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Israel's UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman: Israeli children are entitled to receive equal and due protection from terror attacks.
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| By Avi Mayer November 14, 2003 |
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Israel this week submitted a draft resolution to the General Assembly of the United Nations for the first time since 1976.
The resolution - entitled "The Situation of and Assistance to Israeli Children" - was introduced by Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman. "This important resolution seeks to ensure that Israeli children, alongside Palestinian children and the children of the world, receive equal and due protection, to which they are entitled," Gillerman told the UN's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee on Wednesday.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced that the resolution, which has been circulating in the Assembly since last Monday, "recognizes the basic and universal rights of all children to live a normal life free from terrorism, destruction and fear, and expressly condemns all acts of violence and incitement to violence and terrorism."
The draft closely mirrors a resolution submitted by Egypt's UN delegation three weeks ago and approved last week by the General Assembly's Third Committee, which called for international protection of Palestinian children against Israeli-induced "occupation, destruction and fear."
Putting the UN to the test
"We are putting them to the test," said Arye Mekel, Israel's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. In an interview with the JTA, Mekel noted that the resolution would seek to put to the test an anti-Israel voting record in the international organization, widely considered to be indicative of a biased view against the Jewish State. "We are presenting them, we believe, with a moral dilemma," said Mekel. "The test will be if they pass the Palestinian one but not ours," he told The Jerusalem Post.
Citing such international treaties as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the resolution's preamble expresses concern regarding the "grave threat" to Israeli children posed by such groups as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade as well as the "severe consequences... of Palestinian terrorist attacks on the present and future well-being of Israeli children." The preamble also condemns "all acts of violence and incitement to violence and terrorism, resulting in extensive loss of human life and injuries, including among Israeli children."
The operative clauses, of which there are three, stress the "urgent need for Israeli children to live a normal life free from terrorism, destruction and fear" and demand that the Palestinian Authority "respect its obligations to undertake effective operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in terror and the dismantlement of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure, and to guarantee that those responsible for terrorist acts are brought to justice." A request that the Secretary-General report on PA compliance within one month was dropped from a revised version of the resolution, published on Monday by Israel's UN delegation in New York, apparently in efforts to increase international support.
Haaretz quoted Israeli diplomats in New York as saying that the resolution is being received "sympathetically" in UN headquarters. The paper also cited one source as saying that the United States and a number of EU delegations have already promised to vote in favor of the draft.
The Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Nasser al-Kidwa, declared Monday that the Israeli draft "reflects a complete lack of sensitivity with regard to the suffering of the Palestinian children" and called upon the Third Committee to reject the Israeli proposal. When asked to comment on the resolution's striking similarity to the Egyptian-sponsored one, al-Kidwa said simply, "We are not amused."
Reports detail UN's anti-Israel bias
Charges of an anti-Israel bias in the United Nations are not uncommon. Reports by such groups as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) accuse the international organization of tolerating and fostering anti-Semitism and anti-Israel propaganda and of allowing its institutions to be used to seclude and malign Israel.
In a May 2000 report entitled, "UN Bias Against Israel," AIPAC produced statistical data and numerous examples of various UN activities that seem to illustrate an anti-Israel bias. Israel, according to the report, "is the object of more investigative committees, special representatives and rapporteurs than any other state in the U.N. system... The Commission on Human Rights routinely adopts totally disproportionate resolutions concerning Israel," continues the report. "Of all condemnations of this agency, 26 percent refer to Israel alone, while rogue states such as Syria and Libya are never criticized."
An ADL report entitled, "Israel and the United Nations," accused the organization of "more often than not demonstrat[ing] hostility and belligerency toward Israel, criticizing Israeli policies, singling out Israel for offenses committed by other states, and prohibiting Israel from the full participation enjoyed by other members."
In October, the United Nations General Assembly condemned Israel's construction of the security fence by a lopsided vote of 144-4, with 12 abstentions. Only Israel, the United States, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia voted against the resolution. In September, the General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution demanding that Israel halt threats to expel Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.
The last time Israel proposed a resolution to the UN was on December 6, 1976. The draft, which called for a resumption of peace talks with Egypt, Jordan and Syria, was withdrawn three days later, after amendments were introduced that would have included the Palestine Liberation Organization - whose charter called for Israel's destruction - in the negotiations.
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