Paris – A report from Dr.Shimon Samuels,Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations and Observer to the UN Human “Wrongs” Council closing session:
- Agenda Item 2, L.31, “Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including EastJerusalem, and the obligation to ensure accountability and justice” – sponsored by Chile, Pakistan, Venezuela and Palestine.
The resolution passed with the support of 32 member-states: Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, China, Coted'Ivoire, Cuba, Denmark, Eritrea, Fiji, France, Gabon, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Libya, Mauritania, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, Pakistan, Poland, Korea, Russia, Senegal,Somalia, Sudan, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela.
Voting against were 6: Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Malawi, Togo.
Abstaining were 8: Bahamas, Czech Republic, India, Marshall Islands, Nepal, Philippines, Ukraine, United Kingdom.
Absent: Bahrain.
The accused party, Israel, responded, highlighting 'the lack of mention of Hamas terrorism, the 100,000 trucks of food sent to Gaza,140,000 Palestinians treated medically in Israeli hospitals, of which 13,000 children and the 100,000 Palestinian workers receiving the anti-Covid vaccine.”
The Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations in Geneva, Meirav Eilon Shahar, continued: “Any member-state who votesin favour of this resolution and backs its narrative, cannot be an honest broker when it comes to peace in the Middle East.”
The horrifying moment came when the United Kingdom and the European Union expressed “satisfaction that the issue had been taken outof Item 7.” Only Brazil saw through “the King’s new clothes,” claiming “the draft resolution was anyway unbalanced and singling out Israel.”
Indeed, three more Item 7 resolutions were still waiting around the corner and were voted in the afternoon.
ITEM 7
The good news was the EU and the UK's statements: "A firm rejection of keeping Item 7 on the agenda, as it clearly singles outIsrael." They stated that all issues regarding Israel and Palestine should be in a general Item on human rights concerns for every country. The UK and the Czech Republic declared they wouldhenceforth systematically vote against any Item 7 resolution.
This position was reflected in Item 7, L.16 – Human rights in theoccupied Syrian Golan, sponsored by Chile, Pakistan and State of Palestine. The EU member-states present - Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, theNetherlands, Poland – and the UK, together with Brazil, Cameroon, Japan, Malawi, the Marshall Islands, South Korea, Togo and Ukraine voted against, losing by a smallmargin. In fact, the resolution saw 26 in favour, 18 against and 3 abstentions.
On Item 7, L.18 – Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, sponsoredby Chile, Pakistan and State of Palestine,. The vote was 42 in favour, 3 against and 2 abstentions – Thus the UK and the Czech Republic were rejecting any Item 7 draft resolution,though all agreed, "in principle, that the Palestinians have the right to self-determination."
On Item 7, L.30 – Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan, sponsored by Chile, Pakistan, Venezuela and State of Palestine. The vote was 36 in favour, 3 against – UK, Czech Rep., MarshallIslands – and 8 abstentions. This accentuated the issue of existing settlements – especially new settlements – "as still commonly viewed as an obstacle to peace."
DURBAN
Item 9, L.3 - "Combating intolerance, negative stereotyping and stigmatization of, anddiscrimination, incitement to violence and violence against, persons based on religion or belief, sponsored by Australia, Canada, Fiji, Pakistan, Paraguay, Uruguayand Palestine.
The framework of this Item: "Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow-up to andimplementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action". resonates an above board innocence. The resolution was accepted by consensus, but no decision was taken regarding theplanned 20th anniversary commemoration conference. This may be attributed to the Wiesenthal Centre letter campaign urging leaders of democratic countries to boycott a "Durban 4."
In fact, the whole Durban process, since its inception in 2001 – and its 2009 and 2011 follow-ups – was dubbed by Centre delegateson the scene, Associate Dean and Global Social Action Director, Rabbi Abraham Cooper and Dr. Shimon Samuels as "the worst antisemitic hatefest since WW2."
In case of a “Durban 4” in September 2021 – that threatens to renew the antisemitic inquisition and the hypocrisy of hate – we reiterate our call to all countries of good will not to participate and to continue rejecting the singling out and delegitimization of Israel. As the US Representative to the UN-Genevapointed out at the close of the Human Rights Council: "We call on all to flatly reject any notion that Zionism may be equated to racism!"
A "Welcome to 'Durban 4' is an 'Invitation' to a platform for the destruction of the Jewish State."
For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthalfor news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament(Parlatino).
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