Israel Pressures US on Syria: After this week’s meetings in Damascus between Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has been pressing U.S. officials not to send Robert Ford, the recently nominated ambassador to Damascus.
Dubai Accuses Israel on Assassination: Dubai Police Chief Dahi Khalfan Tamim says he has DNA evidence from one of the assassins and fingerprints from the crime scene. He urged Meir Dagan, the director of Israel’s Mossad spy agency, to “be a man” and admit that Israel stands behind last month’s killing of Hamas chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
UN Repeats Call for Call War Inquiries: On Friday, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a new resolution, by 98-7 (including the US and Israel) with 31 abstentions and 50 absent, calling on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to investigate the 2008/9 Gaza War with inquiries that are “independent, credible and in conformity with international standards“.
After weeks of attempts to denigrate it and remove it from circulation, the Goldstone Report on the conduct of Israel & Hamas in the Gaza War has fought back a bit.
Former US ambassador Richard Schifter has assessed that, although there is no threat that the United Nations Security Council will take Israel to the International Criminal Court, there may be economic sanctions because of a paragraph in the Goldstone Report. This refers to a UN provision, “Uniting for Peace”, stating that if the Security Council does not order action to be taken, members of the General Assembly may pursue voluntary, collective action:
The Mission recommends that the General Assembly request the Security Council to report to it on measures taken with regard to ensuring accountability for serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights in relation to the facts in this report and any other relevant facts in the context of the military operations in Gaza, including the implementation of the Mission’s recommendations. The General Assembly may remain appraised of the matter until it is satisfied that appropriate action is taken at the domestic or international level in order to ensure justice for victims and accountability for perpetrators. The GA may consider whether additional action within its powers is required in the interests of justice, including under resolution 377 (V) Uniting for Peace.
Resolves that if the Security Council, because of lack of unanimity of the permanent members, fails to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of intermitional peace and security in any case where there appears to be a threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, the General Assembly shall consider the matter immediately with a view to making appropriate recommendations to Members for collective measures, including in the case of a breach of the peace or aqt of aggression the use of armed force when necessary, to maintain or restare international peace and security. If not in session at the.time, the General Assembly may meet in emergency special session within twenty-four hours of the request therefor. Such emer- gency special session shall be called if requested by the Security Council on the yote of any seven members, or by a majority of the Members of the United Nations;
The resolution was first drafted to allow UN countries to wage war against North Korea in 1950 after a Soviet veto in the Security Council. It was also used to impose economic sanctions against the apartheid South African regime in 1982.
2225 GMT: Today’s UN Condemnation of Iran. The Third (Human Rights) Committee of the United Nations General Assembly has “expresse[d] its deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations” in Iran. The non-binding resolution passed 74-48, with 59 abstentions.
The Committee voiced “particular concern at the response of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran following the Presidential election of 12 June 2009 and the concurrent rise in human rights violations”, including “harassment, intimidation and persecution, including by arbitrary arrest, detention or disappearance, of opposition members, journalists and other media representatives, bloggers, lawyers, clerics, human rights defenders, academics, (and) students”.
The outcome, the Committee asserted, had been “numerous deaths and injuries” Iwith “forced confessions and abuse of prisoners including … rape and torture”.
2115 GMT: The Brussels Non-Talks and Non-Sanctions. The New York Times has snippets of the statement issued by the delegations of the “5+1″ powers after their review of the nuclear talks with Iran (see 1240 GMT): Read the rest of this entry »
Polls indicate that President Obama enjoys the support of only 6 to 10 percent of the Israeli public — perhaps his lowest popularity in any country in the world.
According to media reports, the president’s advisers are searching for ways of reassuring Israel’s public of President Obama’s friendship and unqualified commitment to Israel’s security.
That friendship and commitment are real, President Obama’s poll numbers in Israel notwithstanding. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton sought to reinforce that message during her visit to Israel. The presidential envoy George Mitchell has reportedly been asked to make similar efforts during his far more frequent visits to Jerusalem. Read the rest of this entry »
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.
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].
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.”
The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to discuss the Goldstone Report on Wednesday. However, a joint French-British statement, delivered to the members of the Assembly on Monday, is calling for the members to agree on three “red lines” already confirmed by the 27 members of the European Union. The “red lines” are:
- A resolution brought for the approval of the General Assembly will not include operational steps, like taking the matter to the Security Council or the International Court of Justice.
- The resolution would call on Israel and the Palestinians to embark on an independent investigation into the events of Operation Cast Lead, and the allegations of war crimes.
- The handling of the Goldstone report will return to the Human Rights Council, the UN body in Geneva. The parties will have to report to the council on the findings of their investigations in a few months.
Even if Palestinian leaders were inclined to accept these condition, they now face signficant pressure from their own constituents. On the other hand, it is also certain that there will be no sanctions on Israel from the Security Council since Washington, Paris and London had already declared their positions regarding the Goldstone Report. Welcome to the deadlock of politics….
Sometimes a political move is so audacious that — for all the pain and tragedy that it obscures — you have to tip your hat at the hypocrisy.
Iran’s delegation at the United General Assembly cut loose yesterday, criticising the US, Canada and European Union for human rights violations. One Iranian concern was that “racial and religious prejudice have increased in the EU countries in the past few years. Muslims and religious minorities are verbally and physically attacked and are often barred from job opportunities.” Another was that in the United States, “ethnic minorities and residents who are originally from Africa or Latin America are the victims of prejudice and deprived of human rights”.
However, it was what followed that turned my interest into wonder: “The Iranians went on to say that police in the EU countries have ‘resorted to torture and violence’.” In Canada, “Native women are the victims of police violence and rape. They are kept in mixed prisons in which they are inevitably bothered by either their cellmates or prison staff.”
Where is the Iranian Jon Stewart when you need him?
Israel Pressures US on Syria: After this week’s meetings in Damascus between Syrian President Bashar Assad, Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has been pressing U.S. officials not to send Robert Ford, the recently nominated ambassador to Damascus.
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2225 GMT: Today’s 
Is the strained relationship between Israelis and the Obama Administration the consequence of mistakes made by the Obama Administration, 
On Thursday, 
On Thursday, the 
The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to discuss the Goldstone Report on Wednesday. However, a joint French-British statement, delivered to the members of the Assembly on Monday, is calling for the members to agree on 
Sometimes a political move is so audacious that — for all the pain and tragedy that it obscures — you have to tip your hat at the hypocrisy.
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