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23
October 2000 RE:
The Speech of Her Majesty Queen Silvia Dear
Mr./Ms., With
reference to your question relating to the speech by Her Majesty Queen Silvia at
the Women's International Forum in New York, October 18, 2000, and some
unfortunate and inaccurate, media reports, the following ought to be clarified. In her speech,
the Queen expressed her deep personal concern and worry for children all over
the world. The Queen made no references, neither in her speech nor during the
following replies to questions asked by the audience, to the current situation
in the Middle East. After
the address at the Women's International Forum, one reporter asked the Queen
what she would like to say to parents whose children throw stones.
The Queen replied that she, as a mother, would be very concerned and tell
the child to stop and that this was very dangerous. The Queen also
said that she sometimes felt that such actions by children was organized by
others and that the children should not take part in this. We have been informed that the Queen was talking in a general
manner about the "group pressure" that children are being confronted
with in various situations. She was not talking about exploitation by political
leaders, as has been referred to in some media. It may be added
that, the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anna Lindh, has issued a strong
statement saying that "the extreme violence used by the Israeli side goes
far beyond the bounds of what is acceptable.
Many lives have been lost by the fact that Israel does not confront
demonstrators with the usual police methods but in too many cases uses heavy
military units with loaded ammunition. This is in contravention of humanitarian
law." As you are well
aware, Sweden has a strong commitment to the promotion of the well-being of the
Palestinian children in line with tile Convention on the Rights of the Child. Further questions and comments may be addressed directly to the Royal Court in Stockholm. Yours Sincerely |
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