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US Criticizes UN for 'Widening Gap' Between Palestinians And Israelis
CNSNews.com ^ | August 06, 2002 | Jim Burns

Posted on 08/06/2002 1:04:28 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said the U.N. General Assembly should be discussing recent terrorist attacks in Israel rather than engaging in rhetoric that "widens the gap" between Palestinians and Israelis.

John Negroponte told a special session of the General Assembly that the Middle East debate is "out of step with the reality of events on the ground."

"For too long, the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Security Council have been silent when Israelis are victims of terrorism," the ambassador said.

He said the General Assembly session should be "explicitly condemning the terrorist organizations, like Hamas, that are clearly out to sabotage any effort to achieve Arab-Israeli peace, and once again, to call on countries of the world to fulfill their obligations to root out all terrorist networks wherever they are, including the Middle East."

The General Assembly was called into special session to act on a resolution condemning "atrocities" committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian civilians in the Jenin refugee camp and other cities during Israel's Operation Defensive Shield, which began on March 29 in response to a wave of terrorist attacks against Israel.

The resolution also demands the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian population centers to positions held prior to September 2000.

Negroponte said the United States would vote against the resolution "because we are focused on working directly with parties to bring results and because we believe the condemnatory rhetoric against Israel will not contribute to the efforts of the international community to urge both parties to take the decisions they need to make to end violence and return to negotiations."

"The resolution," Negroponte continued, "makes no effort to provide a fair representation of the context of the current violence in the Middle East."

In a report issued last week, U.N Secretary-General Kofi Annan criticized both Israel and the Palestinians for the deaths, injuries and widespread destruction in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

Annan said both sides put civilians in harm's way. But he said Palestinian claims that some 500 of their people were killed during the Israeli operation were unsubstantiated. He said 52 Palestinians died, about half of them civilians, and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed.

Negroponte said the U.N. resolution appears to be an attempt to write an alternative to Annan's report. He said the resolution does not help the Palestinian people, but undermines their cause and deepens the divide between Palestinians and Israelis.

But Negroponte's criticism was not enough to stop the General Assembly was adopting the resolution. It passed late Monday night on a 114-4 vote. Only the United States, Federated States of Micronesia, Israel and the Marshall Islands voted against it.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Israel; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: negroponte; un; unitednation; unlist

1 posted on 08/06/2002 1:04:29 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
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To: Tailgunner Joe
I'm glad we have Micronesia and the Marshall Islands at our backs if things get rough out there. And I was beginning to think we had no allies we could count on.
2 posted on 08/06/2002 1:20:18 PM PDT by Sender
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To: Tailgunner Joe
It's about time we had a UN Representative with some 'nads.
3 posted on 08/06/2002 1:21:11 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Tailgunner Joe; dixie sass; Memother; chesty_puller; mhking; Japedo; madfly; Snow Bunny; FallGuy; ..
GET THE US OUT OF THE UN !!!!
4 posted on 08/06/2002 1:23:31 PM PDT by ATOMIC_PUNK
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To: ATOMIC_PUNK
GET THE US OUT OF THE UN !!!!

And get the UN out of the US!!!

5 posted on 08/06/2002 1:29:20 PM PDT by pgkdan
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To: ATOMIC_PUNK; pgkdan
Bump & Bump!
6 posted on 08/06/2002 1:37:12 PM PDT by F.J. Mitchell
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To: *UN_List
Index Bump
7 posted on 08/06/2002 1:56:57 PM PDT by Free the USA
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To: Oldeconomybuyer
Correct. It does take nads- big enough to need a wheel barrow to walk around- to say that the General Assembly is "out of step with the reality of events on the ground", when you are voted against 114-4.
8 posted on 08/06/2002 2:00:08 PM PDT by rudypoot
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To: Tailgunner Joe
He said the General Assembly session should be "explicitly condemning the terrorist organizations, like Hamas, that are clearly out to sabotage any effort to achieve Arab-Israeli peace, and once again, to call on countries of the world to fulfill their obligations to root out all terrorist networks wherever they are, including the Middle East."

Start with rooting them out of the UN. Plenty of countries there qualify as "terrorist networks".

9 posted on 08/06/2002 2:13:43 PM PDT by Hugin
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To: Sender
Given that RMI and FSM are in "compacts of free association" with the United States, I'm suprised the terrorists of the U.N. recognize them as sovereign.
10 posted on 08/06/2002 2:23:43 PM PDT by jae471
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To: ATOMIC_PUNK
Only 4 nations with the moral clarity to vote the right way?

Get the US out of the immoral UN, and get the immoral UN out of the US.

11 posted on 08/06/2002 5:29:27 PM PDT by monkeyshine
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To: rudypoot
It does take nads- big enough to need a wheel barrow to walk around- to say that the General Assembly is "out of step with the reality of events on the ground", when you are voted against 114-4.

What do UN votes have to do with "reality on the ground"
12 posted on 08/06/2002 7:04:24 PM PDT by Blackyce
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To: Sender
Only the United States, Federated States of Micronesia, Israel and the Marshall Islands voted against it.

I was thinking the same thing. This is getting ridiculous. Get the US out of the UN!

13 posted on 08/06/2002 7:07:32 PM PDT by gcraig
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To: Blackyce

14 posted on 08/07/2002 1:06:33 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
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