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U.N. envoy says Gaza siege breaks human rights law
05 Jul 2006 16:54:12 GMT
Source: Reuters
Israeli-Palestinian conflict

By Richard Waddington

GENEVA, July 5 (Reuters) - A U.N. human rights envoy accused Israel on Wednesday of violating the "most fundamental norms" of international human rights law with its siege of the Gaza Strip.

Israel's military action, launched after an Israeli soldier was kidnapped by Palestinian militants, was a "disproportionate use of force against civilians," said John Dugard, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory.

"It is clear that Israel is in violation of the most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights law," Dugard said in an address to a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

At the insistence of Arab and Muslim states, the newly formed council is holding a special session to debate their call for the U.N.'s top human rights forum to censure Israel and demand a halt to its military assault in Gaza.

A draft resolution from the 57-country Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) accuses Israel of arbitrarily arresting Palestinian leaders and of destroying bridges and water and power plants.

It also requests that Dugard lead an urgent mission to the region and report back "on the Israeli human rights violations."

A simple majority of the 47 members will be required on Thursday for adoption of the resolution, the first involving a single country to be presented to the Council since it replaced the discredited Human Rights Commission earlier this year.

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva Warren Tichenor expressed "regret" at the resolution, saying it focused on only one side of the situation and made no mention of the "failure of the Palestinian Authority government to denounce terror".

Israel's ambassador Itzhak Levanon rejected the allegations and said the OIC's sole aim was to "villify" his country.

The current crisis was not provoked by Israel but by an attack by "Palestinian terrorist groups with the aim of sowing death", he said.

Israel quit Gaza last year after 38 years of occupation, but launched its offensive following the abduction of Corporal Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid from Gaza on June 25.

Dugard said people in Gaza were without water, food was scarce and medicines were running out. More than 1,500 rounds of artillery were showered on Gaza over the past week, while sonic booms terrorised the population, he said.

"Israel's conduct is morally indefensible," said the envoy who last visited the area in June and made his report at the request of the OIC.

U.N. envoy says Gaza siege breaks human rights law (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L05864410.htm)

Qatar Circulates UN Draft Resolution Condemning Israel

UNITED NATIONS (AP)--Acting on behalf of Arab nations, Qatar circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Thursday demanding that Israel end its offensive in the Gaza Strip and release the Palestinian officials it has arrested.

The draft faced immediate opposition from the U.S. and France, which called it unbalanced in its criticism of Israel. France's ambassador said he would offer changes, but U.S. Ambassador John Bolton suggested that Washington opposed the resolution entirely.

That raised the possibility that the U.S., as a permanent member of the Security Council, would veto the resolution. It has done so in the past when it believed resolutions condemning Israeli action did not include criticism of Palestinian actions.

Experts from the 15 Security Council nations were to meet later Thursday to discuss the draft, but Bolton was not optimistic.

"I'm not sure there are amendments that we could propose that would make it into an acceptable resolution, but we want to attend this experts meeting at 3 today and see what comes of it," he said.
Israel launched the offensive last week in response to the capture of an Israeli soldier, 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Earlier Thursday, Israeli troops seized empty Jewish settlements and pushed toward densely populated towns, killing at least 12 Palestinians. One Israeli soldier was killed, its first fatality in the offensive.

The resolution calls on Israel to "scrupulously abide by its obligations and responsibilities under the Geneva Convention," and expresses its "grave concern" about the dire humanitarian situation of the Palestinian people.

It demands that Israel "cease its aggression against the Palestinian civilian population" in Gaza, and also demands that Israel withdraw its forces immediately.

The document makes no mention of Shalit's kidnapping or of Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.
France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said his nation would try to make the resolution more acceptable to the wider council.

"We think that this text needs to be balanced, it's not balanced enough and we will propose amendments," he said. "It requires, we think, a lot of work."

Qatar Circulates UN Draft Resolution Condemning Israel (http://www.easybourse.com/Website/dynamic/News.php?NewsID=17089&lang=fra&NewsRubrique=2)
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Looks like the United States is the only one not against Israel right now, thank you Ambassador John Bolton.

UN urges Israel halt 'violations'
John Dugard, UN special rapporteur on human rights for the Palestinian territories The UN Human Rights Council has passed a resolution demanding a halt to Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Twenty-nine of the council's 47 member states backed the resolution, 11 voted against, five abstained and two members were absent.

The recently-formed council also said it would send a fact-finding mission to investigate the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories.

It will be led by John Dugard, a UN special rapporteur on human rights.

"[The council expresses] grave concern at the violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people caused by the Israeli occupation"
UN Human Rights Council

Israel, backed by the US and European countries, has accused the UN council of bias, because it did not also criticise violence perpetrated on the Palestinian side.

On Wednesday, Mr Dugard said Israel was violating the most fundamental norms of humanitarian and human rights law in its actions in Gaza.

Its military operation violated prohibitions on collective punishment, intimidation, while last week's arrest of officials from the governing Hamas movement appeared to constitute hostage-taking that was prohibited by the Geneva Conventions, Mr Dugard said.

"I am concerned with the law. And here it is clear that Israel is in violation of the most fundamental norms of humanitarian law and human rights law," he Mr Dugard said.

Council split

The resolution, which was brought by Islamic states, expressed "grave concern at the violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people caused by the Israeli occupation, including the current extensive Israeli military operations".

"A historic opportunity to address the human rights situation in a fair, equitable and balanced way has instead resulted in an unbalanced effort to single out and focus on Israel alone"
Warren Tichenor
US ambassador

The Council urged "Israel, the occupying power, to immediately release the arrested Palestinian ministers... and all other arrested Palestinian civilians".

The text also called "for a negotiated solution to the current crisis".

European Union member states on the council, including Britain, France and Germany, voted against the resolution.

Finland, speaking on behalf of the EU, took the floor to say that the situation needed to be addressed in a "more balanced manner".

'Opportunity missed'

The resolution did urge "all concerned parties to respect the rules of international humanitarian law and to refrain from violence against civilians".

This text was added at the last moment in an unsuccessful bid to placate European concerns about what they saw as a one-sided resolution, correspondents said.

The resolution went on to call on both sides to "treat under all circumstances all detained combatants and civilians in accordance with the Geneva Conventions".

The United States, which is only an observer at the Council, called the resolution a wasted opportunity.

"A historic opportunity to address the human rights situation in a fair, equitable and balanced way has instead resulted in an unbalanced effort to single out and focus on Israel alone," US Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Warren Tichenor said.

Israel's ambassador, Itzhak Levenon said: "We find ourselves in an absurd situation in which the Human Right Council convened into urgent session ignores the rights of one side and holds a special meeting to defend the rights of the other side".

However, the Palestinian representative, Muhammad Abu Koash called it a "very mild and diluted resolution".

"While we gather here in this hall, Israeli tanks are moving and shelling Palestinians, the office of our parliament has been besieged by Israeli troops," he told the Council.

UN urges Israel halt 'violations' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/middle_east/5154594.stm)

The Anti-Israel talking of the day.

The European Union accuses Israel of “disproportionate force.”

Quote

The European Union accused Israel on Friday of a disproportionate use of force against Palestinians in Gaza and of making a humanitarian crisis there worse.

It was the first time the 25-nation bloc had made such a sharp criticism of the Jewish state in the crisis triggered by the abduction of Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit from a border post by Palestinian Islamic militants on June 25.

“The EU condemns the loss of lives caused by disproportionate use of force by the Israeli Defense Forces and the humanitarian crisis it has aggravated,” Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said in a statement on a visit to St Petersburg.

Kofi Annan accuses Israel of “disproportionate force.”

Quote

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) - UN chief Kofi Annan called for an immediate stop to what he called Israel’s “disproportionate use of force” in Gaza but also pressed for the release of an Israeli soldier snatched by Palestinian militants.

“I call again for an immediate halt to the disproportionate use of force by Israel, which has already killed and wounded many civilians, for the release of Israeli army corporal Gilad Shalit and for the cessation of rocket fire into Israel,” he said in a statement issued in Berlin and released here.

Meanwhile, Corporal Gilad Shalit is still at the mercy of terrorists who may kill him at any time. And the rockets keep falling.

Quote

On Friday, numerous Kassams were launched into the western Negev, falling near several kibbutzim, including Sa’ad, Nahal Oz, Gevim and the southern development town of Netivot. The total number of Kassam rockets that hit Israel on Friday was 17, Army Radio reported.

Now the Russian upper house has given Putin wider powers to hunt down terrorist. Russia has called Israel terrorist in the past, I'd bet you she calls Israel terrorist again soon. When that happens, I'd be looking up, if I was you.

Annan warning on Gaza 'disaster'
A boy climbs amid the wreckage of his damaged home in Beit Lahiya UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has demanded that Israel take urgent action to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli jets continued to pound Gaza targets on Sunday in operations aimed at securing the release of a soldier captured by Palestinian militants.

A Palestinian rocket hit the Israeli town of Sderot, injuring one man.

Mr Annan called on Israel to restore supplies of food and fuel and to repair a power plant hit in an air strike.

Blunt statements

Mr Annan urged Israel to lift restrictions on the movement of basic goods such as foodstuffs into Gaza.

Israeli tanks

He said UN agencies must be allowed to work in the region.

Israel has rejected a call by the head of the Hamas-led Palestinian government for a ceasefire.

Mr Annan's statement was his second in as many days about the situation in Gaza.

The BBC's Richard Galpin at the UN in New York says Mr Annan is clearly becoming increasingly alarmed by what is happening and is becoming increasingly blunt in his statements.

Mr Annan said the strike on the region's only power station had affected hospitals, water and sanitation plants, as well as food production.

In a separate statement, UN agencies including the World Health Organization, Unicef and the World Food Programme said Gaza was on the brink of a public health disaster.

They said there were water shortages and the situation at the sewage plants was now critical.

The WHO said hospitals and health centres - which are having to use their own generators for electricity - have at most two weeks' supply of fuel.

Ceasefire rejected

Earlier, Israel rejected a call by the head of the Hamas-led Palestinian government, Ismail Haniya, for all parties to restore calm through a mutual cessation of hostilities.

Officials in the Israeli PM's office said there would be no truce until the captured Israeli soldier, Cpl Gilad Shalit, was freed.

Hamas has confirmed that Cpl Shalit, 19, is alive and is being treated well and humanely.

Israel on Saturday said its troops had left their positions in northern Gaza.

But air strikes continued on Sunday.

Israel bombed a bridge in northern Gaza, saying it wanted to stop militants transporting rockets to launch sites.

Israeli aircraft also carried out early morning raids near the Karni commercial crossing with Gaza, injuring at least three militants.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army said Palestinian militants had fired a rocket from the north of Gaza into the Israeli town of Siderot, injuring one Israeli.

Heavy casualties

Dozens of Palestinians and an Israeli have died since Israel launched an offensive on 28 June to secure the release of Cpl Shalit.

Most of the Palestinians who have been killed were militants.

But Palestinian sources said a six-year-old girl, her 20-year-old brother and their mother died in an air strike on a house just east of Gaza City on Saturday.

Witnesses said an Israeli missile hit the house. Israel said its inquiry was continuing but it did not believe it was responsible for the incident.

Israeli forces remain in the south of the territory, as well as east of Gaza City.

Israel's incursion into Gaza is its biggest military operation there since it ended its 38-year occupation nine months ago.

Annan warning on Gaza 'disaster' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/middle_east/5162062.stm)

'United Nations killed my son'
Terror victims' families blame global body for kickbacks that funded suicide attacks
Posted: July 11, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – The United Nations bears responsibility for the murder of Israeli civilians killed in the past few years by Palestinian suicide bombers, families of terror victims here said.

"The U.N. is partly responsible for the death of my son," said Miri Avitan, whose son Assaf was killed in Jerusalem by a Palestinian suicide bomber in December 2001.

"Money that was meant for the Iraqi [people] got to Saddam and he wrote a check to reward the murderers of my kid," Avitan said.

Avitan was one of several family members of Israeli terror victims to blame the U.N. for revenues from its oil-for-food program kicked back to deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and funneled by Hussein to Palestinian terror organizations.

The family members made their statements in a recently released book, "The U.N. Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security and Fails the World" by the Fox News Channel's Eric Shawn.

Shawn documents how some of the $10 billion obtained illegally by Hussein as part of the oil-for-food program between 1997 and 2002 was used to fund families of Palestinians suicide bombers.

Israel has said the aid received from Hussein provided major financial motivation to underprivileged teenagers who could help their cash-strapped families with the large payments that would be issued upon completion of a suicide mission.

The U.N. Security Council launched the oil-for-food program in 1996 so Iraq could raise funds for food, medicine and other humanitarian goods in spite of sanctions against the Hussein regime.

Iraq sold more than $67 billion worth of oil before the program was ended by the U.S. invasion in 2003.

According to the rules outlined by the Security Council, Iraq was allowed to choose its own suppliers and oil traders. Under the program, the Security Council established a separate committee made up of member states, the so-called "661 Committee," to approve all contracts issued by the Iraqi government.

The General Accounting Office, the auditing arm of the U.S. Congress, reported Hussein illegally diverted and sold goods intended for the Iraqi population.

Shawn writes the House International Relations Committee revealed the Hussein regime deposited the diverted funds from oil-for-food kickbacks in the Rafidain bank and other financial institutions in Amman, Jordan. The money was then transferred to another account controlled by the Iraqi ambassador to Jordan, Sabeh Yaseen.

Investigators say Yaseen and other Iraqi officials then cut checks from the accounts to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers to honor and encourage the murder of Israeli civilians.

Over a two-and-a-half year period, from September 2000 to just before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq began in March 2003, Hussein officials held public ceremonies in which they shelled out $35 million for the families of Palestinian "martyrs."

According to documents captured in 2002 by Israel's Operation Defensive Shield, Hussein set up an "Arab Liberation Front" – a Ba'ath party department in the Palestinian areas used to encourage terrorism and issue checks, usually through the Palestine Investment Bank, to the families of suicide bombers.

The payments were $15,000 at the start of the intifada, and were later raised to $25,000.

Hussein would also issue checks of $10,000 to the families of "ordinary" Palestinians killed in the intifada by other means, such as "through the aggression of the Zionist army."

Along with the checks came the martyrdom certificates, signed by Hussein, that read: "A gift from President Saddam Hussein to the family of a martyr in the al-Aqsa intifada. To those who irrigate the land with their blood. You deserve the honor you will receive from Allah and you will defeat all who bow before your will."

A $25,000 check and martyrdom certificate, for example, was transferred June 23, 2002, to Khaldiya Isma'il Abd Al-Aziz Al-Hurani, mother of the Hamas terrorist Fuad Isma'il Ahmad Al-Hurani, who carried out a suicide attack on March 19 of that year in Jerusalem's Moment Cafe. Eleven Israelis were killed and 16 wounded in the attack.

Checks for $15,000 each were given along with the martyrdom certificates to the families of Hamas suicide terrorists who blew themselves up in Zion Square in Jerusalem Dec. 1, 2001.

Among the victims of the Zion Square suicide attack was 15-year old Assaf Avitan.

Avitan had joined his friends to celebrate the 16th birthday of twins from his Jerusalem neighborhood. He was accompanied by his friend, 15-year-old Golan Turgeman, and was standing on a sidewalk near Zion Square when two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up, killing both teenagers and nine others. A car bomb exploded 20 minutes later, intending to kill and maim the police and paramedics who responded to the carnage.

"[The checks from Hussein enabled by the U.N.] helped enforce the culture of terrorism," Avitan's mother Miri said in "The U.N. Exposed." "It makes me furious."

Writes Shawn, "The U.N. Security Council paid for the bombings. It contributed to the murders of Assaf and Golan and the nine other victims that night. The Security Council also provided the ability to massacre hundreds more who have fallen victim to Palestinian terrorism."

Israel to UN: We'll do everything necessary to free our soldiers
By Gideon Alon, Aluf Benn, Amos Harel and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents and Haaretz Service

Israel has complained to the United Nations that Lebanon should be held responsible after Hezbollah guerrillas seized two Israel Defense Forces soldiers, its UN ambassador said on Wednesday.

The government has filed a complaint with the UN Security Council and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan saying that taking the soldiers was an act of war against Israel by Lebanon, Ambassador Dan Gillerman told reporters.

The complaint urges the international community to enforce council resolutions calling on the Lebanese government to disarm all militias within its borders and to extend its authority throughout its territory and specifically to southern Lebanon and its shared border with Israel, he said.

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There was no Israeli call at this time for an emergency meeting of the 15-nation Security Council or any other specific council action, Gillerman said.

Asked if Israel might now invade Lebanon, he responded that it would "react in every way it deems necessary" to obtain the soldiers' release and protect its border and its people.

While the government of Lebanon was the responsible party to be dealt with, "one cannot disregard the bloodstained fingerprints and the twisted minds of Iran and Syria, who are the main perpetrators, harborers, financiers and initiators of terror in this world," he added. Both countries are widely believed to support Hezbollah.

"This axis of terror must be stopped," Gillerman said. Iran, Syria and Hezbollah were threatening not only Israel's northern border "but the whole region and the world," including moderate Arab states, he said.

Gillerman spoke as the Security Council met in closed session to weigh a resolution put forward by Qatar, its sole Arab member, condemning a two-week IDF incursion in Gaza.

That draft measure would demand the unconditional release of an Israeli soldier captured earlier as well as Israel's immediate withdrawal from Gaza and the release of dozens of Palestinian officials detained by Israel.

Palestinian UN Observer Riyad Mansour said the council should view the Gaza incursion as a separate matter from the situation along the Israeli-Lebanese border. He said it should act quickly due to the deaths of more Palestinian civilians.

But John Bolton, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said Washington, Israel's closest ally, saw no need at this point for such a resolution. "We don't see anything productive coming from it," he told reporters.

PM Olmert calls Hezbollah border attack an 'act of war'
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday declared that Hezbollah's attack on the northern border earlier in the day, during which two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were kidnapped, was "an act of war."

The two were captured as rockets were fired at northern towns, during residents took to their bomb shelters.

Olmert, who was to hold an emergency cabinet meeting later Wednesday, said the attack was not an act of terror but an attack by a sovereign state on Israel.

He said that Israel held the Lebanese government responsible for the attack, vowing that the Israeli response "will be restrained, but very, very, very painful."

Defense Minister Amir Peretz also said that the responsibility for the sharp escalation on Israel's northern border lies with the Lebanese government.

Senior Israel Defense Forces officers said Wednesday that "if the abducted soldiers are not returned we'll turn Lebanon's clock back 20 years."

The IDF held a buffer zone in southern Lebanon for 18 years, from the outbreak of the Lebanon War in 1982 until the withdrawal of its last troops in May 2000.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. General Dan Halutz said that the abduction is a turning point in the region, and that the Lebanese government is responsible for the crisis.

NRP-National Union to join national emergency government
The National Union-National Religious Party announced Wednesday it would join a national emergency government with no preconditions and without receiving cabinet portfolios.

The leaders of the two parties said that as long as the security situation continues, they would support the government from outside. MK Avigdor Lieberman said: "In times like these there is no opposition and no coalition, we are one people, committed to restoring security for
Israel's citizens."

At the Knesset, rightist legislators called on the government to declare war in response to the abduction. Former Knesset speaker MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud) said "we cannot move on without responding after such an incident."

"We must come to grips with the fact that we are at war and act accordingly," he said.

MK Ariyeh Eldad (National Union-National Religious Party) said that the abduction of soldiers in the north and that of the soldier on the Gaza Strip border prove there is no escape from facing terrorism.

"Terror can only be stopped by going out to war in the north and in the Gaza Strip and destroying terror organizations," he said.

Likud faction chairman MK Gideon Sa'ar said "only very aggressive moves would rehabilitate Israel's weakened deterrence and the Likud will support such moves, if they are made."

MK Effi Eitam (NU-NRP) called on Peretz to resign. According to Eitam, all the warnings against fleeing from southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip have materialized.

"There is no other choice. War has been forced upon us, we must go out to war and break the siege of terror. We must carry out a response that would rock Lebanon and the Hamas government," Eitam said.

MK Avshalom Vilan of the leftist Meretz party said "something disconcerting is happening at the defense establishment. Events are recurring and the Israel Defense Forces is not finding the appropriate remedies."

Hamas: Capture of two more soldier strengthens our position
The spokesman of Hamas in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan, said Hezbollah's seizure of two soldiers in a raid Wednesday strengthens the position of the Hamas as a whole, which captured an Israel soldier on June 25.

"We have proven to this enemy (Israel) that the one option is the release of Palestinian, Lebanese and Arab captives. All captives, without exception," Hamdan told Al-Jazeera television.

"What happened has strengthed the issue of the captives, and the enemy will submit to our choice, which is the exchange of the captives in return for the release of the soldiers," he said.

Hamdan did not say whether Hamas had consulted with Hezbollah over Wednesday's seizure. But he said they may be subsequent "coordination and an understanding" between the two groups, suggesting they might coordinate their demands.

Israel has carried out several prisoner swaps with Hezbollah in the past to obtain freedom for captured Israelis. In January 2004 swap, an Israeli civilian and the bodies of three IDF soldiers killed by Hezbollah were exchanged for 436 Arab prisoners and the bodies of 59 Lebanese fighters.

In 1985, three IDF soldiers captured in Lebanon in 1982 were traded for 1,150 Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners.

Israel to UN: We'll do everything necessary to free our soldiers (http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=737687&contrassID=1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0)

AMEN Sister when they do they know, it will be to late. To late to fly with the rest of us, I believe.
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UN paid for 'Palestinian' terror
Families of Israeli victims hold world body responsible

By Ryan Jones
Jul 12, 2006

In turning a blind eye for more than five years to oil-for-food scandals that were putting millions into the pockets of Saddam Hussein and his cronies in Iraq, the United Nations indirectly helped to finance the terrorist murder of Israeli Jews at the hands of Hussein's "Palestinian" allies.

The families of those terror victims are now speaking out in a new book titled "The UN Exposed: How the United Nations Sabotages America's Security and Fails the World" by Fox News Channel's Eric Shawn.

As reported by WorldNetDaily's Aaron Klein, the book features damning quotes from several bereaved Israeli mothers and fathers, including Miri Avitan, whose son Assaf was killed in Jerusalem by a "suicide" bomber in December 2001.

"The UN is partly responsible for the death of my son. Money that was meant for the Iraqi (people) got to Saddam and he wrote a check to reward the murderers of my kid.

"(The checks from Hussein enabled by the UN) helped enforce the culture of terrorism."

For years Hussein wrote checks in the sum of USD 25,000 to the families of Palestinian Arab suicide bombers, providing further incentive for the more destitute elements of "Palestinian" society to take part in the slaughter of Israel's Jews by guaranteeing the short-term financial well being of their loved ones.

Checks of USD 10,000 were issued to the families of "Palestinians" killed in acts of aggression other than "suicide" bombings.

In all, the Hussein regime paid out more than USD 35 million in UN-provided funds for the murder of Israeli Jews.

UN paid for 'Palestinian' terror (http://www.jnewswire.com/article/957)

Quotes from urgent UN session on Israel, Lebanon
14 Jul 2006 18:56:56 GMT
Source: Reuters

UNITED NATIONS, July 14 (Reuters) - Following are comments made at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting on the crisis between Israel and Lebanon.

-- Lebanese Ambassador Nouhad Mahmoud: "Israel's disregard of the calls made by the Lebanese government (for negotiations) is clear evidence of the escalatory intentions of the Israelis and their determination to kill and destroy, thus implementing the scorched earth policy for which they are known."

-- Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman: "Israel had to respond to this absolutely unprovoked assault whose scale and depth was unprecedented in recent years ... Israel's actions were in direct response to an act of war from Lebanon. Although Israel holds the government of Lebanon responsible, it is concentrating its response carefully, mainly on Hizbollah strongholds, positions and infrastructure."

-- U.S. Ambassador John Bolton: "We have repeatedly made clear to Lebanon and Syria our serious concern about the presence of terrorist groups on their soil and the periodic attacks against Israel from groups and individuals in southern Lebanon. All militias in Lebanon, including Hizbollah, must disarm and disband immediately and the Lebanese government must extend and exercise its sole and exclusive control over all Lebanese territory."

-- Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari (speaking outside the council chamber): "Unfortunately the behavior of the American delegation is not the behavior of a big power, responsible for maintaining peace and security. It is about degrading (a) deteriorating situation and encouraging Israel to go ahead with its aggression against Syria and maybe someone else in the area."

-- French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere: "By its magnitude and its nature, the Israeli response threatens to annihilate Lebanese government efforts to revive the country's economy and restore its authority throughout its territory."

-- Ghanaian Ambassador Nana Effah-Apenteng: "The Middle East crisis revolves around the Palestinian question, which boils down to the achievement of an independent and viable state for the Palestinians within internationally recognized boundaries."

-- Slovak Deputy Ambassador Michal Mlynar: "We believe there is still a window of opportunity for the Palestinian and Israeli governments to put the peace process on the right track."

-- British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry: "Our priority must be to calm the situation, support the moderates on all sides, and create conditions for a peaceful, diplomatic resolution. Focusing on finding fault will not help us in that endeavor."

Quotes from urgent UN session on Israel, Lebanon (http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N14455169.htm)
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How often have we heard, the critisism of the U.S. being the world's policeman? Only when the critics needs a world policeman do they come out of the woodwork screaming, and crying for the U.S. to intervene.

International Convention against the Taking of Hostages
(New York, 17 December 1979)

OBJECTIVES

The objective of the Convention is to develop international cooperation between States in devising and adopting effective measures for the prevention, prosecution and punishment of all acts of taking hostages as manifestations of international terrorism.

KEY PROVISIONS

The act of hostage-taking for the purposes of the Convention refers to any person who seizes or detains and threatens to kill, to injure or to continue to detain a hostage in order to compel a State, an international intergovernmental organization, a natural or juridical person, or a group of persons, to do or abstain from doing any act as an explicit or implicit condition for the release of the hostage. Any person also commits such an offence if that person attempts to commit an offence as set forth above or participates as an accomplice of anyone who commits or attempts to commit an act of hostage-taking.

Each State party is required to make this offence punishable by appropriate penalties. Where hostages are held in the territory of a State party, the State party is obliged to take all measures it considers appropriate to ease the situation of the hostages and secure their release. After the release of the hostages, the State party is also required to facilitate the departure of the hostages. State parties are additionally obliged to cooperate with each other in the prevention of acts of hostage-taking.

Each State party is obligated to take such actions as may be necessary to establish jurisdiction over the offence of hostage-taking as set forth above. States parties are also required to take alleged offenders into custody, prosecute or extradite alleged offenders, cooperate in preventive measures, and exchange information and evidence needed in related criminal proceedings. The offences referred to in the Convention are deemed to be extraditable offences between States parties under existing extradition treaties, and under the Convention itself.

ENTRY INTO FORCE

The Convention entered into force on 3 June 1983, the thirtieth day following the date of deposit with the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the twenty-second instrument of ratification or accession (article 18).

HOW TO BECOME A PARTY

The Convention is closed for signature. It is subject to ratification by signatory States. The Convention is open to accession by any State (article 17).

OPTIONAL AND/OR MANDATORY DECLARATIONS

The State party where an alleged offender is prosecuted shall communicate the final outcome of the proceedings to the Secretary-General of the United Nations (article 7).

RESERVATIONS

The Convention is silent with regard to reservations. States may declare that they do not consider themselves bound by article 16(1), according to which disputes among States parties relating to the interpretation or application of the Convention which are not settled by negotiation will be submitted to arbitration and, failing agreement on the organization of the arbitration six months after the date of the request for arbitration, to the International Court of Justice (article 16).

WITHDRAWAL/DENUNCIATION

Any State party may denounce this Convention by written notification to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Such denunciation shall take effect one year following the date on which the notification is received by the Secretary-General (article 19).

International Convention against the Taking of Hostages (http://untreaty.un.org/English/TreatyEvent2003/Treaty_15.htm)
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And how do they enforce this treaty?? They can't, because it is uneforceable.

Most muslims are familiar with the principles of islam that will justify lying in situations where they sense the need to do so. Among these are;

War is deception.
The necessities justify the forbidden.
If faced by two evils, choose the lesser of the two.

These principles are derived from passages found in the quran.

Surah 5:89 "Allah will not call you to account for what is futile in your oaths, but He will call you to account for your deliberate oaths: for expiation, feed ten indigent persons, on a scale of the average for the food of your families; or clothe them; or give a slave his freedom. If that is beyond your means, fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths ye have sworn. But keep to your oaths. Thus doth Allah make clear to you His signs, that ye may be grateful."

Surah 2:225 "Allah will not call you to account for thoughtlessness (vain) in your oaths, but for the intention in your hearts; and He is Oft-forgiving, Most Forbearing."

Surah 16: 106 "Any one who, after accepting faith in Allah, utters Unbelief, except under compulsion, his heart remaining firm in Faith - but such as open their breast to Unbelief, on them is Wrath from Allah, and theirs will be a dreadful Penalty."

Islamic commentator, Al-Tabary explained Surah 16:106 as a verse that had been revealed to Mohammed after he learned that Ammar Ibn Yasser was forced to deny his faith in Mohammed when kidnapped by the Banu Moghera tribe. Mohammed consoled Ammar by telling him, "If they turned, you turn." (if they again capture you, you are allowed to deny me again.)

These and similar passages from the quran clearly reveal that muslims' unintentional lies are forgivable and that even their intentional lies can be absolved by performing extra duties. It is also clear that if forced to do so, Muslims can lie while under oath and can even falsely deny faith in Allah, as long as they maintain the profession of faith in their hearts.

I really hate quoting the koran, it is nothing but lies.

UN's Annan: Mideast Solution Must Involve Syria, Iran

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that any lasting solution to the Middle East crisis would need to include the involvement of Syria and Iran.

"Whether we like it or not, we have to engage those two governments if we are going to find a longer-term solution," Annan said in an interview on CNN's " Larry King Live."

His remarks came as Israel continued to mass troops and tanks on its border with Lebanon in apparent preparations for a ground invasion. The latest crisis was sparked by Hezbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers in a July 12 cross- border raid

"Syria and Iran are two friendly countries. There's also indications that both Syria and Iran have influence with Hezbollah and have supported Hezbollah, and therefore, the two countries have to be part of the solution. They will have to work with the international community and cooperate with the international community for us to help to find a long-term solution," Annan said.

Annan also warned that any ground invasion by Israel of Lebanon would be a " very serious escalation."

If Israel were to enter southern Lebanon, there would be questions over whether it intended to stay, root out Hezbollah and then withdraw, or establish a security cordon in the region. Establishing a security zone, Annan said, would be regarded by the Lebanese as occupation - "and that will intensify the resistance."

Annan warned as well of "a major humanitarian disaster," with 700,000 people displaced, including 500,000 internally within Lebanon and and 150,000 across the border in Syria. The U.N. is finding it difficult to assess how many people need help and how to get aid to the them because many roads and bridges are bombed out.

"So even the 500,000 could be a gross underestimation," Annan said.

UN's Annan: Mideast Solution Must Involve Syria, Iran (http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20060721\ACQDJON200607212308DOWJONESDJONLINE001230.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&StoryTargetFrame=_top&mkt=WORLD&chk=unchecked&lang=&link=&headlinereturnpage=http://www.international.na)

Quote

Unless that religion is theirs.

LOL yes I've thought of that too brother, but let me share my thought process on how I'm getting this conclusion in scripture. As we know, Islam (at least in its current form) does not teach Idol worship, which apparently the AC will be big on.

Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.

Idol worship is a big no no in Islam. Not that it couldn't change in the future, but thats one point I've considered.

Also, it appears to me from these scriptures that Satan wants it all...not willing to share his 15 mins of fame with any god or anything other than worship to himself and his own image. Certainly sounds like Satan character! He aspires to be almighty god. With that in mind, just as the true Jehovah wont share His glory, Satan doesn't want to either. He wants to be ALMIGHTY!

Another passage that is leading to me to this thought process is The 10 horns/Kings that have no kingdom yet, are still future...

Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

Islam has a number of leaders/kingdoms currently who could give their Islamic power to the AC if they so desired. But here we see that future kings will rise on or with the harlot, MYSTERY BABYLON and receive power in one hour as kings, all giving their power to the Beast. Mystery BABYLON is the key to whats happening here. Is it Islamic in nature or something else? And if it were Islamic, would it abandon its current teachings in favor of worship to AC and his idol? Not sure about that. Maybe, but something just seems wrong with this idea to me with what we understand of Islam today.

Again, I'm just pondering these things as I study them, but currently I'm thinking Islam may not be the final beast....I think ROME has something far more sinister up its sleeve than current radical Islam.

Its very interesting considering it all, but, only God knows for sure, so we will have to wait on Him to unfold it all for us.

Blessings!

Quote from: Pastor Roger on July 22, 2006, 02:27:54 PM

While Muhammad was against idol worship and destroyed over 360 idols in the Kaaba, islam does permit idols or stutes of Muhammad. The koran also states that idol worship is not permitted "unless it is sanctioned by allah". So they could possibly come to worship an idol if they think that allah has sanctioned it. If ( note I say if ) the AC fools them into thinking that he is God or sent by God then it would also be easy for him to convince them that the idol is sanctioned by God.

Speaking of the 10 horns.

There is a movement right now to place certain muslim leaders known as Khalifates in various places. When it is completed there will be ten of them overseeing 10 different areas. This teaching can be found in the koran's end time teachings and islamics are attempting to bring this into being. This teaching also tells them that these 10 will fall under the command of a Khalif, which is one supreme leader that will rule over the Khalifates. It is said that the Khalif will be "one greater than Muhmmad".

It is the belief amongst some muslims that hamas and hizbollah are one of the first of the khalifates. President Ahmadinejad and some of his followers has said that he is going to attempt to bring this rule of the Khalifates into being also as it is the will allah. This rule of the Khalifates is not currently in place so it would fit the future category.

Now that is interesting PR! I certainly have not heard this before. Hmmm

Oh sorry DW, I got a little OT there.

U.N. boss: Hezbollah deserves U.S. respect

Global group's deputy secretary-general
would give terrorists conference-table seat
Posted: August 3, 2006
3:15 p.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

Mark Malloch Brown
A top United Nations official says to quiet the "demons" across the "wider Islamic world" the United States and the international community must respect Hezbollah as a political party, not a terrorist organization.

"Everybody would want a solution here which takes away the recruiting power of Hezbollah in the broader Arab world," said Mark Malloch Brown, the U.N.'s deputy secretary general.

That would be one, he said, that "allows Hezbollah a political as against a militia future inside an independent Lebanon."

His comments were in an interview published in the Financial Times today.

The military conflagration in the Mideast going on now was sparked by Hezbollah's military attack on Israel, and Brown said if Hezbollah and its supporters are given that political acknowledgement the motivation for military attacks would decline.

As WorldNetDaily reported, Hezbollah's "recruitment" ability is such that it is being supplied with weaponry by a range of other organizations in the Middle East.

"If those issues can be addressed, then the support for a militarized Hezbollah falls away," Brown said. "Without that action, there's no hope.

"The idea that there is a peace which either Hezbollah would respect, or which would draw the wind out of Hezbollah's sails which doesn't address those political things is, I think, far-fetched," he said.

A "settlement" that allows the integration of Hezbollah into the family of recognized interests is needed. It would, he said, have to address the political issues of Hezbollah's cause, "as well as the military one" and would include a disarmament and reintegration plan.

After all, he said, "Hezbollah now is the principle voice of Shia Muslims in Lebanon – something like 40 percent of the population. That gives them immense power as a political party if they were to forsake the military route."

He said, for example, the issue of the Shebaa farms needs to be resolved, and that would in a broader way address Lebanon's sovereignty and define Hezbollah as a participant.

Shebaa farms is a region of about 14 square miles of land where Syria, Lebanon and Israel share borders. The region was taken by Israel during the Six-Day War in 1967 and is cited by Hezbollah in justifying its attacks.

But Brown said there are many "actors" in the Middle East now, "whose acquiescence is needed if we're to find a solution."

In addition to Israel and Lebanon, and Hezbollah as a political influence, Syria and Iran also have to be participants in a resolution, he said.

"When people talk about the dangers of this spreading or not, I don't think the real danger is some kind of formal involvement of Syria and Iran, and the war regionalizing in that sense so much as it is this dangerous radicalizing of the whole Arab-Islamic world," he said.

"We feel very strongly that before this process is over that Syria needs to be consulted and brought in some way or other informally or otherwise as a party to this agreement. Its concurrence will be necessary," he said. "From day one, this has been much more of a political war than a military war in terms of how you define victory."

Brown said the Israeli military in its efforts to defang Hezbollah has attacked civilian locations in order to "dig these military assets from amidst civilians," but that still doesn't justify the level of civilian casualties. At the same time, Hezbollah has been virtually indiscriminate in its attacks, he said.

"It is making no effort to hit military targets; it's just a broadside against civilian targets," Brown said.

The U.S. and United Kingdom both carry "baggage" in the Middle East and now should provide support in the background and allow others to lead.

"The U.S. is a critical broker of peace, a vital partner to make this happen, but it's got to find others to do this with – countries such as France, others would be drawn into a peacekeeping effort, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, there's got to be an outreach to Syria and Iran even if it is not by the U.S.," he said.

Brown said Iran, which this week rejected pleas from the U.N. and confirmed it will continue trying to enrich uranium in its nuclear program, also is in a similar situation, "wanting a normalization of its relationships and to be brought back into the international community."

"We need to understand Iran's principle diplomatic objective across both of these issues: respect," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well this is one American that will stick to his own opinion about Hezbollah, being a terrorist organization. They will get no respect from me.

Ahmadinejad, Annan discuss draft resolution on Lebanon
Tehran, Aug 8, IRNA

Iran-UN-Lebanon
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, to take " a courageous measure" to establish an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon.

In a telephone conversation on Monday, President Ahmadinejad said the issue of Lebanon can be resolved through ceasefire, punishment of criminals and observing the rights of the Lebanese people.

"The Zionist regime has been attacking Lebanon for 27 days on the pretext of releasing two captured Israeli soldiers and has destroyed its infrastructure and has killed dozens of Lebanese children and women," he said.

President Ahmadinejad said the Israeli regime and its staunch ally, the United States, are not afraid to state their major objectives such as changing the map of the Middle East.

He said it's a shame for humanity that the United States has vetoed the establishment of a ceasefire in Lebanon.

Referring to the extreme anger of regional nations about the indifference of international organizations regarding the continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon, he warned against an "explosion" in the Middle East which can be uncontrollable and spread to other countries.

President Ahmadinejad urged Annan to defend the rights of the Lebanese people.

"You can prevent the continuation of the crimes of Israel and the warmongering of the United States and Britain," he told Annan.

Ahmadinejad said the latest UN Security Council's resolution on Israel's war against Lebanon is in line with the interests of the Zionist regime.

"Lebanon is a sovereign nation and it is not likely to accept a resolution which insures the interests of the Qods-occupying regime," he noted.

UN Chief Annan, who made this telephone call, expressed sorry and regret over the continued Israeli assaults on Lebanon, stressing that he is trying his best to stop these hostilities.

"I hope this crisis will be weathered through long-term measures," Annan said.

Referring to the shame of a majority of the member-states to the Security Council for their failure to stop the war, Annan said they are currently working on a draft resolution to end the war in Lebanon due to the pressures from public opinions.

"I also accept the views of the Islamic Republic about the necessity of adopting a just and basic solution to this issue," he said.

Annan underscored that the United Nations is seeking Iran's help to resolve the crisis in the Middle East.

He added many countries are preparing their views about this draft, saying a delegation from the Arab League is presently in New York to discuss the resolution draft.

Ahmadinejad, Annan discuss draft resolution on Lebanon (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608084296000854.htm)

U.N. rights council to discuss Israel

Tue Aug 8, 9:55 AM ET

GENEVA - The new U.N. Human Rights Council will hold a special session this week in a move initiated by Muslim countries to condemn Israel for its military offensive in Lebanon, officials said Tuesday.

In a similar session last month, the council voted 29-11 to deplore Israel's military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The council will "consider and take action on the gross human rights violations by Israel in Lebanon," according to the request filed by Tunisia on behalf of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference.

The statement said the council should consider the July 30 Israeli air strike on the Lebanese town of Qana, which killed 28 people, as well as "countrywide targeting of innocent civilians and destruction of vital civilian infrastructure."

Marie Heuze, chief spokeswoman in Geneva for the United Nations, said the council would meet either Thursday or Friday.

The session was called because 16 countries — more than the requisite one-third of the 47-member council — backed Tunisia's request for the special session. Non-Arab countries signing the petition included China, Cuba, Russia and South Africa.

Israel and the United States, which are not on the council, criticized last month's vote, saying it was a continuation of practices by the dissolved U.N. Human Rights Commission, which singled out alleged Israeli abuses in every annual session.

Five countries abstained in the July vote, the council's first emergency meeting. The session on Lebanon will be the second.

The council replaced the discredited Human Rights Commission in June.

U.N. rights council to discuss Israel (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060808/ap_on_re_mi_ea/un_israel_rights_2;_ylt=AjyTRnYx6aGEvDG5CGPmH4kUvioA;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)

Annan pushes for Security Council resolution on Israel-Lebanon violence
Report, UN News, 10 August 2006

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan is working "very intensely" with Security Council members and key leaders to push for a resolution concerning the situation along the Blue Line separating Israel from Lebanon.

A spokesman for Mr. Annan issued a statement in New York saying the diplomacy is taking place "both here and in capitals."

The statement also reiterated Mr. Annan's long-standing call for a cessation of hostilities. "The fighting must stop to save civilians on both sides from the nightmare they have endured for the past four weeks."

The spokesman voiced Mr. Annan's conviction that the Security Council should be able to adopt a resolution by the end of the week.

The spokesman, asked about the Secretary-General's contacts with officials, noted that the Secretary-General today had spoken by phone with United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

At a Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Qatar's Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani, speaking for the League of Arab States, accused the 15-member body of doing nothing while the Lebanese people have become engulfed in a "bloodbath" since the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah erupted in mid-July.

Since the start of hostilities, the Security Council has adopted a resolution temporarily extending the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) through August, as well as two presidential statements on the violence.

The Council President, Ambassador Nana Effah-Apenteng of Ghana, was asked on 4 August about a view among the general public that the Council has not done enough to stop the fighting.

"We have tried our best as members of the Security Council to get action taken on the issue but there are certain realities that one has to contend with and because of those realities we have to be pragmatic and we have to be realistic and look at the option which will enable us come to a quick decision on this issue, and I think that is what we have been doing," he said.

Annan pushes for Security Council resolution on Israel-Lebanon violence (http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article5488.shtml)

U.N. diplomats close in on cease-fire resolution

By Warren P. Strobel

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

WASHINGTON - The United States and France reached a tentative agreement Thursday evening on a U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for a cease-fire in Lebanon and the gradual withdrawal of Israeli troops, diplomats from three nations said.

The cease-fire document, which the diplomats described as virtually complete, could be voted on as early as Friday or Saturday.

The draft resolution, which takes into account strong objections from Arab governments, calls for the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping force to southern Lebanon in addition to the dispatch of 15,000 troops from the Lebanese army.

Israel, which sent its troops into Lebanon in reprisal for rocket firings by the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah, would withdraw them in stages as the combined force of Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers moved in, diplomats said.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were ongoing, described the deal as nearly complete, pending final approval in Beirut, Jerusalem, Paris and Washington.

"We're close to an agreement. To say it will be sealed tonight - that's a wish," said one European diplomat.

The deal was struck after Israel threatened to expand its ground offensive against Hezbollah, an escalation of the war that could further undermine Lebanon's frail democratic government, weaken pro-Western Arab regimes and perhaps incite Shiite Muslims in Iraq and Iran.

The conflict, which began on July 12 after Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli army reservists and began firing rockets into northern Israel, has killed more than 1,000 Lebanese and more than 100 Israelis. Much of Lebanon's infrastructure and thousands of homes have been damaged and destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of citizens in northern Israel have taken to bomb shelters or been evacuated.

It remains to be seen how fast an international force can take the field, whether diplomacy will stop the fighting and whether the outcome will weaken or strengthen Hezbollah.

"When this is settled, they're going to be the 2-ton elephant in the room," Vali Nasr, the author of a new book on the revival of Shiite Islam, said earlier Thursday.

Hezbollah has demanded a full and immediate Israeli withdrawal as part of any cease-fire, and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has insisted that Israel will not live under the threat of future Hezbollah rocket attacks.

Nor was it immediately clear how or whether Hezbollah would be disarmed, which U.S. and Israeli officials have said is their central goal.

The U.N. force won't be empowered to disarm the group, and Lebanon's weak army is not believed to have the will or capability to do so.

That means that Hezbollah and its charismatic leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, would have three basic choices about how to respond to a U.N. cease-fire:

_The group could pocket the political capital it's gained by battling the Israelis, abide by the cease-fire and disarm. That, however, would mean abandoning the battle against Israel that's helped give the militants legitimacy.

_Rather than risk a longer war that could erode its support in Lebanon, Hezbollah could give up some weapons, try to hide the rest and lie low for a while. That might be possible because no one knows how many weapons it has, but its largest rockets and other weapons would be hard to conceal.

_Having fought the Israeli Defense Forces to what amounts to a stand-off this time, and having driven Israeli, American, British, French and Italian forces out of Lebanon in the past, Hezbollah could turn on foreign forces again, using the improvised explosives, suicide bombers, ambushes and other tactics that were effective before and are taking a toll on U.S. and Iraqi forces in Iraq today.

A second diplomat said that one focus of the cease-fire resolution is an arms embargo intended to stop new shipments of weapons to Hezbollah from Iran and Syria.

That would be a scaling-back of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's original goals in ending the conflict.

A senior State Department official said that Hezbollah's disarmament will "get worked out somewhere down the road" and "within the Lebanese political system."

Still, he said, "We feel like we've got a deal that should be able to work, not only with the French, but more importantly with the Lebanese and the Israelis."

France has offered to lead the international force and supply several thousand peacekeeping troops. President Bush and Rice have said the United States would not supply troops, but could help with logistics.

As envisioned under the resolution, the international force would be an expanded and strengthened version of the existing U.N. force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, or United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

UNIFIL, which was created in March 1978, has a narrow mandate, mostly limited to observation and monitoring. With fewer than 2,000 troops, it's been powerless to stop repeated clashes between Israel and guerrilla and terrorist groups in Lebanon.

The new force would be authorized under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which would give it more power to use armed force and take other action.

Rice was preparing to travel to New York as early as Friday to participate in the vote and any last-minute negotiations.

Her British counterpart, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, broke off a vacation to travel to the United Nations. "The situation is urgent and we need now to complete the task," Beckett said.

Much of the negotiation was carried out by Rice aide David Welch, the State Department's top Middle East expert, who shuttled between Beirut and Jerusalem to gain both sides' agreement to a series of changes in the cease-fire deal.

U.N. diplomats close in on cease-fire resolution (http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/15245647.htm)

Kofi Annan to Hizbullah's rescue?
ANNE BAYEFSKY
THE JERUSALEM POST

American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on the brink of handing President George W. Bush the worst diplomatic disaster of his presidency. She is poised to agree to UN resolutions that will tie the hands of both Israel and the United States in the war on terrorism and, in particular, inhibit future action on its number one state sponsor - Iran.

The catastrophe is the brainchild of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has effectively turned the United Nations into the political wing of Hizbullah. Rice and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns are working furiously to satisfy a timetable dictated by Annan, not by the interests of the United States.

How did the United Nations become the forum for producing peace between Israel and its neighbors, which have rejected the Jewish state's existence for the past six decades? In the past three weeks, a multi-headed hydra of UN actors has risen to defeat Israel on the political battlefield in an unprecedented disregard of the UN Charter's central tenet: the right of self-defense.

Existing Security Council resolutions have for years required "the Government of Lebanon to fully extend and exercise its sole and effective authority throughout the south, [and] ensure a calm environment throughout the area, including along the Blue Line, and to exert control over the use of force on its territory and from it."

A combination of Iranian aggression, Syrian support, and Lebanese impotence and malfeasance, has actively prevented the implementation of the existing resolutions.

But how did the UN respond to the aggression against the UN member state of Israel, which was launched once again from Lebanese territory and which continues to the present hour? By accusing Israel of murder, mass genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, the deliberate attack of children, and racism. UN actors have even denied that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization and analogized it to anti-Nazi resistance movements. In the last three weeks, we have heard:

Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

# Israel's "excessive use of force is to be condemned;" Israel has "torn the country to shreds... Israel's disproportionate use of force and collective punishment of the Lebanese people must stop."

# Israel is "apparently" guilty of the murder of UN soldiers. The UNIFIL soldiers were killed by Israel after it responded to Hizbullah attacks on Israeli civilians. One of the soldiers had reported only days before he died that Hizbullah's nearby actions meant Israel's response "has not been deliberate targeting, but has rather been due to tactical necessity." Yet without any investigation Annan immediately called it an "apparently deliberate targeting" - an accusation he has yet to retract.

# Israel has "committed grave breaches of international humanitarian law" and "has caused, and is causing, death and suffering on a wholly unacceptable scale."

Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown:

# Hizbullah, the Iranian-proxy currently fighting Israel, is not a terrorist organization. "It is not helpful to couch this war in the language of international terrorism," said Malloch Brown, claiming Hizbullah is "completely separate and different from al-Qaida."

Jan Egeland, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator:

# "The excessive and disproportionate use of force by the Israeli Defense Forces…must stop."

Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights:
# In comments Arbour directed at Israel, she said: "the bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable," suggesting that Israel was perpetrating "war crimes and crimes against humanity" for violating the "obligation to protect civilians during hostilities."

Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict:

# In comments directed "even-handedly" to Israel and Hizbullah, Coomaraswamy "strongly condemned the repeated attacks on civilians, and especially on children, noting that callous disregard for the lives of children has permeated this conflict from its start."

Ann Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF:

# Veneman claimed Israel is engaged in "the continued targeting of civilians, particularly children."

Agha Shahi, Pakistani member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination:

# "Would Israel have resorted to the bombing of civilian infrastructure if it were fighting a non-Arab force? It was a war between different ethnic groups, the Arabs and the Jews."

Jose Fransisco Calitzay, Guatemalan member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination:

# Commenting on events in Lebanon, Calitzay said "mass genocide was the highest level of racism that could exist, and they had to prevent that from happening in the present case."

Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Egyptian member of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination:

# Aboul-Nasr "objected to the designation of Hizbullah as a terrorist organization. Hizbullah was not a terrorist organization; it was a resistance movement that was fighting foreign occupation, just as there had been during the Second World War."

cont'd next post

IN SHORT, the UN - which to this day cannot define terrorism - did not come to the aid of a UN member under fire from one of the world's leading terrorist organizations. It came to the aid of the terrorist by attempting to prevent the member state from exercising its right to hit back.

The Geneva Conventions clearly state that combatants are prohibited from using civilians as human shields, but if they do so, the presence of civilians does not render the area immune from military operations.

Israeli soldiers and civilians are paying with their lives daily as a consequence of Israel's efforts to avoid disproportionate action - a dramatic exercise of restraint taken in order to reduce Lebanese civilian casualties.

But in the face of the UN's obvious predilection to subvert Israel's well-being and American foreign policy interests, to whom has Secretary Rice turned to save the day? The United Nations!

THE RESULT has been as predictable as it has been disastrous. The UN's verbal assault on Israel is coupled with a three-pronged political agenda. The UN seeks to: (1) protect Hizbullah from further Israeli attacks, (2) produce a political win for Hizbullah by giving them the territorial prize of the Shaba Farms, and (3) increase UN presence, oversight and control of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Every element of this agenda is satisfied in the current draft UN resolution and is part of the declared intention of a second resolution to follow (some of which may end up being incorporated in the first.)

The resolution calls for a "full cessation of hostilities" and "the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations." What offensive military operations? Has Israel been engaged in a single military operation offensive and not defensive in nature?

The resolution reintroduces the notion that Israel might occupy Lebanese territory, calling for action on "areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including in the Shaba farms area." Though the resolution doesn't mention the states who are party to the dispute, leaving some possibility that the territorial dispute is between Syria and Lebanon, Syria is not mentioned.

Given that the only states named in the resolution are Israel and Lebanon, either the presence of the Shaba Farms issue means Lebanese territory is occupied by Israel (contrary to explicit UN determinations in the past) or Syria's role in arming Hizbullah is now being rewarded by the UN.

The draft resolution on the current crisis says the Security Council "expresses its intention…to authorize in a further resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter the deployment of a UN mandated international force to…contribute to the implementation of a permanent cease-fire and a long-term solution."

It calls for renewed involvement of UNIFIL, the UN troops that stood and watched Hizbullah rearm and plan its deadly assault on a UN member state for the last six years.

Such an international force is to be authorized under the first-ever Chapter VII resolution - a legally binding resolution that can be implemented through sanctions or the use of force - in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In other words, Secretary Rice has approved of a UN-authorized and monitored force that has its sights set on Israel too, coupled with a claim that Israel is currently engaged in "offensive" operations.

THE VERY UN that accuses Israel of murder and heinous violations of international law is now to be charged with judging compliance with a legally binding instrument purporting to define the terms and conditions of Israel's self-defense. The original idea of a Chapter VII force to disarm Hizbullah was coupled with a serious NATO presence. The current draft is the worst of both worlds - a much-watered down force with considerable UN-control coupled with a Chapter VII mandate that could easily be turned on the UN's perpetual whipping boy - Israel.

In addition, the draft resolution:

# fails to call in its operative section for the immediate release of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers,

# introduces the notion that settling the issue of all Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel - regardless of their crimes - will be the quid pro quo for the Israelis' release,

# speaks of financial and humanitarian assistance only to the Lebanese people while ignoring restitution or aid for the one million Israelis in bomb shelters over the last three weeks and the 300,000 displaced

# lends credibility to another manufactured grievance, the return by Israel of "remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon" - though Israel has already returned maps of old mines years ago, and no mention is made of Hizbullah providing the UN with maps of its newly-laid land mines,

# enhances Kofi Annan's authority to judge Israel by extending an open-ended invitation to inform the Security Council continually about any action he believes "might adversely affect the search for a long-term solution"

# fails to mention "Hizbullah" or terrorism even once, let alone stating that Hizbullah is directly responsible for the Lebanese civilian casualties it cynically promotes.

# omits entirely any reference to Iran or Syria, as if the address of the arms suppliers and bosses of their Hizbullah proxies are too sensitive to include.

THERE WILL be only one sure result of this move - the empowerment of terrorists whose ultimate target is the United States, Israel and all democratic values. Secretary Rice's belief that there is a serious convergence between the United Nations agenda and American foreign policy needs in the age of terrorism is a profound error in judgment for which democratic societies everywhere will be forced to pay a heavy price.

Annan condemns Security Council over Lebanon resolution delay
New York, Aug 12, IRNA

UN-Lebanon-Annan
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan condemned the Security Council's failure to act more quickly to end the Lebanon war, saying it had "badly shaken" the world's faith in the Security Council.

Speaking at the start of a council meeting which called for a "cessation of hostilities" between Israel and Lebanon, Annan said:
"I would be remiss if I did not tell you how profoundly disappointed I am that the council did not reach this point much, much earlier, a reference to the United States procrastination over the wording of the resolution after Lebanese government rejected an earlier draft resolution as favoring Israel.

"And I am convinced that my disappointment and sense of frustration are shared by hundreds of millions of people around the world."
The UN secretary general added: "All members of the Security Council must be aware that its inability to act sooner has badly shaken the worlds faith in its authority and integrity."
The 15 member Security Council voted unanimously for a resolution calling on the two belligerent parties to immediately cease hostilities following a month of fighting.

The resolution also calls for Israeli forces to withdraw from positions they have occupied in southern Lebanon in parallel with the deployment of Lebanese army units and a robust international military force in southern Lebanon.

"Israeli bombing has turned thousands of homes to rubble. It has also destroyed dozens of bridges and roads, with the result that more than a hundred thousand people cannot reach safety, nor can relief supplies reach them," he said.

"Israelis, for their part, have been newly awakened to a threat which they hoped, with good reason, to have escaped when -- as this Council certified on my recommendation -- they withdrew from Lebanon six years ago."
Annan gave a damning assessment of international action over the Middle East.

"We have just had a terrible lesson in the dangers of allowing problems to fester. We must by now all know that unless we address unfinished business, it can and will take us unawares," he said.

"Over the last five weeks we have been reminded yet again what a fragile, tense and crisis-ridden region the Middle East has become probably now more complex and difficult than ever before.

"It is now undergoing changes, shifts and realignments on a scale, and of a strategic significance, not seen since the colonial powers withdrew at the end of the Second World War."
"The Middle East, which has long figured at the very top of this Councils agenda, is likely to remain there for years to come." The United Nations "stands for a comprehensive solution, and must therefore do our utmost to address all the separate but intertwined issues and conflicts in the region," he said.

Annan condemns Security Council over Lebanon resolution delay (http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-234/0608123408153445.htm)

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