It represents an act of revenge and punishment against the Palestinian people and it violates many articles of the agreement reached between the two sides. This could also be said about the isolation of East Jerusalem from the Palestinian people and from the rest of the West Bank, in spite of the fact that it clearly represents the religious, cultural and economic center of the Palestinian people. The other outstanding issue is the that of the Israeli delays with regard to the completion of the implementation of the Agreement on the Gaza Strip and Jericho Area, in all its provisions, including that which provides for the safe passage and those which relate to commercial activities and Palestinian financial rights. In addition, there have been delays and procrastination in the implementation of the second phase of the Declaration of Principles, which was due more than seven months ago, especially in relation to the redeployment of the Israeli army outside of populated areas and the convening of the Palestinian elections. Mr. President, We are not speaking here about mistakes or shortcomings.
Mistakes can happen.
Further, we are not speaking about reactions, such as reactions to the attacks which have been carried out by radical elements against Israeli targets. Those are acts which we have condemned forcefully and which we, within our limited resources, have tried to deal with, as well as with their underlying causes, with the aim of putting an end to such acts, maintaining law and order and achieving peace and security for both sides. We remain convinced that the fundamental solution for this phenomenon is a political solution, and it is directly connected with socio-economic and political progress. We are speaking here about some Israeli positions and practices, some of which have been interpreted differently, which, nevertheless, all together represent what we believe is a policy aiming to delay the implementation of the agreements reached. What is most striking is that these positions and practices continue as is, in spite of several important meetings, such as the recent Cairo Summit and the Foreign Ministers Meeting at Blair House in Washington and despite all other efforts exerted by parties concerned about the peace process.