Power Suits 28 March 2014
The international community today took a firm stance totally isolating the United States over its opposition to Palestinian rights and its support for Israel’s criminal violations of international humanitarian law.
The UN Human Rights Rights Council in Geneva passed four resolutions on the question of Palestine, and as these tweets from the Palestine Liberation Organization indicate, the United States was the sole “no” vote in every single case.
“Criminal complicity”
Anti-Palestinian groups, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) had strongly criticized the resolutions (A/HRC/25/L.37/Rev.1) including one urging UN member states to “ensure that they are not taking actions that assist in any way the expansion of settlements or construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, either directly or indirectly.”
The resolution urges states “to take appropriate measures to encourage businesses domiciled in their territory and/or under their jurisdiction, including those owned or controlled by them, to refrain from committing or contributing to gross human rights abuses of Palestinians, in accordance with the expected standard of conduct in the Guiding Principles and relevant international laws and standards.”
This marks a step forward in outlawing private corporations’ complicity with Israeli crimes.
But based on comparison with earlier drafts quoted in media reports, the final revision of the resolution appears to have been watered down to remove references to “international criminal liability, for corporate complicity in breaches of international law related to illegal settlements.”
Before the vote, the ADL’s Abe Foxman had warned that the “resolution attempts to advance a very similar position to elements of the vehemently anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and at the same time, it puts a serious damper on the current peace talks taking place.”
Human rights crimes
Another resolution (A/HRC/25/L.38/Rev.1) condemns a horrifying list of human rights abuses against Palestinians, including the detention of thousands of “Palestinians, including many children and women and elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council” in “Israeli prisons or detention centres under harsh conditions, including, inter alia, unhygienic conditions, solitary confinement, lack of proper medical care, denial of family visits and denial of due process, that impair their well-being.”
The resolution also expresses “deep concern” about “the ill-treatment and harassment of any Palestinian prisoner and all reports of torture.”
Comments
Who cares?
Permalink Anthony Shaker replied on
Ali, who cares what the UN Human Rights Council says about Palestine. It's like kicking a dead horse. The dead horse is the totality of Western policies, which are collapsing everywhere. The very existence of Israel as a racial state is a crime of historic proportions.
The fact is that the UN Human Rights Council, along with all other Western-controlled NGO outfits, are important instruments for the West in a time of diminishing returns for military campaigns.
The UN HRCl, in particular, is a showcase of incompotence and pseudo-legalistic mumbo-jumbo about all kinds of countries, but especially on Iran and Syria. That the US, supposed peace broker in Palestine, should be isolated is no big news to anyone. It has been isolated all along. The difference now is that the US faces serious challenges on more than one front, and everyone smells blood in the pool. But US leaders can't seem to calm down, which is great advice at this stage of their game. The hysteria about "human rights," "democracy," and so forth is becoming very shrill indeed! But there aren't enough in the world to impose the Zionist Anglo-American axis of tyranny on the rest of humanity.
UNHCR
Permalink Guy St Hilaire replied on
Finally,a UN organization that speaks to the criminal activity of Israel.Let world know finally.
peace talks?
Permalink Artemis replied on
"puts a serious damper on the current peace talks taking place.”
Individuals like Foxman still think they can get away with repeating the same old tired falsehoods, expecting everyone to fall into line.
Well, times are changing.
The US is a good example of
Permalink Said EL-Said replied on
The US is a good example of Pavlov Reflex when it comes to Israel.
Mature Discourse
Permalink Ibo Thorbas replied on
All the world suffers from the intransigence of money and access using their resources to deny the obligation to honestly face the fact that in a finite world, we all must respect the realities of each other and that the only truthful means for doing so is admitting our differences and finding common ground.
How and when it will be possible for honest truthfulness to have a home and authority in human affairs remains the elemental question, as basic as when, if ever will we collectively be able to see and function beyond the ensconced norm of corruption.
We are living today in a predominantly dishonest world, and our spiral to collective self destruction is the proof of how failed a reality that is. Time's come to admit to the priority of human decency.
It's better than 46 to 1 the
Permalink Darwin26 replied on
It's better than 46 to 1 the other way. i think i'd be more apprehensive if the US did go along in some kind of unanimity ~ but we could have wagered the farm in vegas that the virulent mendacious US State Dept vote and won BIG.
i'll take it ~ it's desicive.