Obama solidly with Israel in U.N. Rights Council
Okay, maybe I'll have to reel back all those commentaries about a growing rift between the Obama administration and Israel. This week, in the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, in two out of five of the votes on matters related to Israeli government policies in the 43-year-occupied territories, the U.S. was the only country that voted against a resolution that otherwise had the unanimous support of Council members. (Hat-tip, indirectly, to CWF.) One of these votes was about the Palestinians' oft-reconfirmed right to self-determination. That resolution (A/HRC/13/L.27),
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; also reaffirms its support for the solution of two States, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security...
The U.S. representative voted against. The other 45 members voted in favor. Then there was this very important resolution (A/HRC/13/L.28), in which the Council
condemns the new Israeli announcement on the construction of 120 new housing units in the Bitar Elite settlement, and 1,600 new housing units for new settlers in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ramat Shlomo, and calls upon the Government of Israel to immediately reverse its decision which would further undermine and jeopardize the ongoing efforts by the international community to reach a final settlement compliant with international legitimacy, including the relevant United Nations resolutions; urges the full implementation of the Access and Movement Agreement of 15 November 2005, particularly the urgent reopening of Rafah and Karni crossings [into Gaza], which is crucial to ensuring the passage of foodstuffs and essential supplies, as well as the access of the United Nations agencies to and within the Occupied Palestinian Territory; calls upon Israel to take and implement serious measures, including confiscation of arms and enforcement of criminal sanctions, with the aim of preventing acts of violence by Israeli settlers, and other measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilians and Palestinian properties in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem; demands that Israel, the occupying Power, comply fully with its legal obligations, as mentioned in the Advisory Opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice; and urges the parties to give renewed impetus to the peace process.
This time: 46 to 1, with no abstentions. On a resolution condemning Israeli actions in occupied Syrian Golan, the U.S. was also the only country to vote against, though this time there were 15 abstentions. There were also a couple of resolutions in which the U.S. was not the only country to vote against. These included, very importantly, the one calling on both Israel and the authorities in Gaza to conduct the credible, independent investigations into allegations of gross rights abuses that have been called for by both the Goldstone Report and the General Assembly. Regarding this resolution, the U.S. was joined in its opposition to it by Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia, and Ukraine; and eleven states abstained from voting. But 29 members of this important council supported the resolution. In another significant resolution-- one calling on Israel to end its 43-year-old occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and Gaza-- and to immediately lift the siege imposed on Gaza, the U.S. was joined in its opposition by eight other states: Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; seven states abstained; and 31 voted for it. Why does Obama feel he has to do this? Why not just abstain?
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Drumroll, please: Group exiled until Council acts
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William “Whit” Whitten hopes a “common ground” can be reached between drumming fans and foes.PHOTO BY CAMERON FELLERWhen City Council cast a dragnet just last year to end amplified music on the Downtown Mall, they didn’t expect to catch a cultural and crowd-pleasing Mall highlight, a group of African drummers, in their net as well. [...]
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