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January 29, 2009
Posted 1:09 PM
by Mary
Gaza Update: Shooting at the French - and Everything that Moves (NO UN personnell included, afaik) Along with today's air strikes on Gaza which AFP report "wounded 18 Palestinians including 11 schoolchildren and a pregnant woman," there are also reports that yesterday Israeli troops fired “warning shots” at a group of diplomats, including the French consul-general: France has summoned Israel's ambassador to protest after Israeli troops fired warning shots as European diplomats were blocked at a Gaza border crossing, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. A diplomatic convoy carrying France's consul general was halted by Israeli troops at the Erez border crossing on Tuesday and held for six hours as it tried to leave the Gaza Strip and return to Jerusalem, a spokesman said. "The convoy, which included other European diplomats, was subject to two warning shots from Israeli soldiers," French spokesman Eric Chevalier said. Labels: Gaza, Israeli
January 23, 2009
Posted 10:29 PM
by Mary
A top United Nations official who once served on the White House National Security Council has been picked for deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department, a move that would place two women at the top of the department for the first time. President Barack Obama's nomination of Jane Holl Lute, a retired Army major who worked on the NSC under President Bill Clinton, was announced Friday by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. At the U.N., Lute coordinates peace efforts among countries in conflict. "Jane's experience leading large operations with broad and challenging missions lends itself to the undertaking we have before us at Homeland Security," Napolitano said in a statement. In addition to her NSC work, Lute has served as vice president and chief operating officer of the United Nations Foundation. She served in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. Lute is married to Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, Obama's deputy national security adviser for Iraq and Afghanistan.
January 22, 2009
Posted 5:22 PM
by Mary
UN official: Israel should probe shelling which damaged UN buildings in Gaza By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters The United Nations' humanitarian chief has begun a tour of the Gaza Strip to examine the extent of the devastation left behind by a three-week Israeli offensive. John Holmes says the number of casualties is "extremely shocking." He also wants Israel to conduct a thorough investigation into shelling attacks that damaged UN buildings in Gaza. Holmes says he's thinking about immediate humanitarian needs and longer-term reconstruction. He says the biggest concerns are providing clean water, sanitation, electricity and shelter. Advertisement Holmes says Gaza's border crossings will have to be opened to allow reconstruction materials into the area. Israel and Egypt have kept the crossings largely closed since Hamas militants seized power of Gaza in 2007. Hamas wants the borders opened as part of any long-term cease-fire. UN seeks explanation from Israel over attacks on Gaza schools The UN Security Council is likely to release a statement on Wednesday demanding Israel provide urgently an explanation of attacks on UN facilities in Gaza. The statement comes after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council he expected Israel to provide a full explanation, and that those responsible must be held accountable. A diplomat who attended the brief said "the Secretary-General's address was harsh and grim." Reporting to the UN Security Council on his return from the Middle East, Ban said the recent violence in Gaza was a sign of "collective political failure" and called for a "massive international effort" to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Ban visited the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Tuesday to pledge aid for Palestinians after Israeli attacks killed 1,300 and made thousands homeless in a 22-day assault Israel said was to stop Hamas firing rockets at southern Israel. Hamas and Israel independently declared cease-fires on Sunday and Israel has withdrawn its troops from Gaza. Ban said he had demanded a thorough investigation by Israel of "several incidents of outrageous attacks against UN facilities," including UN-run schools that were being used as shelters and a warehouse storing aid supplies. Israel blames Hamas for fighting around civilians and sites run by the United Nations, which provides support for much of the 1.5 million population. "I expect to receive a full explanation of each incident and that those responsible will be held accountable for their actions," Ban told the Security Council in a report delivered for him by Under-Secretary-General Lynn Pascoe because Ban had lost his voice. He said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had promised to provide the results of an inquiry "on an urgent basis," and he would decide on any appropriate follow-up steps when he had heard Israel's explanation. Ban said Palestinian reconciliation was vital and appealed to Arab countries and the international community to support efforts to reconcile the two rival factions - President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, in the West Bank, and Hamas, which drove Fatah out of the Gaza Strip in 2007. Ban said the tools and plans to end the Arab-Israeli conflict were in place in Security Council resolutions and an Arab peace initiative, but the political will had been lacking. "Nothing short of a massive international effort is now required to support, and insist on, a resolution of this conflict," Ban said. Other UN officials, including John Ging, head of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, have called for an independent investigation into the attacks. UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said Ban also wanted one after the Israeli inquiry but could not himself initiate it. Labels: Gaza, UN ambassador, UNRWA
January 15, 2009
Posted 10:12 AM
by Mary
CNN is reporting that a UN compound in Gaza is now burning as a result of Israeli artillery and tank fire. Here is the AFP/Getty Images photo they are using in the story: "Fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen in Gaza City set part of a U.N. relief agency's central storehouse for humanitarian aid ablaze, its director said Thursday. The fire left black smoke hanging over Gaza City, and there was no way to control the fire, said John Ging, the head of operations in Gaza for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency. "It's a very big fire, and we're not able to get it under control at the moment," he said. With gun battles going on around the facility, "the emergency services are not able to get to us." Perhaps the most disturbing part of the story is the type of shells that were used, as Ging continues: "What we've had all night and into this morning is a relentless bombardment of this area by artillery fire, which is coming from kilometers away, and by tank fire," he said. He said staffers identified the source of the fires as white phosphorous shells, whose use is restricted under international law.What will be the official US response to this double war crime ( 1--shelling a relief agency with refugees present, 2--using white phosphorus for a purpose other than illumination)? Back in August of 2003, a UN compound in Baghdad was bombed in one of the first incidents of the insurrection in Iraq. Here is what George W. Bush had to say about that attack: Today in Baghdad terrorists turned their violence against the United Nations. The U.N. personnel and Iraqi citizens killed in the bombing were in that country on a purely humanitarian mission. Men and women in the targeted building were working on reconstruction, medical care for Iraqis. They were there to help with the distribution of food. A number have been killed or injured. And to those who suffer, I extend the sympathy of the American people. He goes even further: The terrorists who struck today have again shown their contempt for the innocent. They showed their fear of progress and their hatred of peace. They are the enemies of the Iraqi people. They are the enemies of every nation that seeks to help the Iraqi people. By their tactics and their targets, these murderers reveal themselves once more as enemies of the civilized world. Bush could issue much the same statement today, merely replacing "Baghdad" with "Gaza" and "Iraqis" with "Palestinians". Will he? I'm not going to hold my breath. Labels: Gaza, Israel, war crimes, zionist
Posted 10:04 AM
by Mary
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Israel shelled the United Nations headquarters in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, engulfing the compound and the main warehouse in fire and destroying thousands of pounds of food and humanitarian supplies intended for Palestinian refugees. The U.N. chief, in Israel for the day, demanded a "full explanation." A senior Israeli military officer said Israeli troops shelled after coming under fire from Palestinian militants inside the compound _ an account dismissed by a U.N. official there at the time as "nonsense." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is in the region to end the devastating offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers, said the Israeli defense minister told him there had been a "grave mistake." Labels: Gaza, Israel, war crimes
January 10, 2009
Posted 11:21 AM
by Mary
9From JuanCole.com) Since the Bush administration is diplomatically challenged, the primary work on the resolution was done by Egypt and Britain, among others. It was little noticed that China dared break with Washington on the need for a ceasefire even before Thursday's vote. Chinese special envoy for the Middle East Sun Bi Gan said, according to Xinhuanet, "The Gaza conflict proves again that military means are not the way out for resolving Palestinian-Israeli disputes. Military force could only bring more hostility and enmity, without giving either side absolute safety," he said. Sun said international society and relevant parties, when endeavoring to ease the tense situation, should also consider carrying out feasible actions to accelerate the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, to establish an independent Palestinian state at an early date, and to realize peaceful coexistence. So China's explicit position is the early announcement of a Palestinian state, and immediate talks to that end. At the moment, China is the Dennis Kucinich of Middle Eastern diplomacy. But as it rises as a great power, and given that it is the second largest petroleum importer in the world after the US--and so increasingly close to Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Iran, it may be come a player over time. China is usually so taciturn in these matters that I was surprised to see Sun Bi Gan speak out forcefully and before he had the cover of a UN Security Council resolution. Less surprising is that France and Russia had begun calling for a ceasefire. Both have long been assertive in foreign policy, unlike the Chinese. Labels: China, Gaza
Posted 10:12 AM
by Mary
UN: IDF officers admitted there was no gunfire from Gaza school which was shelled By Barak Ravid and Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent The United Nations is claiming Israeli military officers have admitted there was no Palestinian gunfire emanating from inside an UNRWA school in Gaza which was shelled by an IDF tank. In addition, UNRWA Thursday announced it will cease activities in the Strip due to the death of an UNRWA staffer in an IDF shelling during Thursday morning's humanitarian hiatus. UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness told Haaretz yesterday that the army had conceded wrongdoing. "In briefings senior [Israel Defense Forces] officers conducted for foreign diplomats, they admitted the shelling to which IDF forces in Jabalya were responding did not originate from the school," Gunness said. "The IDF admitted in that briefing that the attack on the UN site was unintentional." He noted that all the footage released by the IDF of militants firing from inside the school was from 2007 and not from the incident itself. "There are no up-to-date photos," Gunness said. "In 2007, we abandoned the site and only then did the militants take it over." The UNRWA is now demanding an objective investigation into whether the school shelling constituted a violation of international humanitarian law, and if so, that those responsible stand trial. The UN reported Thursday that a Palestinian working for the UNRWA was killed by an IDF tank shell while driving an aid truck at the Erez border crossing. The organization claims the UN truck was well-marked and the incident took place during the humanitarian hiatus slated to allow Gaza residents to acquire supplies Labels: Gaza, war crimes
January 9, 2009
Posted 1:42 PM
by Mary
Gaza under fire: Children found next to dead mothers By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Four small starving children too weak to stand were found next to the bodies of their dead mothers by ambulancemen who had been trying to reach their Gaza neighbourhood for four days after it came under Israeli attack, the Red Cross said yesterday. In what the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called a "shocking incident", another man, also too weak to stand, was found in the same bombed house, along with at least 12 corpses on mattresses. Accusing Israel of violating international law by imposing "unacceptable" delays on rescuers trying to reach the scene, the ICRC said that when ambulance crews were finally allowed to access the area in Gaza City's Zeitoun district during a bombardment pause on Wednesday, they found 15 other survivors, including several wounded in another house. In a third house, they found three more corpses. Labels: Gaza, Israel, war crimes
Posted 1:40 PM
by Mary
U.N. rights official urges independent Gaza probe Stephanie Nebehay Reuters North American News Service
GENEVA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The top U.N. human rights official called on Friday for "credible and independent" investigations into any violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict which may constitute war crimes. Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, also said that U.N. human rights monitors must be deployed in Israel as well as Gaza and the West Bank to document violations. "The vicious cycle of provocation and retribution must be brought to an end," she said. Scores of people, including children, had been killed or wounded in "Israel's totally unacceptable strikes" against clearly marked U.N. facilities sheltering Gaza civilians, she said. Harm to civilians caused by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel was also "unacceptable". Pillay was addressing a special session of the U.N. Human Rights Council a day after the Security Council adopted a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the 14-day-old conflict and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. "Accountability must be ensured for violations of international law. As a first step, credible, independent and transparent investigations must be carried out to identify violations and establish responsibilities," she said. "Violations of international humanitarian law may constitute war crimes for which individual criminal responsibility may be invoked," said Pillay, a former International Criminal Court judge from South Africa. Pakistan's ambassador Zamir Akram, speaking on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), denounced Israel's "unrestrained use of force", killing of innocent civilians and violation of U.N. safe havens. "In their totality these constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity," he declared. Labels: Gaza, UNHCR
Posted 1:38 PM
by Mary
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The U.N. Security Council late Thursday overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza. A photo provided by the Israel Defense Forces shows Israeli paratroopers in Gaza on Thursday. Fourteen of the council's 15 members voted in favor of the resolution, with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice abstaining from the vote on behalf of the United States. The resolution expresses "grave concern" about the growing humanitarian crisis and heavy civilian casualties in Gaza, as well as civilian deaths in Israel from Hamas rocket fire. Roughly 765 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, including 10 soldiers, have been killed since Israel began its military assault on Gaza on December 27. The resolution "stresses the urgency of, and calls for, an immediate, durable, and fully respected cease-fire which will lead to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza." A resolution from the council, particularly one that passes with such large support, can put international pressure on parties involved in a conflict. But they are in no way binding, and many in the past have been ignored by warring factions. "We are all very conscious that peace is made on the ground while resolutions are written in the U.N.," said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. "Our job here is to support the efforts for peace on the ground and turn the good words on paper into changes on the ground that are so desperately needed." Rice applauded the resolution's goals, but said the United States prefers to wait for results of ongoing, Egyptian-brokered talks in Cairo, Egypt, with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Labels: Gaza, UNSC
Posted 10:56 AM
by Mary
On 10 December, Human Rights Day, the Secretary-General launched a year-long campaign in which all parts of the United Nations family are taking part in the lead up to the 60th birthday of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) on Human Rights Day 2008. With more than 360 language versions to help them, UN organizations around the globe are using the year to focus on helping people everywhere to learn about their human rights. The UDHR was the first international recognition that all human beings have fundamental rights and freedoms and it continues to be a living and relevant document today. The theme of the campaign, “Dignity and justice for all of us,” reinforces the vision of the Declaration as a commitment to universal dignity and justice and not something that should be viewed as a luxury or a wish-list. Labels: UDHR
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"War does not determine who is right--only who is left." - Bertrand Russell
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