Palestinian envoy decries Israeli ‘apartheid’, as UN urges action

The Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, condemned Israeli policies he described as “entrenching a one-state reality of an apartheid nature”, in remarks to mark the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People yesterday.

Mansour also specifically singled out the failure of the UN Security Council “to uphold its Charter duties and implement its resolutions” in relation to Palestine.

“We cannot conceal our deep disappointment and frustration at the absence of serious efforts to uphold political and legal responsibilities towards the question of Palestine,” he told the General Assembly.

Mansour added: “This silence irrationally and unacceptably continues despite blatant contempt by Israel, the occupying power, for the council.”

Separately, in a message published on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that “without urgent steps to revive a political perspective, [Israeli and Palestinian leaders] risk entrenching a one-state reality.”

Among other worrying developments, Ban Ki-Moon noted how “this year, the number of demolitions of Palestinian houses and other structures by Israeli forces has doubled, compared to 2015.”

Gaza, he added, “remains a humanitarian emergency, with two million Palestinians struggling with crumbling infrastructure and a paralysed economy, and tens of thousands still displaced, awaiting reconstruction of homes destroyed by conflict.”

Noting that “the Israeli occupation [is] approaching its 50th year”, Ban Ki-moon said “the prospects for a two-state solution [are] threatening to slip out of reach.”