Thalif Deen

A high-level UN meeting on racism, scheduled to take place later this month, looks set to be dominated by questions relating to Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.

For the first time in 43 years, members of the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices in Occupied Territories gained entry into Gaza in July, through Egypt which ousted its Israeli-friendly president Hosni Mubarak following massive public protests earlier this year.

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - Despite initial misgivings, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received the tacit approval of the Israeli government to establish an international panel to probe the widely-condemned killings of nine Turkish civilians onboard a flotilla of ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza last May.

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - Less than 48 hours after the Israeli attack on a flotilla of six ships carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, the most powerful political body at the United Nations acted most ineffectively: it opted for a shaky “presidential statement” instead of a demanding resolution.

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - A 575-page blistering report by Justice Richard Goldstone detailing war crimes in Gaza last winter is refusing to die despite an aggressive Israeli smear campaign to kill it. The report, which was favorably voted by the 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva last month, received overwhelming support Thursday in the 192-member General Assembly. The vote was 114 in favor and 18 against, with 44 abstentions.

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The 47-member Human Rights Council approved a resolution Friday endorsing war crimes charges against Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, as spelled out in a report by a four-member international fact-finding mission headed by Justice Richard Goldstone. As expected, the United States threw a protective arm around Israel and voted against the resolution, along with some members of the European Union.

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - A four-member United Nations fact-finding mission, which has just concluded an investigation into last year’s brutal conflict in Gaza, makes a strong case for war crimes charges against Israel for its unrelenting 22-day military attacks on Palestinians, largely civilians, including women and children. The charges stem mostly from serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law.

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - A detailed 184-page report critical of Israeli attacks on UN personnel and buildings during the Gaza conflict last December-January has been meticulously stripped down to a 27-page document — mostly due to political sensitivities and on security grounds. Responding to charges he had released only a “watered down” version of the report by a four-member UN Board of Inquiry (BoI), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon vehemently denied the accusation.

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - As the Israelis try to justify the massive loss of civilian life in Gaza, their arguments and counter-charges continue to be shot down either by the United Nations or by international human rights organizations.

UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - The devastating Israeli firepower, unleashed largely on Palestinian civilians in Gaza during two weeks of military siege, is the product of advanced US military technology. The US weapons systems used by the Israelis — including F-16 fighter planes, Apache helicopters, tactical missiles and a wide array of munitions — have been provided by Washington mostly as outright military grants.