“During Operation Cast Lead, the IDF did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare.” Kemp said this at the United Nations. Courtesy of UN Watch.
UN
A Little Perspective on the Goldstone Report
The UN is truly a unique kind of animal: part ferocious, man-eating beast, part wimpy, diplomatic fish flopping around on the beach. It is no mystery that it is obsessed by Israeli “war crimes” and “human rights violations” even in a part of the world where much, much worse is the norm. To the north you have Hezbollah, to the south Hamas, to the East a cold peace with Jordan and beyond…Iran, whose president has been constantly courted by the UN for years despite his genocidal rantings and the human rights “record” of his nation. Nobody on earth can feign ignorance about the nature of the Iranian dictatorship in the Age of Twitter. So where does the UN’s moral authority come from, you ask? Why is their record so bad?
From Ynet:
Goldstone explained in the interview that it is the obligation of the international community to hold sovereign states accountable of alleged human rights violations.
Of course, this is most ironic when the Human Rights Council that established Goldstone’s Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict is composed of countries that have frequently and freely violated international human rights laws, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Syria and Somalia.
Good question.
War Crimes? Fuggedaboutit!
Yaacov Lozowick, a great fan of the Guardian, linked to this article. The UN has refused to investigate war crimes in Sri Lanka. Read on.
Sri Lanka last night scored a major propaganda coup when the UN human rights council praised its victory over the Tamil Tigers and refused calls to investigate allegations of war crimes by both sides in the final chapter of a bloody 25-year conflict.
In a shock move, which dismayed western nations critical of Sri Lanka’s approach, the island’s diplomats succeeded in lobbying enough of its south Asian allies to pass a resolution describing the conflict as a “domestic matter that doesn’t warrant outside interference”.
So the next time you read “UN condems Israel”, you have the right to raise a skeptical eyebrow.
“Racist! Racist!”
Things aren’t going so well after day one up in Geneva. Clowns were arrested, Ahmadinejad called Israel all sorts of bad things and was called a racist himself (but only by the clowns, mind you). There was apparently a move by the already diffident EU delegates to walk out on the Conference once his rant got underway. It isn’t clear from today’s papers whether France and England are there for day two or not. There was a “severe” condemnation from Sarkozy. The Vatican is staying put.
There was soft condemnation of Ahmadinejad’s words, but apparently the UN cannot allow itself to say anything that might be misconstrued as an opinion. They “condemned” Ahmadinejad’s choice of words, though he didn’t apparently pronounce the name “Israel.” Perhaps this means he was speaking of another country when he called it a “racist government” in the Middle East. Maybe he meant Syria, or Lebanon? Maybe he was being self-referential, post-modern, over our heads by talking about himself?
Anyway, the big news from Geneva is that there is no big news. Day one went just as most of us thought it would. Navi Pillay just doesn’t get it:
“A boycott isn’t the best response.”
Apparently this was the extent of her emotion at the hijacking of her Conference by a fanatical head of state who happens to be the world’s most visible Holocaust denier and potential genocidal maniac. Perhaps we should go back and take a look at Jeffrey Goldberg’s painstakingly compiled dossier of Ahmadinejad’s money quotes on Israel.
It’s business as usual at Durban 2.
Marc Di Martino 