{"id":212537,"date":"1999-05-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T20:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?p=212537"},"modified":"2019-03-12T20:26:56","modified_gmt":"2019-03-12T20:26:56","slug":"auto-insert-212537","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/auto-insert-212537\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel’s UN membership\/Gift unveiling – SecGen remarks – Press release"},"content":{"rendered":"
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AT UNVEILING OF GIFT FROM ISRAEL, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS GOALS<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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SOUGHT BY ISRAEL — PEACE, SECURITY, END TO FEAR AND<\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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UPHEAVAL — ARE SHARED BY UNITED NATIONS <\/u><\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Calls Gift Sign of Israel's Strong Commitment to International Cooperation <\/p><\/div>\n

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Following is the text of remarks made today at Headquarters by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the unveiling of a gift from Israel on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Israel's membership in the United Nations: <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tIt is a great pleasure to join you today in celebrating half a century of Israeli membership in the United Nations. I would like to offer congratulations and best wishes to the Government and people of Israel on this happy occasion.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tIsrael has chosen to mark this milestone with a generous gift to the United Nations: a beautiful lintel, sculpted in the fourth century for a synagogue in Galilee. The lintel has made quite a journey: from the far reaches of antiquity to the modern era; from a house of worship to this house of diplomacy; and from the land of prophets and penitents, to this new site amid the art and peoples of many nations.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tOn the lintel we see a menorah — the candelabrum that is one of the oldest symbols of the Jewish people: of the faith, the culture, and, for these past 51 years, of the State of Israel.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tIt has been said that the menorah symbolizes Israel's mission to be a "light unto the nations", as is written in Isaiah. The United Nations has its own mission of light: to shine a light on suffering and injustice; to show that light is more powerful than might; to carry the torch of peace, freedom and human rights; and to be a beacon for all people trapped in the dark tunnels of conflict and poverty.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tOur world continues to show a frightening propensity to dwell in those dark places. So this symbol of light, coming from a people who have suffered the deepest depths of human evil, is a fitting addition to United Nations Headquarters.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tAnd just as this lintel has found a new home, so, too, does Israel have a home at the United Nations. I know that at times it may not have seemed like a home, but I think we can agree that today a new climate has taken hold in relations between Israel and the United Nations.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tThe values cherished by Israel — freedom, democracy and tolerance — are United Nations values. The goals sought by Israel — peace, security and an end to fear and upheaval — are United Nations goals, which we seek for all peoples. This gift is a sign of Israel's strong commitment to international cooperation.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tI have no doubt that Israel and the United Nations will continue to work as partners, in the Middle East and beyond. And I have no doubt that together, we can achieve great things. Thank you again and congratulations.\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

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AT UNVEILING OF GIFT FROM ISRAEL, SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS GOALS SOUGHT BY ISRAEL — PEACE, SECURITY, END TO FEAR AND UPHEAVAL — ARE SHARED BY UNITED NATIONS Calls Gift Sign of Israel's Strong Commitment to International Cooperation Following is the text of remarks made today at Headquarters by Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the unveiling of a […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[897],"document-category":[1329,2637,3205],"document-source":[5352,1897],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[2001,1813],"entity":[1985,1729],"document-language":[6542],"class_list":["post-212537","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-israel","document-category-press-release","document-category-remarks","document-category-secretary-general-press-release","document-source-secretary-general","document-source-united-nations-department-of-public-information-dpi","document-subject-credentials","document-subject-middle-east-situation","entity-state","entity-united-nations-system","document-language-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/212537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/212537\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=212537"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=212537"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=212537"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=212537"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=212537"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=212537"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=212537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}