UN Human Rights Council Circus Wants To Come Back

Well, the UN's Humans Rights Council Circus wants to come to this part of the world, again:

The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday passed a resolution ordering a first probe into how Israeli settlements may be infringing on the rights of the Palestinians. The resolution was adopted by the 47-member council with 36 votes in favour and 10 abstentions. Only the United States voted against it.*

From the official release:

Human Rights Council adopts 11 resolutions on Iran, Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Israeli settlements

Human Rights Council
AFTERNOON 22 March 2012

...decided to send an independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem...

...Under its agenda item on the human rights situation in Palestine and other Occupied Arab Territories, the Council adopted resolutions on human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan in which it called upon Israel to desist from its continuous building of settlements, from imposing Israeli citizenship and Israeli identity cards and to allow the Syrian population of the occupied Syrian Golan to visit their families. With respect to the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the Council reaffirmed the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination as a basic condition for achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region of the Middle East and also reaffirmed its support for the solution of two States, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security.

Concerning the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and in the Occupied Syrian Golan, the Council demanded that Israel cease all of its settlement activities, condemned the firing of rockets against Israeli civilian areas and called upon Israel to cease prolonged closures and economic and movement restrictions, including those amounting to a blockade on the Gaza Strip. On the follow-up to the report of the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, the Council welcomed the efforts of Switzerland to reconvene a conference on measures to enforce the Fourth Geneva Convention in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and recommended that the General Assembly consider launching an urgent discussion on the legality of the use of certain munitions.

This line from an AP report drew my undivided and unpartitioned attention:

Some 300,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, an area Palestinians claim as part of a state. Israel says the issue must be resolved in peace talks.

Well, that is actually correct although the state in question, of which Judea and Samaria are to be part of, is Israel.

In the debate on a related issue, of the Resolution on the "Right of the Palestinian People to Self-Determination...A/HRC/19/L.33)...adopted by a vote of 46 in favour, 1 against and no abstentions, the Council reaffirms the inalienable, permanent and unqualified right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including their right to live in freedom, justice and dignity and to establish their sovereign, independent, democratic and viable contiguous State...", you could read this:

Palestine, speaking as the concerned country, expressed its sincere condolences to France and the families of the victims of terrorism in Toulouse. In 2010, the Palestinian people celebrated 10,000 years since the creation of the first Palestinian town of Jericho which was before Judaism, Christianity, and the arrival of Islam in the region. The right to self-determination was an ethical and legal value enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The draft resolution had not sought to exclude Israel but to protect the right of Palestinians through a fact-finding mission to be sent to investigate the colonization of Palestinian land. Some 46 per cent of Palestinian territory was under complete Israeli colonization; how could a two State solution be achieved under such circumstances?

Don't we have a right not to have historically false narratives bandied about, incorrect data distributed?

Oh, and two other items there drew my attention.

The first was this:

Action on Resolution on Freedom of Religion or Belief

In a resolution (A/HRC/19/L.23) regarding freedom of religion or belief, adopted without a vote, the Council condemns all forms of violence, intolerance and discrimination based on or in the name of religion or belief, as well as any advocacy of religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, whether it involves the use of print, audio-visual or electronic media or any other means; also condemns violence and acts of terrorism, which are increasing in number and targeting persons belonging to religious minorities across the world;...urges States to protect and promote freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief, and to this end: to ensure that adequate and effective guarantees of freedom of thought, conscience and religion or belief are provided to all without distinction; to ensure that no one within their jurisdiction is deprived of the right to life, liberty or torture because of religion or belief, and to bring to justice all perpetrators of violations of these rights; to end violations of the human rights of women and to devote particular attention to abolishing practices and legislation that discriminates against women; and to promote, through the educational system and other means, mutual understanding, tolerance, non-discrimination and respect in all matters of freedom of religion or belief...The resolution also welcomed the work of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief.

Will that to help me, as a Jew, to offset Islamic "Temple Denial"? The campaign of Palestinianism against Jewish heritage sites? **

And the second was this:

Action on Resolution on Birth Registration and the Right of Everyone to Recognition Everywhere as a Person Before the Law

In a resolution (A/HRC/19/L.24) regarding birth registration and the right to everyone to recognition everywhere as a person before the law, adopted without a vote, the Council expresses concern at the high number of persons throughout the world whose birth is not registered; calls upon States to establish or strengthen existing governmental institutions responsible for birth registration and the preservation and security of such records, and to ensure they have sufficient resources to fulfil their mandate; also calls upon States to ensure free birth registration, including free or low-fee late birth registration, by means of universal, accessible, simple, expeditious and effective registration procedures without discrimination of any kind; urges States to identify and remove physical, administrative and any other barriers that impede access to birth registration...

Can I use that against United procedure to deny my children their identity as born in Israel by refusing to append any state status to the city of Jerusalem while, on the other hand, having "West Bank" as a state for children of American citizens born in Judea and Samaria?


__________

*

The result of the vote was as follows:

In favour (36): Angola, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Congo, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda and Uruguay.

Against (1): United States.

Abstentions (10): Cameroon, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania and Spain.

Action on Resolution on the Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem

In a resolution (A/HRC/19/L.34) regarding the Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, adopted by a vote of 44 in favour, 1 against and 2 abstentions as orally revised, the Council reiterates that all measures and actions taken by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in violation of the relevant provisions of the Geneva Convention and contrary to the relevant resolutions of the Security Council, are illegal and have no validity; demands that Israel cease all actions that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people; also demands that Israel comply fully with the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949; further demands that Israel cease all of its settlement activities, the construction of the wall and any other measures aimed at altering the character, status and demographic composition of the Occupied Palestinian Territory; condemns the firing of rockets against Israeli civilian areas resulting in loss of life and injury; demands that Israel comply with its legal obligations under international law, and General Assembly resolutions, and immediately cease the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, dismantle the structure, and make reparation for all damage caused by the construction of the wall; calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to cease prolonged closures and economic and movement restrictions, including those amounting to a blockade on the Gaza Strip, and to fully implement the Agreement on Movement and Access and the Agreed Principles for the Rafah Crossing, both of 15 November 2005, in order to allow for the sustained and regular movement of persons and goods and for the acceleration of long overdue reconstruction in the Gaza Strip; and urges Member States to continue to provide emergency assistance to the Palestinian people to alleviate the financial crisis and the dire socio-economic and humanitarian situation, particularly in the Gaza Strip.


**

Marshall and Shea have been toiling for many years at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom in Washington, and the dossier they have assembled on religion and human rights shows that, in the Muslim world and beyond, the proponents of a radical and politicized Islam have set one great goal for themselves, which is not at all dreamy or utopian. The goal is to narrow the limits of what everybody else is allowed to think. The way to achieve this goal is to invoke sacred taboos against apostasy and blasphemy, together with a series of other taboos—“insulting Islam,” “corruption on earth,” “fighting against God,” “witchcraft,” and so forth.

^

Elder of Ziyon's Toon: UN Welcomes "Palestine"

Here:

^

Hosting DG on the Security Council & Int'l Law

Here:

After Mavi Marmara,

...at the Security Council on Monday voices were raised against the blockade, and the pressure to abandon it is bound to intensify.

the Security Council condemned Israel calling the blockade illegal.

Several envoys said Israel was in violation of international law, not least because Security Council resolution 1860 passed in the midst of the Gaza war in January 2009 had called for ending the blockade and opening unfettered access to humanitarian assistance throughout the strip...The United States, which habitually defends Israel in the council, said that the attempt to run the blockade by sea was ill advised...

Now the Palmer report concludes blockade is legal:

A long-awaited United Nations review of Israel’s 2010 raid on a Turkish-based flotilla in which nine passengers were killed has found that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is both legal and appropriate...

Nu, I ask you, are these guys plain dumb, uneducated or just biased against Israel?

^

Look Who Almost Came To Visit

Reported:

The United Nations Security Council could support the Palestinians' unilateral bid for statehood if Israel does not renew its freeze on new settlement construction, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry warned Israel on Tuesday.

"If the freeze is not renewed, then yes, maybe this is going to happen," Serry said as he spoke with The Jerusalem Post in an olive grove in the West Bank village of Turmus'ayya, located in the Binyamin Region near the Shiloh settlement.

"If the Palestinians living in this beautiful little town do not see that these things are being rolled back, it is difficult to convince them that we are working toward a two-state solution," Serry told reporters.

...One of the more significant symbols of the Palestinians' desire to struggle for freedom from Israel "occupation" was the olive tree, said Serry.

"There could be nothing more symbolic here in Palestine than to participate in the olive harvest. The harvest is an act of identity and self-reliance. It is a symbol of a people's unyielding attachment to their homeland," he said.

As for Salam Fayyad who was also there:

Fayyad added that the government of Israel should be held accountable for "acts of violence and terrorism committed by settlers against our people."

He called on Israel to stop settlement construction, which he said was illegal under international law. "The youngest of these olive trees, is more deeply rooted in this land than the largest Israeli settlement," he said.

Gee, had I known they were coming, I'd have baked a cake offered to discuss peace, security, Jewish rights and other items with them.

Earlier this year, Hebron with the Cave of the Patriarchs and Bethlehem with the Tomb of Rachel are also problematic for Serry:

In a statement, Robert Serry, the U.N. special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said he was concerned by Israel's announcement regarding the Hebron holy site and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, another shrine Netanyahu wants to include in the heritage plan.

"I call on Israel not to take any steps on the ground which undermine trust or could prejudice negotiations, the resumption of which should be the highest shared priority of all who seek peace," Serry said.

By the way, Haaretz adds from the Reuters report:

A senior UN official condemned attacks by Jewish "settler extremists" on Palestinians' olive trees in the occupied West Bank and called on Israel to "combat violence and terror by Israelis."

Robert Serry, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, also said he was alarmed that work had started on hundreds of new homes for settlers in the occupied territory since the end of Israel's settlement freeze last month.
West Bank mosque arson

Serry was speaking to journalists on Tuesday while olive-picking with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the village of Tormos Ayya north of Ramallah. He said settlers had destroyed hundreds of trees in the village in recent weeks.

Palestinians began harvesting olives across the West Bank this month.

"I am appalled at acts of destruction of olive trees and farmlands, desecration of mosques and violence against civilians," Serry said.

"Israel states its condemnation of attacks, which I welcome, but its record in imposing the rule of law on settlers is lamentable," he said.

"Israel must combat violence and terror by Israelis, as is expected of the Palestinian Authority in the case of violence and terror by Palestinians," he said.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman rejected Serry's use of the term "terror" in reference to Israelis and said he should have chosen his words more carefully.

"We understand that he decries acts of violence by certain settlers, but the Israeli government has been the first to condemn them and to instruct law enforcement agencies to crack down on the perpetrators - but when he speaks of terror by Israelis, does he mean Israeli suicide bombers on Palestinian buses?" spokesman Yigal Palmor said.

So, Arabs who destroy Jewish agricultural property are terrorists, too, Mr. Serry?


^

A Good Idea

Here:-

We need to treat Gaza as an enemy state. We shall guard our own borders and lock up the crossing points between us. They can go to Egypt and bring in aid from Greece or Ireland. Gaza is none of our business.

We should also end the good life of UN officials. They live in Jerusalem while traveling to Gaza to deliver harsh anti-Israel speeches. We should close off the Erez Crossing and send UN officials to handle Gaza while living in the African El-Arish. At that point, Gaza may receive similar attention to that drawn by Congo and Sudan.

Of course, we should not allow Israelis taking part in the mission, such as Raed Salah, to leave Gaza. Let them stay there. The Erez crossing is closed...

(Kippah tip: JW)

Sorry, Serry, I Can't Tolerate UN Hypocrisy

The Dutch term for hypocrisy seems to be either huichelachtigheid, schijnheiligheid or plain hypocrisie. I just want to make sure Mr. Serry gets my point.

Robert Serry is the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. I heard him almost a year ago. He has has expressed concern over Israel's inclusion of Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs and Bethlehem's Rachel’s Tomb in the National Heritage Plan. He claims as a result of this announcement that there are

"heightened tensions."

The official source is here for this:

"These sites are in occupied Palestinian territory and are of historical and religious significance not only to Judaism but also to Islam, and to Christianity as well. I urge Israel not to take any steps on the ground which undermine trust or could prejudice negotiations, the resumption of which should be the highest shared priority of all who seek peace."

And this from the UN spokesperson's office at the press conference:

Question: Regarding the presentation done by Mr. Serry, is he going to make any further contacts, Robert Serry, on Hebron and the recent attachments? Is he going to do any further contacts with the Israeli Government to rescind these decisions?

Spokesperson: Well, as I said, I’ve read out the statement, which you also have available, and he is obviously speaking to the authorities, the Palestinian Authority, and speaking to the Israeli Government the whole time. So, I would not rule that out. But, for the moment what we have is what is in the statement, which is that he is very concerned about it and he is urging Israel not to take any steps on the ground that could undermine trust or prejudice the negotiations.

Question: Besides such statements, is the Secretary-General going to do something about it, through the Quartet or through making any special contacts with the Israeli authorities…?

Spokesperson: Well, at the moment, the most import thing is we have the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert Serry. He is on the ground. That’s his job; to engage with the Israeli authorities and with the Palestinian Authority and with other in the region. And I think that that’s the right chain of command, if you like, for the moment.

Well, Mr. Serry, let's get back to huichelachtigheid or whatever. I won't even get into that "occupied Palestinian territory" mantra. So uncouth. Let's talk about what "significance" really means.

You denounce Israel's declaration of a heritage preservation program while at the same time the UN and you ignore the desecration and destruction of Judaism's most sacred religious, cultural and historical site: the Temple Mount. The Waqf Islamic Trust seeks to erase, and has been fairly successful over the years, all Jewish identity connected with that site. That's not significant?

Earth has been dumped out, left for Jews to sift through. Remains have been covered over or outright defaced and destroyed. That has no significance?

The UN should have been the first institution to come to our aid and assistance when those things occurred and while they continue to happen. And here are the warmongerers.

I don't understand why there hasn't yet been a demonstration or protest vigil outside your offices.

But there will be a Temple Mount Awareness Day soon.

Unexpectedly, Israel Gets Tough On UN

Richard Falk, the UN Human Rights Council's special rapporteur on the situation of Palestinian human rights in the West Bank and Gaza, was denied entry to Israel, it emerged Monday.

Falk, an American Jew, arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday with his entourage for his first visit since assuming his role in order to compile a report on the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories...Simona Halperin, the director of the Foreign Ministry's International Organization and Human Rights department, said that Falk was turned back since as rapporteur he was "illegitimate."

Halperin called Falk "completely unobjective," citing his comparisons of Israelis to Nazis and Israel's actions to the Holocaust, and as such, she said, he was "unwelcome."

Goodness.

Is an operation against the Gaza Qassams or to free Gild Schalit in the works?

The UN is So...Occupied

This was sent to me by a friend:



United Nations News Service 30 January 2007

Spokesperson's Noon Briefing

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

DAILY PRESS BRIEFING BY THE OFFICES OF THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
AND THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT

The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today's noon briefing by Michèle Montas, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, and the Spokesperson for the President of the General Assembly, Ashraf Kamal.

Briefing by the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General

/...


** Middle East Statement

A statement attributable to the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Secretary-General has noted today's announcement of an agreed ceasefire in Gaza, and commends Egypt for its continuing efforts to calm a volatile and worrying situation. He calls for all parties to abide by the terms of the ceasefire and to move quickly back to the process of national dialogue in the pursuit of national unity.

/...

**Questions and Answers

/...

Question: You read a statement about the situation in Gaza before and I know it's difficult to change terminology, but we have a new Secretary-General now, so let me try it again. A year and half after the last Israeli withdrew from Gaza, the UN system still refers to Gaza as an Occupied Palestinian Territory. The only people who are not Palestinian in Gaza currently are UN people. Do you mean that Gaza is occupied by the UN?

Spokesperson: Definitely not.

Question: So who is it occupied by?

Spokesperson: Well…

Correspondent: I think there are some Israeli soldiers on the border…

Question: Not borders, who is Gaza occupied by?

Spokesperson: Traditionally, this is the terminology we have used. Yes?

Question: But the situation on the ground changed since Israel withdrew from Gaza.

Spokesperson: I will look into this.

Correspondent: Thank you.

Scott Charles Arnson
410-960-6060 Cell
410-358-4795 Office Phone
215-895-9541 Fax

The Hypocrisy of It/Them All

Victor Davis Hanson on Hypocrisy

"A Modest Proposal for Middle East Peace."

There seems to be a growing renewed animus against Israel lately...So perhaps it is time for a new global approach to deal with Israel and its occupation.

Perhaps we ought to broaden our multinational and multicultural horizons...Why not simply hold an international conference on all of these issues — albeit in a far more global context, outside the Middle East?

...Perhaps there could be five U.N. sessions: disputed capitals; the right of return for refugees; land under occupation; the creation of artificial post-World War II states; and the use of inordinate force against suspected Islamic terrorists.

In the first session, we should try to solve the status of Nicosia, which is currently divided into Greek and Turkish sectors by a U.N. Greek Line. Perhaps European Union investigators could adjudicate Turkish claims that the division originated from unwarranted threats to the Turkish Muslim population on Cyprus. Some sort of big power or U.N. roadmap then might be imposed on the two parties, in hopes that the Nicosia solution would work for Jerusalem as well.

In the second discussion, diplomats might find common ground about displaced populations, many from the post-war, late 1940s. Perhaps it would be best to start with the millions of Germans who were expelled from East Prussia in 1945, or Indians who were uprooted from ancestral homes in what is now Pakistan, or over half-a-million Jews that were ethnically cleansed from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Syria following the 1967 war. Where are these refugees now? Were they ever adequately compensated for lost property and damages? Can they be given promises of the right to return to their ancestral homes under protection of their host countries? The ensuring solutions might shed light on the Palestinian aspirations to return to land lost sixty years ago to Israel.

A third panel would take up the delicate issue of returning territory lost by defeat in war. Ten percent of historic Germany is now part of Poland. The Russians still occupy many of the Kurile Islands, and Greek Cyprus lost sizable territory in 1974 after the invasion by Turkey. The Western Sahara is still annexed by Morocco, while over 15 percent of disputed Azerbaijan has been controlled by Armenia since 1994. Additionally, all of independent Tibet has been under Chinese occupation since 1950-1. Surely if some general framework concerning these occupations could first be worked out comprehensively, the results might then be applied to the much smaller West Bank and Golan Heights.

In a fourth panel, the international conference should take up the thorny issue of recently artificially created states. Given the tension over Kashmir, was Pakistan a mistake — particularly the notion of a homeland for Indian Muslims? North Korea was only created after the stalemate of 1950-3; so should we debate whether this rogue nation still needs to exist, given its violent history and threats to world peace?

Fifth, and finally, is there a global propensity to use inordinate force against Muslim terrorists that results in indiscriminate collateral damage? The Russians during the second Chechnyan War of 1999-2000 reportedly sent tactical missiles into the very core of Grozny, and may have killed tens of thousands of civilians in their hunt for Chechnyan terrorists — explaining why the United Nations later called that city the most destroyed city on earth. Syria has never admitted to the complete destruction of Hama, once home to Muslim Brotherhood terrorists. The city suffered the fate of Carthage and was completely obliterated in 1982 by the al-Assad government, with over 30,000 missing or killed. Did the Indian government look the other way in 2002 when hundreds of Muslim civilians in Gujarat were killed in reprisal for Islamic violence against Hindus? The lessons learned in this final session might reassure a world still furious over the 52 Palestinians lost in Jenin.

In other words, after a half-century of failed attempts to solve the Middle East crisis in isolation, isn’t it time we look for guidance in a far more global fashion, and in contexts where more lives have been lost, more territory annexed, and more people made refugees in places as diverse as China, Russia, and the broader Middle East?

...So let the international community begin its humanitarian work!

Greek Cypriots can advise Israel about concessions necessary to Muslims involving a divided Jerusalem. Russians and Syrians can advise the IDF on how to deal properly and humanely with Islamic terrorists. Poland, Russia, China, and Armenia might offer the proper blueprint for giving back land to the defeated that they once gained by force. A North Korea or Pakistan can offer Israel humanitarian lessons that might blunt criticisms that such a recently created country has no right to exist. Iraq and Egypt would lend insight about proper reparation and the rights of return, given its own successful solutions to the problems of their own fleeing Jewish communities.

But why limit the agenda to such a small array of issues? The world has much to teach Israel about humility and concessions, on issues ranging from how other countries in the past have dealt with missiles sent into their homeland, to cross-border incursions by bellicose neighbors.

No doubt, Middle East humanitarians such as Jimmy Carter, Arun Gandhi, and Tariq Ramadan could preside, drawing on and offering their collective past wisdom in solving such global problems to those of a lesser magnitude along the West Bank.

Which Sign Is Real?

AtlasShrugs has sass. She borrowed this from Gateway Blue and I am borrowing it from them.

Which is the real sign?





And which sign would be labelled as racist and which isn't?