Ban Ki-Moon calls Hamas irresponsible
Yes, this rates a flying pig. Israel must be winning because the Security Council met, but the amazing part is that
no one seems too worried about the 'Palestinians.'
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.
Labels: Ban Ki-Moon, Hamas rockets, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Riyad Mansour, Ron Prosor, United Nations, United Nations Security Council
'Palestinians' complain to UN about Lieberman
The 'Palestinians' have complained to the United Nations Security Council that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is '
inciting' people to kill
'moderate' '
Palestinian' President
Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen. This is from the first link.
Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour handed a letter to Security Council President, Nigerian Ambassador Joy Ogwu. "We write to express our grave concern over the incitement by Israel's Foreign Minister against H.E President Mahmoud Abbas," the letter stated.
Avigdor Lieberman, who is the main coalition partner of Prime Minister Netanyahu, declared that President Abbas was the 'greatest obstacle' to peace. We unequivocally reject and object to such incitement, which we consider to be a clear threat against the life of President Mahmoud Abbas, whose commitment to peace is absolutely unquestionable. "
Mansour stated, on behalf of the PLO, that the Palestinians regard Lieberman's statements as Israel's official policy. "We voice our concern that these hostile declarations in fact reflect the true intentions of the Israeli government," he wrote. Mansour added that such threats must be directly confronted "for they foment hatred and violence towards the Palestinian people and exacerbate the already high tensions and deep mistrust between the sides."
...
An Israeli state official said in response, "There is no reason for alarm over such idle threats. We are not engaged in bolstering or weakening Abbas. They have an interest to retain their political and economic power and they won't give that up so soon."
I'm not sure why the 'Palestinian Authority' is so upset. If Abu Mazen is an obstacle to peace like Lieberman says he is, that ought to make him a hero among the 'Palestinians.' What they really want is to destroy the State of Israel.
Labels: Abu Mazen, Avigdor Lieberman, Palestinian Authority, Riyad Mansour, United Nations Security Council
'Palestinians' tell UN they're 'ready' to govern themselves
The 'Palestinian Authority's envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, told the Security Council on Tuesday that the 'Palestinians' are 'ready' to
govern themselves.
"With international political and financial support this plan has reached its objectives as acknowledged by the international community,” he said. “We have completed our responsibilities and are ready to govern ourselves. “
He added: “We cannot keep waiting for Israel to negotiate with good faith.”
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor, speaking after Mansour, told the Security Council that security and recognition of Israel as a Jewish State are the two linchpin issues that must be acknowledged by Palestinians in order to reach a final agreement and two-state solution.
Prosor said that he supported a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state residing "alongside and not instead of the Jewish state." That Palestinian state, the ambassador added, must be demilitarized and supported by a strong education system, halting teachings of hatred and anti-Israeli sentiment.
The Israeli ambassador rejected any unilateral move by the Palestinians, including seeking state recognition at the UN General Assembly, and dismissed such efforts as an attempt to bypass negotiations with Israel. Prosor said such efforts would be futile for Palestinians, saying only bilateral negotiations presented a solution.
"To the Palestinians I also issue a call," Prosor said. "Take Israel’s outstretched hand. Seize the opportunities before us to advance down the real road toward peace – a road of solutions not resolutions; dialogue not monologue; and direct negotiations not unilateral declarations."
"Whether the Palestinians bring forward a resolution in the General Assembly or by invoking the 'Uniting for Peace' resolution it is clear that the Palestinians are not united and are far from united for peace," Prosor said.
The Israeli ambassador added, "There is much uncertainty about the future Palestinian government: its acceptance of the Quartet conditions, the peace process, control of its security forces, and many other questions. It will take at least a year until after the Palestinian elections next year before it is clear what Palestinian unity really means."
Although we don't know yet what 'Palestinian unity' means, it's clear that one thing it doesn't mean is peace. Either the unity deal is a sham that will come apart (which seems likely) or Hamas will continue to insist on trying to destroy Israel (which is also likely) or both. In any event, we know enough to know that this is not the way to 'two states living alongside each other in peace.' This is the way to an effort to chop the Jewish state up piece by piece.
The issue is not whether the 'Palestinians' are ready to govern themselves (although clearly they are not and they will still be totally dependent on 'international assistance'). The issue is whether they are willing to live in peace with their neighbors and whether they are willing and able to take the actions necessary to ensure that they live in peace with their neighbors. Unfortunately, the answer to that question is clearly no.
Israel, at long last, has
started to fight back.
Now Israel’s deputy foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, has signalled a welcome change of strategy with a short video he has fronted here. In this he sets out the true facts: that Israel did not steal the West Bank from its true owners – indeed, could not have stolen it, since the land never had any sovereign owner; that Israel took it not from the Palestinians, who never owned it, but from Jordan, which had itself illegally occupied it; that Jews have been legally entitled to live in the West Bank ever since the second decade of the last century when the world’s then governing body, the League of Nations, gave them the right to settle in it; that far from not giving up any ground, the Jews saw their legal entitlement to the land hugely reduced when some three quarters of it was hived off to become Jordan; and that far from being a national border, the 1967 boundary merely marked the ceasefire line in the war of extermination mounted by the Arabs against Israel at its re-birth – and that it was the Arabs who insisted it should have no legal significance.
This is not to say that Israel should hold on to all the disputed territory -- far from it. But the west should be helped to understand that, as a matter of law and justice, Israel is entitled to choose what to give up in its own interests -- because Israel, not its Arab would-be destroyers, stands for justice and law. All Ayalon does in this video is spell out the facts about this. That simple but crucial approach is what has been neglected until now in Israel’s defence strategy. This video marks a sharp turn for the better.
Will all of Israel's politicians and diplomats adopt the aggressive tone of Danny Ayalon? That remains to be seen. Given past precedent, I don't have a lot of confidence that they will. But Ayalon's video is clearly a breath of fresh air.
Labels: Danny Ayalon, Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Riyad Mansour, Ron Prosor, unilateral declaration of statehood
