A reminder once again that I am in Boston where the local time as I begin this post is 4:29 pm. It is still more than two hours before the Sabbath starts, although it started in Israel quite some time ago.
I'm sure that many of you heard Prime Minister Netanyahu's 'ethnic cleansing' remarks last week. For those who did not, let's go to the videotape.
But as Northwestern University Law Professor Eugene Kontorovich points out, Netanyahu is right. The demand that 'settlers' (in this case another way of saying 'Jews') be removed from a territory as part of ending an 'occupation' is unprecedented.
When pressed, defenders of the Palestinian position characterize the demand as no settlers rather than the uglier-sounding no Jews. The
claim is hard to take at face value, as the Palestinians have never
objected to Israeli Arabs settling across the Green Line, as they have
in significant numbers. But, granting its sincerity, what does
international law say about the demand to remove settlers as part of a
solution to a territorial conflict? To answer this question, as part of a
larger research study on settlements, I examined the fate of settlers in every occupation since the adoption of the Geneva Conventions—eight major situations in total. The results highlight how extraordinary the Palestinian demand is.
There is simply no support in international practice for the
expulsion of settlers from occupied territories. In the many situations
involving settlers around the world, the international community has
never supported expulsion, and consistently backed plans allowing the
settlers to remain in a new state.
Settlement activity is the rule rather than the exception in
situations of belligerent occupation around the world. In places like
Western Sahara and northern Cyprus, the settlers now make up a majority
of the population. In most other places, they account for a much higher
percentage of the territory’s population than Jews would in a potential
Palestinian state. In all these cases, the arrival of the settlers was
accompanied with the familiar claims of seizure of land and property,
and serious human rights abuses. Unlike the Israeli situation, it was
also accompanied with a large-scale expulsion of the prior inhabitants
from the territory.
In internationally-brokered efforts to resolve these conflicts, the
question of the fate of the settlers naturally arose. The answer, across
all these very different situations, has always been the same: the
settlers stay. Indeed, the only point of dispute has typically been what
proportion of settlers receive automatic citizenship in any
newly-created state and what proportion merely gets residence
status. Thus, when East Timor, for example, received independence in an
internationally-approved process, none of the Indonesian settlers were
required to leave. The current U.N.-mediated peace plan for Western
Sahara and Cyprus not only presupposes the demographically dominant
settler population can remain, it also gives it a right to vote in
referenda on potential deal.
This is not because these settlers are beloved by the surrounding
population. The opposite is true. In the Paris peace talks to end the
Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia, representatives of the latter tried
to raise the possibility of expelling the nearly million Vietnamese
settlers. Their arguments were familiar: the settlers remind them of the
occupation, rekindle ancient hatreds, and destabilize the peace. Yet
the Cambodian demand for the mass removal of ethnic Vietnamese was
rejected outright by diplomats: One simply cannot ask for such things.
Indeed, uniform international practice shows that the removal
of settlers is an obstacle to peace. In those occupations that have
been resolved—East Timor, Cambodia, Lebanon—such demands would have been
a complete deal-breaker. And those still subject to international
diplomacy, however slim the chances of resolution, there would not even
be a pretense of negotiation had demands similar to the Palestinians
been made.
In short, the Palestinians couching their objection as one about
removing “settlers” rather than Jews does not change the harsh reality.
There is simply no precedent in international practice for the demand.
Whatever term one uses for such a demand, Netanyahu was clearly right to
call attention to the extraordinary nature of the demand. It is also
disappointing that, instead of exercising moral leadership on this
issue, the ADL went against its mission by seemingly excusing singular
treatment for Jews.
Perhaps, instead of referring to a 'Palestinian' demand for 'ethnic cleansing,' Netanyahu should have spoken about a 'Palestinian' demand for a Judenrein state. That would have put the 'Palestinian' demand into its proper context.
Obama wants to be UN Secretary General, Netanyahu determined to stop him
US President Hussein Obama doesn't want to go off into the sunset in January 2017. He wants to become Secretary General of the United Nations. And Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is determined to stop him (Hat Tip: Fox Nation).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly is planning payback for President Obama’s dismissing Mr. Netanyahu’s objections to the Iran nuclear deal last year. Mr. Netanyahu
is said to be rallying moderate Arabs to thwart Mr. Obama’s bid to
become the Secretary-General of the United Nations after he leaves the
White House next year.
Mr. Obama has already discussed the issue
with Republican, Democratic and Jewish officials in the United States,
according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida.
Mr. Netanyahu
recently is said to have gotten wind of Obama’s plans which he calls
the Obama Project. “Wasn’t eight years of having Obama in office
enough?” Mr. Netanyahu is quoted in the Kuwaiti daily as telling associates. “Eight years during which he ignored Israel? And now he wants to be in a position that is liable to cause us hardships in the international arena.”
Actually, the problem isn't that he ignored us - the problem is that he is obsessed with us.
But what's really interesting is that Netanyahu is enlisting the 'moderate' Arab states to help block the leader of the 'most pro-Israel administration evah.'
“Obama is the worst president Israel has had to deal with and the worst president for the Middle East and its allies, the moderate Arab states,” the paper quotes a Netanyahu aide.
Another
source close to the Prime Minister said “his presidency was
characterized by [Washington’s] moving closer to the Muslim Brotherhood,
toppling the regime of Hosni Mubarak, and attempts to ally itself with
political Islam.”
“Obama’s term is ending with him forging an alliance with Iran,
coming to an agreement with it on its nuclear program which in the end
will result in a similar scenario that took place with North Korea. Israel will not allow this to happen … It will take all of the necessary steps to prevent Iran from manufacturing a nuclear weapon either covertly or overtly.”
And you were wondering how Netanyahu really feels about Obama?
Does this mean that we can expect an Israeli attack on Iran once Obama is out of office? Hmmm.
In case you were wondering about the timing of this perfect storm, Townhall adds:
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's term expires in early 2017, making
Obama’s bid for the position a possibility. Last year after his speech
at West Point, some pointed out that he sounded an awful lot like he was campaigning for the role.
Even UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called the flotilla of fools currently heading for Gaza 'not helpful.'
“[Secretary General Ban Ki-moon] continues to
believe that a flotilla will not help to address the dire situation in
Gaza and reiterates his calls on the government of Israel to lift all
closures, with due consideration of Israel’s legitimate security
concerns,” Undersecretary General Jeffrey Feltman said at a Security
Council briefing.
“The international community must send an
unambiguous message to the organizers and participants of these
provocations that such initiatives only serve to raise tensions in our
region,” Prosor wrote. “This attempt to challenge Israel’s naval
blockade of Gaza holds the potential for dangerous consequences The
flotilla’s sole purpose is to create provocations that pose security
risks, and constitute a breach of international law.”
Feltman said Ban was “closely following media reports” about the flotilla.
Ban is also 'deeply concerned' with the health of terrorists.
Feltman also said Ban was “deeply concerned”
about Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel, naming Islamic Jihad
detainee Khader Adnan, who has been on hunger strike for nearly two
months to protest his detainment under administrative detention, which
allows Israel to hold prisoners without charging them.
The Red Cross on Tuesday said Adnan faced “immediate risk of death.”
He wouldn't be facing an immediate threat of death if he weren't starving himself. Maybe he should consider breaking his fast.... /Just sayin'....
In any event, it is truly amazing how much time Ban has to devote to Gaza given the true suffering going on in Syria, Iran, Iraq and many other countries that are living under truly repressive regimes. Oh wait... Gaza is also living under a truly repressive regime... Hamas... It would be nice to see Ban criticize them once in a while too.
By the way, if the name "Jeffrey Feltman" rings a bill, it's because it should. He's a former State Department diplomat....
No, @BarakRavid, the United Nations did not condemn rocket fire on Israel
Haaretz's @BarakRavid has criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu for taking note before Sunday morning's cabinet meeting of the lack of United Nations condemnation of rocket fire on Israel (including Saturday night).
Netanyahu said UN didn't condemn rocket fire from Gaza. But what do you know? It did. Bibi needs better briefers http://t.co/0TgKzEPW2z
But if you follow the link Ravid provides, you discover that it wasn't the United Nations that condemned the rocket fire, but rather UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. And even that 'condemnation' created a moral equivalence between terrorist rocket fire and Israeli self-defense.
The Secretary-General condemns the firing of rockets by militants from
Gaza towards Israel on 3 June. He calls on all parties to avoid further
escalation and prevent incidents that jeopardise the lives of Israeli
and Palestinian civilians.
A real condemnation would be issued by the Security Council and would call for action only by the party doing the attacking. This was not a real condemnation. That's why Prime Minister Netanyahu is correct in asserting.
Israel's @Netanyahu tells cabinet he doubts international silence on Gaza rocket fire will hold "when we defend ourselves with full might".
Netanyahu rips Monkey Moon over 'occupation' comment
Prime Minister Netanyahu has slammed UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon for referring to Gaza as 'occupied.'
"The root cause of the
violence that burst from Gaza is not Israel’s occupation in Gaza, for a
simple reason: Israel doesn’t occupy Gaza," Netanyahu explained. "Israel
left Gaza to the very last centimeter, to the very last inch. We
uprooted all the settlements and vacated all the settlers. So there is no Israeli occupation of Gaza."
Netanyahu then pointed out that Ban justified Hamas's rocket barrage despite the fact that it used the UN's own facilities to break international law.
"The root cause of this
summer's outburst of violence was Hamas' rocketing of Israeli cities,
and these rocket attacks often exploited UN neutrality, using UN
facilities and UN schools as part of the Hamas machine of terror," he
thundered. "And when rockets were discovered inside UN
schools, some UN officials handed them back to Hamas – that very same
Hamas that was rocketing Israeli cities and Israeli civilians."
The Prime Minister then reiterated the fact that Hamas is a terror group dedicated to genocide against Jews.
"The root cause of Hamas’ rocket fire on Israel is Hamas’ opposition to Israel’s very existence," he declared. "Hamas
doesn't give a hoot for the 1967 lines. For them, Israel has no right
to live, in any borders. Hamas rejects our very existence. They’re
committed to killing every Israeli and every Jew. You just have to read
their charter – they say that very plainly."
"So Hamas is the enemy of all of us who seek peace," he continued.
Monkey Moon bashes Israel for non-existent 'settlement construction'
Moadim l'Simcha, a happy holiday to all of you.
Just a day after Housing Minister Uri Ariel admitted that there is a de facto building freeze in Judea, Samaria and 'east' Jerusalem, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon attacked Israel for 'settlement building.'
Ban was in Ramallah, where he held a joint news conference with
Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government Prime Minister Rami
Hamdallah. Just a day earlier he justified Hamas terrorism by saying its
cause is Israeli "occupation," at a Cairo donor conference on Sunday that raised $5.4 billion for Gaza.
"While rebuilding is important, we must tackle the root causes of instability. We
must give renewed attention to the West Bank. I once again strongly
condemn the continued settlement activity by Israel," said Ban on
Monday, according to AFP.
The statement may be a reference to construction plans in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Hamatos that far-left group Peace Now raised to thwart Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's visit with US President Barack Obama two weeks ago.
The move was in fact merely the approval of building tenders at
some future date in the Jewish neighborhood of Israel's capital, and
leaves intact the building freeze gripping the area.
Moon also attacked 'provocations' on the Temple Mount after Israeli police prevented 'Palestinians' from preventing Jews from ascending the Mount (you should have heard all the noise around 6:00 am this morning) by locking them in the al-Aqsa mosque.
"I am...deeply concerned by repeated provocations at the holy sites in Jerusalem. These only inflame tensions and must stop," said Ban.
There's more - read the whole thing. It has to make you wonder why Israel bothers to be in the United Nations at all.
Citing Israeli officials who have confirmed fresh details that have come
to light, Army Radio says that the incident appears to have been borne
out of a misunderstanding between the two men who brokered the
cease-fire – US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon – and the Israeli government.
Israel and the US accused Hamas of violating the cease-fire.
For his part, Hamas diplomatic bureau chief Khaled Mashaal claimed that
there was no violation of the truce, since Hamas never agreed to hold
its fire against IDF soldiers who were operating on Gazan soil in search
of tunnels.
Israeli officials confirmed to Army Radio that in
retrospect Mashaal and Hamas never committed to a truce deal whereby it
pledged not to act against IDF troops in Gaza even though Washington led
the Israeli government to believe that Hamas did in fact promise to do
just that.
“We
demanded two things from the Americans,” a diplomatic source in
Jerusalem is quoted as telling Army Radio. “We wanted a cease-fire, and
we wanted complete freedom of operation against the tunnels, without the
threat of coming under fire from Hamas.”
“We demanded it in
writing, that Hamas accepts these conditions,” the official said. “There
were also the statements to the press.”
Kerry broke the news of
the three-day, unconditional truce in a statement to the media. A UN
spokesperson also confirmed that as part of the cease-fire, IDF troops
would be permitted to remain in place, where they would have a free hand
to ferret out more tunnels. In other words, the perception in Israel
was that Hamas had agreed to hold their fire while the IDF searched for
tunnels in Gaza, what in hindsight turned out to be incorrect.
There's a new poll of 'Palestinians' out asking whom they believe was deterred by the results of Operation Protective Edge. Guess what? It's not Hamas.
Dr. Kukali: “The PA-President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) enjoys the
satisfaction of his people in Gaza Strip with his performance”.
The key poll results are:
(61.2%) of the Palestinians oppose the deployment of UN-multi-national
forces in Gaza Strip.
(54.0%) are satisfied with the performance of the PA-president “Abu Mazen”.
(64.7%) rated the stances of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as
“negative”. (88.9%) support the firing of rockets from Gaza at Israel.
(58.1%) are content with the ICRC performance, (71.2 %) with that of the
UNRWA. (75.4%) believe that the deterrence of the Palestinian Resistance has
increased.
Their greatest strategic asset is the knowledge that, however
outrageous their behavior, large segments of the press and political
class (especially in Europe), and the “human rights” and international
communities led by the United Nations will effectively side with them,
directing their wrath primarily at Israel, and protecting them from
total defeat, so that they can proclaim victory from the ruin and
devastation they authored.
Hamas knows that, despite the consistent evidence of their mendacity,
their fabrications will be widely disseminated as facts by news and
human rights groups. These lies inflict enormous damage on Israel even
when the truth later emerges. Any honest observer appreciates that the
Israel Defense Forces exert greater efforts to minimize civilian
casualties than any army in history, and actually have a
civilian-to-fighter casualty ratio that is relatively low for modern
warfare (despite the fact that Hamas designs its chosen battlefield
specifically to maximize civilian damage).
But Hamas knows that the press will gleefully play the body-count game,
as though its infographics speak to causation or moral culpability.
They also know that every conflagration they provoke causes the world’s
oldest hatred to bubble up again, more virulently each time.
These are the carcinogens that feed this cancer and fan the flames of
violence in the region. When Kenneth Roth, head of Human Rights Watch
(HRW), arguably the world’s most powerful human rights organization,
tweets that, “Tunnels used to attack or capture soldiers isn't [a human
rights violation],” Hamas is encouraged to dig more tunnels.
When MP David Ward says that he would fire a rocket if he lived in
Gaza, Hamas is urged to fire more rockets.When Business Secretary Vince
Cable decides to suspend UK arms export licences to Israel when Hamas
violates cease-fires and Israel retaliates, Hamas is incentivized to
violate cease-fires.
When Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW’s Middle East and North Africa director
declares it, “abhorrent that Israeli forces are . . . blatantly
violating the laws of war" (based solely on interviews with Gaza
residents), when the United Nations Human Rights Commission orders yet
another lopsided anti-Israel “fact-finding” mission, and its High
Commissioner Navi Pillay offers platitudes of moral equivalence accusing
“both sides” of “indiscriminate killing of civilians,” when
empty-headed celebrities blabber incoherently about Israeli “massacres”
and “genocide,” then Hamas knows that its diabolical tactics are
working.
The blood of those Palestinian children (and Israel’s children) is on
the hands of those who irresponsibly, even if unwittingly, give Hamas
such support, hope and inspiration.
Israel's UN ambassador hits back at Ban Ki-Moon's 'war crimes' allegation
After UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon accused Israel of 'war crimes' in Gaza, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations hit back hard.
First, here's Ban Ki-Moon. Let's go to the videotape.
Ron Prosor, Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, hit back.
"If the UN assembly had invested a tenth of the energy invested in
investigating Israel, it would reveal horrific war crimes on the part of
Hamas," Prosor fired.
"The international community has lost its way," he continued. "This organization was founded to promote morality, truth and justice. Unfortunately, that is not its mission now."
Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal gave a speech tonight. Not from Gaza of course.
Much of the speech is a disgusting mix of anti-Semitism and rage. But here are the parts that matter:
Resistance proved to be more moral than Netanyahu's army. We will never disarm. Resistance is a right
Resistance will only disarm on 2 conditions. 1) Israel to end all its occupation of Palestine 2) Israel has to disarm too.
People were displaced inside Gaza. No one will leave Gaza. Refugees will be coming back, and this war makes it sooner.
We don't use our people as human shields. Contrary is true. Israel failed
to break the resistance and thus Netanyahu punishes civilians.
During this humanitarian disaster, I'm calling all the Human rights organizations to put pressure on Israel to stop its genocides.
We care for a humanitarian ceasefire we support like this week. But it should be real and give aid to people and not trick us.
Our main demand is to end the Israeli offensives against our people and to completely lift the siege.
My conclusion from Meshaal there is no eminent ceasefire because the Palestinian resistance conditions are not met.
Our demands are legitimate and we have provided them to everyone, we will not stop the fire before agreeing to our demands.
We have 6 conditions and you consider them too much? After so much blood? And after so much resilience?
We want the aggression to end now, but if you bet on our patience we can take it as long as it take to end the siege.
I wish I were in Gaza now.
6 demands. then unite to free Palestine, bring back the refugees, use
all sorts of resistance, to free JErsalem. End collaboration.
Somea re talking about ending the siege AFTER the ceasefire. We tried that. We do not accept it now.
If Kerry wants to reach an agreement, I invite him to go to Gaza where decision making takes place and final word is not Ramallah.
Ban Ki-Moon should go to Gaza and see the crimes there!
It doesn't look like this is ending anytime soon. There is NO chance that Israel will lift the blockade as part of a cease fire arrangement, especially after what's been discovered in the last week.
As to him wishing he could be in Gaza... where does he wish to be? In the bunker under Shifa? Surely not fighting. That's for the small people.
Are we to assume that the United States believes that Air Force 2 could shoot down shrapnel from a Hamas rocket, like the shrapnel (no, it wasn't a rocket - link in Hebrew) that hit a home five kilometers from Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday leading to an FAA ban on flying here?
"We have certainly made some steps forward. There is still work to be
done," Kerry said shortly after arriving in Jerusalem for a meeting with
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He declined to give any details.
Kerry arrived in Tel Aviv earlier on Wednesday " to meet with
officials to discuss the ongoing cease-fire efforts," State Department
spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
"He will also travel to Jerusalem and
the West Bank, and will be meeting with Palestinian Authority President
[Mahmoud] Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister [Binyamin] Netanyahu," she
added.
On Tuesday, Kerry held talks with Egyptian officials in
Cairo, while Ban met with leaders in Jerusalem and Ramallah. As of
Tuesday night, there was no sign that a cease-fire was imminent.
Israel pounds Gaza despite international peace efforts
Excuse me? Israel has accepted every cease fire offered over the last two weeks. Hamas has refused every one. Within the last hour, Israel Radio reported that John Kerry has given up and that Ban Ki-Moon is about to admit that the reason there is no cease fire is because Hamas is not backing off demands that would turn a rout into a victory and make Israel pay a penalty for winning.
So Israel continues to pound Hamas in the hope that it will agree to a cease fire (or will lose all of its strategic assets if it fails to do so), and al-Reuters makes it sound like we should stop fighting and wait for Hamas to come to terms?
Parts of the article aren't much better. The headline reflects the tone of the article. And that is precisely the problem. You would have no clue from reading the article that the reason that there is no cease fire is that the Hamas leadership in Gaza - safely ensconced in its bunker underneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City - does not want one. They would rather fight to the last civilian. But don't expect Reuters to clue you in on that.
US Secretary of State John FN Kerry and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon are in the area today. Anne Bayefsky explains why they're not welcome right now.
It is hard to imagine two more unwelcome, uninvited visitors to Israel
in the middle of a war against Palestinian terrorists than UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry. But
even more unwelcome is that they are working together.
Their common cause is that although Israel has a right of self-defense
in theory, Israel ought to be prevented from exercising this right in
practice.
...
On July 16, 2014, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) issued a report stating: “the Israeli military delivered
text messages to virtually all the residents of Ash Shuja’iyya and Az
Zaitun neighborhoods in eastern Gaza city, approximately 100,000 people,
warning them to leave their homes by 8 am today (16 July), ahead of
attacks to be launched in the area.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF)
also made phone calls and distributed leaflets.
OCHA then describes what came next: “Subsequently, the Palestinian
Ministry of Interior in Gaza reportedly instructed the residents to…not
flee the area.” As a result, OCHA admits: “the vast majority decided to
stay.”
This story tells us both that Israel adhered to the Geneva Convention
demand of providing “effective advance warning” to civilians and that
Hamas violated the rule forbidding parties to “direct the movement of
…civilians in order to shield military objectives from attack.”
What was Hamas trying to protect when it used Palestinians as human shields in Shuja’iyya?
The IDF refers to Shuja’iyya as the Hamas’ “terror fortress” in the Gaza
Strip. The IDF has found more than ten openings to tunnels in
Shuja’iyya and since July 8, Hamas has fired over 140 rockets at Israel
from this neighborhood alone. As IDF Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz
put it: “Hamas has built a war machine in residential areas.”
This is another violation of the laws of armed conflict. By deliberately
locating its terrorist infrastructure in the midst of Shuja’iyya’s
civilian population, Hamas violates the prohibition on “locating
legitimate military targets within or near densely populated areas."
Following the warnings, the IDF went into the Shuja’iyya neighborhood –
and is still there – for the purpose of destroying the tunnels that have
been designed and used to attack Israeli civilians. This is Hamas’
most basic war crime of all. In the words of the Geneva Conventions,
civilians “shall not be the object of attack.”
...
What is clear is the outrageous reaction of UN Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon. On July 20, 2014 he said: “dozens more civilians, including
children, have been killed in Israeli military strikes in the Shuja’iyya
neighborhood in Gaza. I condemn this atrocious action. Israel must
exercise maximum restraint and do far more to protect civilians.”
Ban Ki-moon said nothing about Hamas having failed to protect
Palestinian civilians. He said nothing about Hamas having put
Palestinian civilians directly in harm’s way. In fact he said nothing
about any “atrocious action” by Hamas. He also made no demand that
Hamas “restrain” itself from fulfilling its stated goal, namely, that
“Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will
obliterate it.”
For the UN, no move that Israel makes short of surrender to the Palestinian mob, will ever be sufficient.
When Palestinian civilians did heed Israel’s warnings and did not die,
on July 16, 2014 OCHA complained “the relocation experience has
been…traumatic…Women have reported stress due to their inability to
maintain…modesty norms…[in] overcrowded spaces...”
Five million Israelis have just seconds to run for a bomb shelter and
save their lives. Older people have died from heart failure when the
sirens go off. Small children flee rockets raining down on their
kindergartens and spend hours trapped between four walls day after day.
Let alone the parents and brothers and sisters of the 50,000 plus heroic
young men and women on the front lines who spend every waking minute
dreading a phone call, haunted by the prospect of kidnapping by very
real monsters.
The truth is the UN doesn’t give a damn about the suffering of Israelis.
...
When Ban Ki-moon comes knocking, therefore, his bona fides are non-existent. So why is Secretary Kerry by his side?
Israel’s envoy to the UN told reporters that Israel would not support a
cease-fire agreement, despite calls for one by both the UN
Secretary-General and the Palestinian ambassador in their speeches. “Our
clear goal is to dismantle the infrastructure that Hamas has amassed,”
Prosor said. “They [Hamas] have turned this whole place [Gaza] into a
launching pad of terror.
“Hamas dragged us into this conflict,” Prosor told the Council,
citing the abduction and murder of Eyal Yifrah, Gil-ad Shaer and
Naftali Fraenkel. Prosor also accused Hamas of using civilians as human
shields, an accusation the Palestinian envoy roundly rejected.
Prosor
called, again, for the UN to denounce the Palestinian unity government.
"Since when does a terrorist organization get a seat and a voice at the
UN?" he asked.
“Some in this Chamber have criticized Israel for
finally responding to these provocations. They have accused us of
reacting disproportionately,” he said. “Asking Israel to show restraint
while our cities are under constant attack is like asking the fire
brigade to battle an inferno with nothing more than buckets of water.”
In
the Security Council chamber, Prosor took out his phone and played the
sound of an air-raid siren. “Fifteen seconds,” he told the diplomats.
“That’s how much time you have to run for your life.”
...
When asked by reporters at a press conference after the meeting if
the Palestinian Authority accepted responsibility for the rockets fired
by Hamas at Gaza, Mansour responded, “The Palestinian people are one.
The government is one. The president is president Abbas. We are
defending ourselves against this aggression toward our people.”
“The
immediate thing that we want is for the Security Council to shoulder
its responsibility and stop this aggression against our people,” Mansour
said on Wednesday. He also repeatedly denounced what he called Israel’s
attempts to “discredit” the unity government. On Thursday, flanked by
representatives from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, Mansour struck out
directly at Prosor for Israel’s calls on the UN to denounce the new
government. “This is an exercise in futility,” Mansour said, calling the
Israeli government racist.
“I am proud that I represent the
Palestinian people, who are respected in every corner of the globe,”
Mansour said. “I am not a representative of a government that is totally
isolated and disrespected in the international community.”
“We
did not start this round of attacks. It is the Israeli government,”
Mansour said. “After the killing of the three settlers [Eyal, Gilad and
Naftali], they started this attack against our people. The rockets came
after that.”
That last bit is nonsense. The rockets were flying the entire time the three kidnapped teens weren't found.
But here's the amazing part:
Amidst the back and forth between the Arab nations and Israel,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon appealed for calm and restraint on all
sides. Appearing before reporters on Wednesday — a rare occurrence —
specifically to address the Gaza situation, Ban said, “Gaza is on a
knife-edge…This is a time for justice, not for revenge. It is a time
for statesmanship and wisdom.”
Ban told reporters and the
Security Council on Thursday that he had been in intense discussions
with world leaders, including US secretary of state John Kerry, over how
to handle the situation, and said the UN was stepping up its
humanitarian activities in the area.
In his speech to the council,
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said his paramount concern was for the
civilians, who are “once again… caught between Hamas's irresponsibility
and Israel's tough response.”
He called both parties back to the
table to renew talks for the two-state solution. “We face the risk of an
all-out escalation in Israel and Gaza, with the threat of a ground
offensive still palpable -- and preventable only if Hamas stops rocket
firing,” he said. “Gaza, and the region as a whole, cannot afford
another full-blown war and another fault line.”
He called Hamas irresponsible? Unbelievable. But no, there will be no negotiations with Hamas and there won't be any with a Hamas-Fatah unity government either.
Just when you thought things couldn't get any more absurd with the 'international community'....
A spokesperson for United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
said Tuesday night that the UN has no "concrete evidence" that Eyal Yifrah, 19, Naftali Frenkel, 16, and Gilad Sha'ar, 16, were "actually" kidnapped by Hamas terrorists last Thursday.
The spokesperson, Farhan Haq, was quoted by Voice of Israel public radio as saying the UN does not have an independent investigative unit that could confirm the kidnapping.
Making Haq's words more confusing is the fact that Ban already
condemned the kidnapping on Saturday, noting particularly that two of
the kidnapped Israeli students are minors.
Hmmm....
I wonder if Farhan Haq has been doing some freelancing.... With that last name, I am going to guess (although he was born in the US - yes, I checked) that he's from a Pakistani Muslim family.
Somehow the 'international community' is managing to pretend that Hamas is not a member of the Hamas-Fatah unity government. And therefore, it has convinced itself that said 'government' does not constitute a threat to peace. The 'real threat to peace' according to the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, is building homes for Jews. This is from the first link.
The US envoy told Army Radio Thursday, "We oppose construction in the
settlements and this type of announcement about building. This would
happen with or without the disagreement on the new Palestinian
transitional government."
Shapiro responded to Israeli criticism
of Washington's decision to work with the new Palestinian government.
"We have no illusions about Hamas. Hamas is a terrorist organization. We
have no relations with Hamas, we will not work with them , we will not
give them aid, we will not work with a government in which Hamas sits."
To say that Hamas is not sitting in the new 'technocratic' government is an act of verbal acrobatics that is worthy of a Cirque de Soleil show. Given that Hamas signed off on every minister in this government, to say that Hamas is not part of it is an optical delusion.
Then there are the Euroweenies, who are not and never have been friends of Israel. This is from the second link.
"We are deeply disappointed that the Israeli Land Administration has published new tenders
for 1,466 housing units in settlements in east Jerusalem and the rest of
the West Bank," the statement read. "This move is unhelpful to peace
efforts."
Which peace efforts might those be? Surely not any with which the 'Palestinians' are cooperating.
"We call on the Israeli authorities to reverse this decision and to
direct all their efforts towards an early resumption of the peace
talks," it continued.
Here's Israel's response. Let's go to the videotape.
The Euroweenies added an additional threat:
The EU has been working to clarify its legal economic guidelines
regarding West Bank settlement products, and included what could be seen
as a veiled threat of sanctions in their statement.
"We recall
that the EU Foreign Affairs Council has also reaffirmed its commitment
to fully and effectively implement existing legislation in relation to
settlements," it said.
And of course the United Nations had to pile on. This is from the third link.
While the European Union (EU) stated that it was "deeply disappointed"
by the move and called for Israel to "reverse" the construction
announcements, Ban was "deeply concerned" according to his spokesperson
Stephane Dujarric, reports AFP.
"As the United Nations has reiterated on many occasions, the
building of settlements on occupied territory is illegal under
international law," said Dujarric on behalf of Ban. It is worth noting
that the 2012 Levy Reportfound that Judea and Samaria are not "occupied territory" under international law.
Ban called on both parties "to avoid taking unilateral actions on the ground that would further diminish the chances of reaching a negotiated final peace agreement."
Hey Monkey Moon - is forming a government with a designated terror organization unilateral enough for you?
"The secretary general calls on Israel to heed the calls of the international community to freeze settlement activity and abide by its commitments under international law and the roadmap," Ban added.
When is the 'international community' going to ask the 'Palestinians' to abide by their commitments under the road map?
But a special place in the Hall of Shame goes to State Department mouthpiece Marie Harf:
From Foggy Bottom, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf
reinforced Shapiro's interview, endorsing his characterization of the
tense exchange between anonymous US and Israeli officials.
"We
have been clear that we will judge this new technocratic government by
its actions," Harf said. "Again, their primary goal is to set up
elections."
She declined to call the Israeli response
hypocritical, given Israel's transfer of aid the day of the unity
government's formation. But Harf reserved harsher words for a rebuke of
Israel's settlement announcement on Thursday, calling the development
"unhelpful and counterproductive," and their ultimate construction
"illegitimate."
"We are deeply disappointed," Harf said. Asked
whether the US would go further, and possibly ask the Israeli government
to reverse the decision, Harf declined to comment.
Hey - you know what? We're 'deeply disappointed' too. Deeply disappointed that the 'most pro-Israel government evah' (or so they claim) would not immediately disavow a junta in which one of the partners is a designated terror organization that's dedicated to murdering all of us.
Of course: UN accepts 'state of Palestine' into conventions
The United Nations has accepted the 'state of Palestine's applications to join 15 international conventions, the 'Palestinian foreign ministry' announced on Thursday.
The acceptance of the “State of Palestine” is immediately valid in
the following treaties: the UN Convention against Torture; the
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racist
Discrimination; the International Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities; the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the
optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child that
deals with the involvement of children in armed conflicts.
The acceptance into two other conventions will take place on July 2:
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
The Palestinian foreign ministry noted that the “State of Palestine”
seeks to work with the rest of the signatories to the conventions to
advance human rights and spread the culture of freedom, justice and
legitimate rights of nations – and especially of the Palestinian nation,
which “has suffered for a long time from injustice and violation of its
rights as a nation and a state under occupation.”
The ministry added that the international conventions help establish
the legal status of "Palestine" as a country like all others, and of the
resistance to systematic violations of the rights of Palestinians by
Israel, the “occupying entity.”
The statement stressed that the Palestinian Authority will continue
down this path until the occupation is removed and until “the
realization of the unrelinquishable rights of the Palestinian people,
including its right to self-definition and independence, and the return
of its refugees in accordance with legitimate international decisions.”
It's a good question and ought to be sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Unfortunately, the answer is obvious. No one cares when Muslims kill Muslims. They only care when Joooz kill Muslims.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
