Palestine Video: 20 Years Later, Another Wall (Partially) Comes Down

Israel-Palestine: UN General Assembly Endorses Goldstone Report on Gaza

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Yesterday, Palestinians in towns of Bil'in and Na'alin, who protest the West Bank separation barrier every Friday, were commemorating the 20th anniversary of the falling of the Berlin Wall. Then, Palestinian youths suddenly knocked over part of the barrier, using a hydraulic car-jack to topple it. As soon as the wall fell, Palestinians scattered amidst tear gas and a foul-smelling spray fired by Israeli border guards.



Construction of the Separation Wall began after the start of the Second Intifada in 2000, and it has not stopped despite the International Criminal Court's decision in 2004 that it was illegal. Israeli officials claim that the rate of suicide bombings has fallen because of the Wall and declare that it will be destroyed if there is a permanent settlement with Palestinians.

Two Birds, One Stone: Netanyahu Attacks UN & Iran

Israel-Palestine: UN General Assembly Endorses Goldstone Report on Gaza
Iran-Israel Ship Encounter: Hezbollah & Syria Call Reject Claims of Tel Aviv’s “Pirates”

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On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu targeted Iran and United Nations. He linked his twin targets through the incident of the ship, allegedly carrying tons of weapons for Hezbollah from Iran, intercepted by Israeli forces:

The bulk of the shipment included rockets whose aim is to hurt our citizens and kill as many civilians as possible. This constitutes a war crime. This is a war crime which Iran intends to commit again in the future.

This gave Netyanahu the opportunity to slide towards his second target, a United Nations which just happened to be considering the Goldstone Report on Gaza:

The UN General Assembly should have investigated and condemned this crime [by Iran and Hezbollah] and the UN Security Council should have convened a special session to debate this incident.

The international community should be focusing on this, but instead, the world condemns Israel and the Israel Defense Forces and undermines our right to self defense [through consideration of the Goldstone Report].

Iran-Israel Ship Encounter: Hezbollah & Syria Call Reject Claims of Tel Aviv's "Pirates"

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On Thursday, Hezbollah and Syria denied any connection with the ship, allegedly carrying arms from Iran, halted by Israel the previous day.

The Hezbollah statement called Israelis "pirates operating in international waters". Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem then stepped in to deny Israel's claims:

Unfortunately there are official pirates disrupting the movement of goods between Iran and Syria. I stress, the ship was not carrying Iranian arms bound for Syria, nor was it carrying material for manufacturing weapons in Syria. It was carrying [commercial] goods from Syria to Iran.

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On Thursday, the 192-member United Nations General Assembly adopted the Goldstone Report on the Gaza War.  Its resolution called on the Israeli government to carry out an "independent and credible" internal investigation and on the "Palestinian side" to carry out an investigation of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity by Hamas. The resolution also includes a recommendation that the signatories of the fourth Geneva Convention convene in emergency session to discuss Israel's violations of the treaty. Palestinians rejected the British-French proposal to send the resolution back to Geneva for further consideration by the UN Human Rights Council.

In the Assembly, 114 countries voted in favor, 18 opposed, 44 abstained, and 16 were absent. The United States and Israel voted No. The European Union was split --- while Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and the Czech Republic opposed the resolution, Britain and France abstained.

Although the decision of the Assembly are non-binding, they can put pressure on parties for further action. In particular, it bolsters the call of the Goldstone Report for the Security Council to intervene if Palestinians and Israelis fail to launch credible investigations within three months.

Israel's top UN official, Gabriela Shalev, said: "Rather than discuss how to better stop terrorist groups who deliberately target civilians, this body launches yet another campaign against the victims of terrorism, the people of Israel."

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The silent war with Iran is continuing. On Wednesday, Israeli commandos seized the Antigua-flagged civilian ship "Francop" and unloaded the largest arms shipment Israel has ever commandeered.

According to Israeli officials, the ship was heading for Egypt, having departed from Iran with weapons destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah. They displayed what they claimed was an Iranian report.



Israel's Foreign Ministry issued an instruction to Israeli embassies and consulates around the world to use the findings on board and to turn the international community against Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:

Iran is shipping weapons to terror organizations in order to attack Israeli cities and kill its citizens. It is time that the international community applied real pressure on Iran to stop these criminal actions, and support Israel in its battle against terrorists and their patrons.

Following the conclusion of Israeli military intelligence that Hamas' armed strength has grown after the Gaza War, the "existential threat" of Iran is again on the top of Israeli agenda. With support from the US and 27-member EU support in their pocket, who can convince Israeli diplomats that Operation Cast Lead was a failure, whatever the assertions of "war crimes" in the Goldstone Report?