Shame on them

The UN has published the full text of the one-sided resolution, vetoed by the United States, demanding an end to the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, along with the pathetic rationalizations given by the elevn other Security Council members for their votes (and some whining by the palestinian observer). It's very interesting reading.

U.S. Ambassador John Danforth made a most eloquent case for our veto. Too bad it fell on deaf ears.

Speaking before the vote on the draft resolution on the Middle East, JOHN DANFORTH (United States) said that, once again, the draft was “lopsided and unbalanced”. It was “dangerously disingenuous” because of its many material omissions. Because of that lack of balance, because of those omissions, the text lacked credibility and deserved a “no” vote, both for what it said and then for what it failed to say. The text condemned Israel’s military actions in Gaza; it criticized what it called “incursions” into the Jabaliya refugee camp; it condemned Israeli acts of “destruction”, and it lamented “extensive human casualties” among Palestinians. It demanded that Israel, as the “occupying Power”, withdraw its forces immediately. Those were tough words.

He said the United States had no problem with “tough words”, but only when those were accurate and there was balance. The draft did not mention even one of the 450 Qassam rocket attacks launched against Israel over the past two years. It did not mention 200 rockets launched this year alone. It did not mention the two Israeli children who were outside playing last week when a rocket suddenly crashed into their young bodies. It did not mention the undisputed fact that Qassam rockets had no military purpose –- that those were crude, imprecise devices of terror designed to kill civilians. It did not mention that Hamas took “credit” for killing those Israeli children and maiming many other Israeli civilians –- calling those deaths and woundings a “victory”. It did not mention that the terrorists hid among Palestinian civilians, provoking their deaths, and then used those deaths as fodder for their hatred, lawlessness, and efforts to derail the peace process.

In addition, he went on, the draft did not mention the complete failure of the Palestinian Authority to meet its commitments to establish security among its people. The text did not acknowledge the legitimate need for Israel to defend itself; it was totally lacking in balance. When the rest of the world “ganged up” on Israel with insidious silence about terrorism, it did not advance the cause of peace. It encouraged both sides to dig in; it made Israel feel isolated and backed into a corner, and it discouraged dialogue.

Both sides needed to renounce violence, recommit to the Road Map, and move quickly to establish a PalestinianState. But, until the Palestinians and those claiming to act in their name stopped their use of indiscriminate acts of terror, Israel would likely continue to track down the terrorists wherever those might hide, often with the tragic but unintended result of civilian casualties.

The Security Council should “reverse the incessant stream” of one anti-Israel resolutions after the other, and apply pressure even-handedly, on both sides, to return to the road to peace. The United States would vote “no” on that text.

Shame on Brazil, France, Pakistan, the Philippines, Chile, the Russian Federation, Romania, Spain, China, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Shame.