‘Abstain’ is a Sinister anti-Israel “Yes” Vote!

by Steven Shamrak

Despite Israeli lobbying efforts against the Goldstone Report, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva passed the resolution 25-6. Shamefully, 11 countries abstained: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, and Uruguay. Even more offensive and disturbing was that five countries, including the two biggest anti-Israel bigots and so-called super powers, ran away and did not vote at all: the United Kingdom, France, Madagascar, Kyrgyzstan and Angola. But their deliberate indifference and attempt to avoid responsibility these countries gave the appearance of legitimacy to the resolution.

At least the 25 states that voted in favour of the resolution clearly stated their position and attitude toward Israel or some of them have surrendered to pressure from the oil rich Arab countries. They are: Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia. By viewing this list and the ‘quality’ of the countries in it one can make a fear assessment of the true agenda of the UN Human Rights Committee. It was a big disappointment to see India, the country which is greatly benefiting from a friendship with Israel, among the list of bigots.

Countries that displayed integrity by opposing the resolution were: Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Slovakia, Ukraine and the United States. They did not succumb to Islamic pressure and maintained their impartiality and honesty!

State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said that the UN Human Rights Committee resolution that approved the Goldstone report was "unbalanced" and that it would "exacerbate polarization and divisiveness.” What he forgot to add was that the old and the new UN Human Rights Committee have been exhibiting a strong and well established tradition of anti-Israel bias traits, if not anti-Semitic ones!

Food for Thought. by Steven Shamrak

There is a lot of talking about a talk to revive the talks for the sake of talking. I hope you do not mind me talking about it :)

Real Friendship or Another Move in Familiar Game? The "anti-Israel vitriol" at the United Nations needs to end, said U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice last Wednesday. "Member states must once and for all replace anti-Israeli vitriol with recognition of Israel's legitimacy and right to exist in peace and security," she said at the "Facing Tomorrow" conference hosted by President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem. "We will stand by our friends on the frontlines and we will uphold the inalienable right to self-defence." (Why hasn’t she made the same stand as official statement of the US policy from the tribune of the United Nation?)

Tunnels’ Saga. Israel is finally authorizing the trucking in of tea and coffee into Gaza. Until now, it was coming through the tunnels, like everything else there. (Hamas deliberately disallows the transfer of goods to Gaza through Israel as the organization needs tunnels to smuggle illegal weapons into Gaza and it collects tax from tunnel owners.)

Arabs are not Israelis. A study by Ben Gurion University shows that a majority of Israeli Arabs oppose paying local taxes...only 18.6% of Arabs in Israel pay their local taxes. (They love benefiting from living in Israel, but do not feel like contributing toward the higher standard of living, compared to any Arab country, which they enjoy!)

Hamas Official: Accepting 2 States is Betrayal. Acting Chairman of the PA Legislative Council and Hamas member Ahmad Bahar warned that accepting a Jewish state is betrayal and a crime: "Someone who accepts the Jewishness of the state [of Israel] betrays Allah… Even recognition of two states is a crime against the Palestinian cause (which is the destruction of Israel). The state that the Jews want is a state in which we will be servants, messengers, of the Jews... We will not accept and not recognize a state for the Jews here on Palestinian land! We will not recognize it! It makes no difference what this will cost us." (But, in the twisted mind of an anti-Semite, it is fine that Jews remain subservient even in their own land! There is no difference between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas is just saying it loudly and undiplomatically, as Fatah used to.)

Quote of the Week: "Under the Westphalian code (the Treaty of Westphalia), a country's internal affairs are the lawful concern only of its rulers. The code still prevails at the United Nations under the UN Charter, which enshrines the sovereign inviolability of its members, effectively undermining the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights." - Karl Meyer – This code prevails for all other nations except Israel. The human rights abuses conducted predominantly by Muslim countries is deliberately ignored by the UN, or should I say - “Useless” or “Ugly” “Nothing”!

Living in ‘Friendly’ Neighbourhood. 1. Iran is making a huge effort to smuggle to the Palestinian Hamas Fajr-5 ground-to-ground rockets that bring Tel Aviv within range of the Gaza Strip. 2. Syria has decided to transfer one-third of its missile stockpile to the Hizballah in Lebanon, topping up its arsenal with medium-range rockets that can cover central as well as northern Israel.

End Dependence on Oil. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the presidential “Facing Tomorrow" conference last week that the world must end its dependence on oil ”that strengthens terror and damages planet Earth.” And stunts economic growth in Africa and other poor areas of the world as well as in developed countries

Where does Turkey Stand? Syria said it would hold military exercises with Turkey, shortly after Turkey cancelled NATO’s manoeuvres with Israel. Ankara's decision, which was commended by Syria, revived fears of cooler relations between Israel and Turkey. Turkey, a secular Muslim country, has been pretending to be a key ally of Israel for a while, but ties have been strained since Islamic party of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's took office.

Americans are in Tune with Reality. A Washington Post poll shows that 42 percent of Americans would support a military strike to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. (Even without government propaganda, as was done by Bush administration before the Iraq war, Americans know what is truly beneficial for the US national interest!)

Hypocrisy is Everywhere. A United States-based organization's conference on breast cancer awareness, hosted in Egypt, has been touted by international news networks as an example of “unprecedented cooperation” in the region. However the celebration of unity may be premature, as Israeli doctors were told at the last minute that their invitations to participate had been rescinded.

Labor Party is Against Israel as a Jewish State. The Labor party of Defense Minister Ehud Barak requested that the government grant full Israeli citizenship to 1,200 children who were born in Israel to foreign workers. In addition, Labor officials asked that at least 600 parents of the children be granted citizenship as well. Several veteran activists have warned that the issue of Israeli-born foreign children is being used to manipulate public sentiment for anti-Israel purposes and that the children of foreign workers are being used by Israel's left as a demographic weapon.

Obama Administration Supports anti-Israel Jewish Lobby. The Obama administration appears to be welcoming the efforts of the left-leaning anti-Israel Jewish lobby in Washington, J Street. While Israel's ambassador to the U.S. will probably not be attending Jewish group's October 25 conference of this group, James Jones, national security adviser in the Obama administration, and others have confirmed their participation.

Terror Must be Stopped. According to figures released by the Shin Bet, the number of violent incidents jumped considerably in September compared to August. In the West Bank, there were 95 security incidents, against 53 in August, in the Western Negev, 45 against 19, and there were 17 rocket launchings from Gaza, against only two in August.

Long Fight Against the UN Report? Netanyahu, who has said the Goldstone report could undermine U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace moves and that he would object to Israelis standing trial for war crimes, was quoted as saying Israel would wage a protracted struggle against the criticism. "Israel must delegitimise the delegitimisation". He said the campaign "would not take just a week or two but possibly years." (Our enemies have been continuously creating fake problems and bogus anti-Israel reports in order to divert Israel’s attention from the real issues like neutralizing the ‘nuclearization’ of Iran and the pursuit of the Jewish National Goal!)

Talks with Iran is another UN Shamble. Just before Iran began talks a with Western officials at the offices of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna Iranian officials said the Islamic Republic will continue to enrich uranium regardless of whether it purchases nuclear fuel from other nations. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouvchehr Mottaki told journalists last Tuesday during a news conference: "These issues are not related. Iran will continue its uranium enrichment. It is not linked to buying fuel from abroad."

The Talk for the Sake of What?

Only on Sept. 26 US president Barack Obama threatened Iran with confrontation over the secrecy surrounding its nuclear capabilities. He even did not rule out military options. Just 8 days later, the Obama administration abandoned an Iranian enrichment freeze as the precondition for talks and sanctions are no longer brandished, leaving Israel taking stock of its decision to count on US-led international determination for halting Iran's nuclear progress. Will Obama also drop his second demand: "Iran must prove its program is peaceful."

(From now on, the 'talk' may go on indefinitely with endless ‘adjustment’ of positions, making it difficult for Israel forcefully stop Iranian progress in developing a nuclear bomb, until the Jewish 'friendly' parties declare that it is too late to stop Iranian nuclear admission. This is a common diplomatic ploy! The same had happened with Pakistan and India before!)

Iran has posted hundreds of agents in world ports to organize clandestine supplies through third countries of items subject to UN or US sanctions present or future. These items range from nuclear components to refined petroleum products. Dubai and the Ras al-Khaimah of the United Arab Emirates are two such ports. Malaysia, Hong Kong and Venezuela are willing helpers. So too is China. (Iran is already well prepared for the ‘talk’ and many friends are willing to help Iran!)