Israel: UNIFIL Is Hiding Information about Hizbullah from Security Council

The United Nations is once again giving Muslims a free pass to intimidate, coerce, and break the rules of law. Via Israel: UNIFIL Is Hiding Information about Hizbullah from Security Council:

UNIFIL is intentionally concealing information about Hizbullah activities south of the Litani River in Lebanon to avoid conflict with the group, senior sources in Jerusalem have said. In the last six months there have been at least four cases in which UNIFIL soldiers identified armed Hizbullah operatives, but did nothing and did not submit full reports on the incidents to the UN Security Council.

A new report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon with regard to Security Council Resolution 1559 briefly mentioned an incident at the beginning of March in which UNIFIL soldiers encountered unidentified armed men, and included no additional details. The incident described in the report had actually been a clash between UNIFIL and armed Hizbullah activists, driving a truck full of explosives, who threatened the Italian UNIFIL battalion with weapons. Instead of using force as required by their mandate, the UN soldiers abandoned the site. A diplomatic source at the UN said senior officials in UNIFIL and in the UN Secretariat brought heavy pressure to bear to have the incident erased from the report or at least to blur it.

A reminder for those who don't remember

Israel evicted nearly 10,000 Jews from their homes in Gaza, yet all Israel received in return was - and continues to be - a steady barrage of rocket fire from Muslim and Hamas-occupied territory. Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by the Muslim terrorist organization in June 2006 begins today his 22nd month in captivity.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Danny Gillerman, summed up the situation by telling the Security Council on March 25th that the apparent lull in Hamas rocket attacks is only superficial, because the bombs keep ticking, while Hamas is using this time to smuggle in and produce more rockets. He commented:

Whereas Israel makes all efforts to protect civilians in accordance with international law, Hamas indiscriminately fires rockets into Israeli civilian areas. Whereas Israel ensures that medicines and fuel enter the Gaza Strip to reach hospitals and needy civilians, Hamas hijacks those trucks and diverts them to its bomb making factories and terrorist camps. Whereas Israel allows humanitarian convoys into Gaza - more than 1,600 trucks and over 20,000 tons of aid in recent weeks alone - Hamas cynically fires on those same crossing points, so it can fabricate a pretext for inciting the Palestinian public against Israel.

I am sure that many in this Council watched with horror and disgust as Hamas terrorists joyfully fired their rifles into the air [after the Merkaz HaRav slaughter] and passed out candy to children in celebration. If anyone doubted what the extremists stand for, the reaction in Gaza to the murder of eight Israeli boys sets the record straight. It was also a stark reminder that these were the same people who danced on the rooftops after 9/11.

"Which is why, Mr. President, it was so sad and disturbing that the Council could not condemn the terrorist attack... The Security Council has a longstanding practice of condemning terrorism, no matter the victims, no matter the location, no matter the perpetrator, no matter the motivation. Yet the Council could not unanimously condemn this terrorist attack and intentional killing of civilians, for the Council was blocked by a politicized opposition, of one Member State [Libya - ed.] in particular...

INN reports that Gillerman also addressed the situation along Israel's northern border, noting that Hizbullah is violating the ceasefire reached after the Second Lebanon War nearly two years ago in three areas: Weapons continue to flow illegally through the porous Syrian-Lebanese border; Hizbullah is rearming, and "has already adapted its weaponry and tactics so as to take into account the UNIFIL presence south of the Litani River, as its spokesmen openly declare; and Israeli soldiers Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev have still not been released by their Hizbullah kidnappers.

Rothman-Kirk Resolution Passes: House Calls on UN to Charge Iranian President with Violating the Genocide Convention and UN Charter

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Congressman Steve Rothman's (D-NJ) resolution urging the United Nations (UN) Security Council to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Genocide Convention and the UN Charter. To join the UN, Iran agreed to abide by both accords, but Ahmadinejad has violated both by publicly calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map."

Rothman's bipartisan Resolution (H.Con.Res.21), which he introduced with Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), passed by a vote of 411 to 2.

"When the leader of an armed nation such as Iran calls for the destruction of a fellow member state of the United Nations, the UN must prosecute and punish him. It is my hope that this resolution will effectively increase pressure on the United Nations to hold Iranian President Ahmadinejad accountable for his genocidal words and prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons," said Rothman.

Ahmadinejad has repeatedly and publicly called for Israel to be 'wiped off the map.' Yet, the 1948 Genocide Convention not only prohibits genocide, but also prohibits 'direct and public incitement to commit genocide.' It also provides that no one is above the law. People advocating genocidal crimes shall be punished whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.

Further, Article 2, Section 4 of the United Nations charter - to which Iran has agreed - requires all UN member states to 'refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.'

H.Con.Res.21 makes it clear that the U.S. Congress sees Ahmadinejad's statements as violating both the letter and spirit of these international pacts. H.Con.Res.21 had strong bipartisan support leading up to today's vote, with103 co-sponsors, including 57 Democrats and 46 Republicans.

"The prohibitions against genocidal hate speech against nations and peoples exist for a reason," said Congressman Rothman. "No one heeded the danger of Adolf Hitler's hateful calls for the death of the Jewish people and six million of them were killed by Hitler's followers."

Congressman Kirk has pointed out that: "In the past, dictators often tell us what crimes they will commit long before they strike. If we learn from that lesson, we will take early action against the Iranian leader who has told us that he hopes to murder many."
Reps. Rothman and Kirk sit on the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Agencies, which oversees U.S. spending on foreign aid and the activities of the U.S. State Department.

The text of Rep. Rothman's speech in support of H.Con.Res.21 is online at:
http://rothman.house.gov/news_releases/2007/june18.htm .

House Action on Charging Ahmadinejad with Genocide Postponed

From House Action on Charging Ahmadinejad with Genocide Postponed:

H.Con.Res.21, cosponsored by 103 members of the House of Representatives, which calls on the UN Security Council to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating the 1948 Genocide Convention, was not voted upon after the Chair announced on June 18 that further proceedings on the motion would be postponed. The House Foreign Affairs Committee agreed on May 23 to have this legislation considered by the full House of Representatives.

Why has progress towards the ethical silencing of a murderous madman been postponed?

Security Council Refuses to Condemn Iran

It's very clear which side of morality the UN sleeps with. From Security Council Refuses to Condemn Iran:

The UN Security Council refused to approve a statement Friday that would condemn remarks about Israel's impending destruction attributed to Iran's hard-line president because of objections from Indonesia, council diplomats said. France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, who called for condemnation of the remarks attributed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said: "At stake is...a real question of principle. When the president of a country talks about the destruction of another country, a member of the United Nations, this is a serious issue."

"A statement by a head of state calling for or implying the destruction of a member state of the United Nations is as a matter of principle unacceptable, and this is a threat to international peace and security," said U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.

UN Security Council Backs Tribunal for Lebanon

Finally the UN gets to focus on real war criminals instead of its scapegoating Israel. From UN Security Council Backs Tribunal for Lebanon:

The UN Security Council voted Wednesday to create an international criminal tribunal to prosecute the masterminds of the February 2005 bombing that killed former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri and 22 others. The resolution, which will take effect June 10, was approved 10 to 0. China, Indonesia, Qatar, Russia and South Africa abstained. The court will also have jurisdiction over at least 14 other political attacks against anti-Syrian journalists, scholars and politicians since October 2004.