deaths and the strain on the hospitals not
better at this point?
CHAUDHRY: You see, (INAUDIBLE) question you have put forward to ask. You see, (INAUDIBLE) is there. In my state, we are testing more than 30,000
patients -- persons a day. When we started this epidemic with only the capacity and capability of 250 and we upscaled it.
There are certain states like (INAUDIBLE) we had definitely have not been able to upscale to that extent as we would have seen to like to have it.
But in Delhi and (INAUDIBLE) Haryana (ph), where I am, (INAUDIBLE), in Punjab, we have done it.
But one thing that's (INAUDIBLE) happened, is that we're now seeing (INAUDIBLE) involved and in order to quickly pick up, people do talk about
(INAUDIBLE) depending on (INAUDIBLE) and testing.
But (INAUDIBLE) this time but we have very rightly said we're (INAUDIBLE) able -- (INAUDIBLE) 7.2 which we're seeing commonly and also in certain
areas of Delhi and Maharashtra that the variants which are there. Ultimately because they have very high viral loads so we're able to pick up
(INAUDIBLE).
(INAUDIBLE) PCR. So the idea was to reduce the viral (ph) load on our labs but at the same time, we are looking at the (INAUDIBLE) to do a home
testing for it. Like I can give you my example.
When I felt symptomatic, (INAUDIBLE) and it was positive then I got my PCR done. A basic difference, which you've seen from the last (INAUDIBLE) last
year that spikes and the peaks (INAUDIBLE) on the PCR testing.
This year we're seeing a tremendous load of milestone (ph). So I think we - - this is a misconception or misperception that testing is not being done. Particularly, I can assure you and that we are not lacking as far as the
testing. In majority of the states are concerned, some states definitely are a point of concern --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: I didn't say in all of the states. I said in some of the states so -- but I hear what you're saying. Listen, I -- as we mentioned, at the
top of this, there has been a sharp rise in the so-called black fungus cases during what has been the second deadly wave; 90 people have died.
Can you just explain in layman's terms for us what black fungus is and why it is that COVID-19 patients in India are getting it and dying of it?
CHAUDHRY: The black fungus is basically a (INAUDIBLE) mycosa (INAUDIBLE) malady (ph) and that stays black color. It shows a black color. Hence, it's
been a popular part of the (ph) is called as a black fungus. We have been seeing (INAUDIBLE) 30 years of experience, I must have seen only 40 cases.
But in last three weeks, even in my state and (INAUDIBLE) also the numbers have gone up. (INAUDIBLE) yesterday evening, in my own state, we
(INAUDIBLE), (INAUDIBLE), we had more than 240 cases within a span of two weeks.
Now what is happening is three things have happened. One is that we have a number of people who are (INAUDIBLE) and indiscriminate use of corticoids
by the practitioners in order to reduce the complication. So that's created a problem (INAUDIBLE) control.
Secondly, there is a rampant abuse at the level of public -- in private not only of the steroids but --
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Sir, I'm going to stop you just for a moment. Apologies. I want to just get to the U.N. General Assembly, where the member for Palestine is
speaking. Let me just listen in.
RIYAD AL-MALIKI, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): Foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic States are taking
part, along with representatives of different countries.
This sends a clear message: stop the massacre.
Mr. President, Israel, with its state-of-the-art arms, is targeting families as they sleep to sow the seeds of terror among our people. It is
not pretending it was a mistake. It is not even apologizing.
It is rather reaffirming that it is its right to commit these crimes, to kill innocent people. And it is blaming the victim. Until today, Israel has
killed 230 Palestinians.
[10:30:00]
AL-MALIKI (through translator): Including 65 children, 40 women and 15 old persons. It destroyed more than 1,500 residential apartments and 50
schools.
The numbers are increasing as Israel continues its aggression. Israel has also displaced 100,000 Palestinians during the pandemic, in a blatant
violation of international law and the secretary-general's call to stop conflicts during the pandemic.
To those who say that Israel has the right to defend itself, what right are you exactly talking about?
Israel is a colonization power. It is occupying our land. It is persecuting a whole people.
Israel would ask you, what would you have done if missiles were targeting your cities?
But Israel forgets that its occupation is the root cause of the violence.
So I would like to ask you, what would you do if your territory is occupied, if your people were displaced, if your people were killed,
detained, arrested and persecuted?
How can an occupying power have the right to defend itself when a whole people under occupation is deprived of the very same right?
How can some rush to issue statements to condemn the killing of one Palestinian at a time when the whole world stays silent and turns a blind
eye to the genocide of whole Palestinian families?
Mr. President, the Palestinian people commemorates its Nakba at a time when it faces further torture and oppression, as it has done in the past 70
years. We are facing many disasters and Nakbas.
We made sacrifices. We were displaced. We were patient. We struggled. We became martyrs and we were arrested to defend our history, our nation and
our holy sites.
However, not a single day that we let go of our national objectives, as stipulated in resolutions of international legitimacy, we have never let go
of our struggle.
However, Israel, the occupying power, is repeating the same crimes in Sheikh Jarrah today in occupied Jerusalem. It is trying once again to
displace, forcibly, Palestinian families in order to erase the -- any Arab presence in this city.
This aggression is taking place with the participation of the Israeli government, the occupation army, the Israeli courts, settlers and
extremists.
Israel, the occupying power, spared no effort in the past decades to obliterate the Islamic and Christian Arab Palestinian identity of
Jerusalem, to displace its people, to smother it with settlements, to divide al Haram esh-Sharif in place and in time. It continues its war
against the deeply rooted Palestinian presence in the holy city.
House after house, it escalated these policies, these systematic policies in the past years. Its decision to break into one of the holiest places,
the holy Al-Aqsa mosque, in one of the holiest months, the holy Ramadan, and one of the holiest nights, the night of al-Qadr, is a case in point of
these attempts, which have failed and will continue to fail.
However, Jerusalem responded, as always, to those who said and pretended that they have unified Jerusalem by their occupation, to those who said
they can make peace in the Middle East without our people and on its expense.
We responded to those who gave a promise to the occupier to gifted Jerusalem (ph), we said that Jerusalem is not for sale. We responded to
those who wanted to divide our Al-Aqsa that we have -- the people will protect Al-Aqsa and we do not care about a promise by those who do not own
to those who do not deserve.
[10:35:00]
AL-MALIKI (through translator): We reaffirm the importance and the need to respect the current legal and historic status of al Haram esh-Sharif. We
reaffirm the important role of Jordan and the Hashemite protection of the holy places in the city.
Mr. President, we have accepted international legitimacy and the international law. To solve our question, we accepted political work and
peaceful resistance as a way to solve the final issues and reach a peace agreement, which would end occupation and the conflict.
However, the occupation power, Israel, continues to procrastinate since the Oslo accords. Not only that, the current Israeli government does not even
believe in the two-state solution. It continues its annexation policies. It continues its colonization of our occupied land. It issues racist laws.
It isolates Gaza Strip and violates all political, economic and security agreements signed with it.
The international law is the cornerstone of international order. It does not tolerate any duplication and any false interpretation. Dealing with
Israel as a country above the law will only encourage it to act as such.
It is high time for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities to end the Israeli occupation of our land, of our holy
sites, of our presence and our future.
It is high time to take practical measures to provide international protection to the Palestinian people until they can actually practice their
right to self-determination, their right to freedom and independence on their occupied land since 1967, with East Jerusalem as the capital.
We urge you to honor your commitments under the international law, including not to acknowledge the illegal status created by Israeli
procedures and policies in occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem.
We call upon you not to provide any assistance or support to entrench and maintain the current status. We call upon you to differentiate between
Israel, the occupying power, and the occupied territories and ensure accountability.
Every country in the world has the responsibility to ensure that peace, justice and freedom prevail. It is your right to hold Israel accountable
and not to provide it with arms. It is your responsibility to contribute to providing protection to the victims, not immunity to war criminals.
It is your responsibility to find (ph) settlements, not to those who boycott them. It is your responsibility to be a support to a people
persecuted in deeds and words.
The words should not be a simple -- should not simply watch and stand idly by. You should stop these crimes.
Mr. President, from this rostrum, from the United Nations, whose charter ensures the right of people to self-determination and in front -- and in --
before the representatives of states, which achieved their independence after apartheid and occupation, we would like to tell you that our people
shall not waiver (sic) their right and their place among nations.
We salute your solidarity with us. After your own struggles and history and principles, we saw how people of the world took to the streets, in
thousands and even millions, to defend freedom and humanity, to say to the Israeli occupation, stop. Enough is enough.
Some would accuse the United Nations of siding with Palestinians at a time when it is siding with its charter. It is siding with rights, with the
struggle of people to achieve their independence and freedom. The bias which should we fight is any bias that ensures impunity and guarantees
impunity to Israel.
[10:40:00]
AL-MALIKI (through translator): These wars would never have been launched had the occupation taken responsibility of its different crimes, including
oppressing demonstrations and its repeated aggressions in 2009, 2012 and 2014.
After long decades of oppression, racial discrimination and displacement, Mr. President, we call for peace. We are working for peace. However, this
cannot come at the expense of our people and its rights, guaranteed by resolutions of international legitimacy.
Ending occupation against our people and our holy sites should be followed by a political process in line with U.N. terms of reference, with an
international sponsorship, which would lead to ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine and its capital.
This is what we have informed the U.S. administration and the Quartet, after the end of term of the Trump administration and its shameful deal,
which pretended that Palestine is no longer a critical and central question.
However, the events today reaffirm the importance and centrality of Jerusalem and the Palestinian cause at the regional and international
level.
But at what expense?
Really, at what expense?
The occupation targets our people, generation after generation. This criminal Israeli occupation has caused so much pain which cannot be solved
by a truce and a cease-fire.
Susie (ph), a child, went to sleep in her house in Gaza, with her mother, father and four siblings. She woke up the next day under the rubble without
a mother, with only one father.
Samira (ph) and the trees planted by their father in their house's garden in Sheikh Jarrah after the Nakba are still under the threat of forced
displacement.
Muhammad (ph), who loves running, who loves riding his bike, is today in a prison cell, being deprived of his childhood.
Those who want peace have to win for those people. Thank you, Mr. President.
ANDERSON: We've been listening to the member from Palestine, amid growing international pressure to restore calm. A special session of the UNGA being
held today, attended by a number of Arab ministers and those with influence and ties to the Palestinian cause. Israel due to speak at this session
later today.
The current president of the UNGA is the Turkish ambassador. This session follows the failure by the U.N. Security Council to agree on a draft
statement, calling for an end to hostilities. A draft statement vetoed by the U.S. at the weekend.
We'll take a very short break. "WORLD SPORT" is up next.
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(CNN WORLD SPORT)
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