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Sunday, October 12, 2008

Monster children of the Holocaust

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets - Matthew 7:12


Extracts from al Jazeera:

Richard Falk, the UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories, recently delivered his report to the General Assembly.

He cited continued "abuse of international humanitarian law" associated with the "separation wall", "children fatalities due to Israeli use of excessive force" to quell nonviolent demonstrations, and abuses at border crossings.

Despite the details and warnings in the report, Israel's policy of incarceration, targeted assassinations, and near starvation of millions of Palestinians has gone unabated for too long under the eyes of the international community.

This is the longest occupation (and refugee problem) since the establishment of the UN itself; four decades old … and counting. [...]

Israel has disregarded with total impunity dozens of UN resolutions "censuring", "calling", "urging", "recommending", or "condemning" its attacks, settlements, deportations, and occupation. Unfortunately, all pleas and demands for humanitarian and political interventions have fallen on deaf ears. [...]

Since the early 1970s, Washington has vetoed 42 UN Security Council resolutions critical of Israeli policies, some of which were drafted by its European allies.

If one accepts the claim that Cold War rivalries had contributed to UN paralysis with respect to the Israeli Palestinian-Arab conflict, (all 690 Soviet-Arab resolutions adopted from 1947-1990 have been ignored by the West), then how can one justify sidelining the UN since the fall of the Soviet Union?

After all, most major post-Cold War conflicts have seen direct UN involvement: Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and of late, Lebanon and Sudan.

But the UN, it seems, cannot deal with the occupation and suffering of Palestine.

Following the end of the Cold War, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict was removed from the halls of the world body and entrusted to Israel's allies in Washington. [...]

The special rapporteur also emphasised the humanitarian and health crisis in Gaza after more than a year of an Israeli siege.

He said that it should be the UN's highest priority to resume economic assistance to the people of Gaza.

He said: "In the face of an impending humanitarian catastrophe, the responsibility to do what is possible to mitigate human suffering is serious."

"This is a responsibility toward the civilian population of Gaza, and is not dependent on whether Hamas satisfies the political conditions set by Israel or whether the ceasefire holds."

2 comments:

  1. If only Israel had not been formed!! When we use the word Palestine, it would be reference to Biblical times. The ones you are referring to would most probably all be Jordanians or even Syrians or Lebanese or Egyptians or Gazans...

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  2. don't confuse contemporary (current) events with biblical references.

    We're not even talking about UN Security Council resolution 194 (right of return for Palestinians) but just 242, 465 and 476.

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