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UN Security Council to debate Gaza war report
Geneva—Ma’an - After listening to about 20 states
and 30 nongovernmental organizations, the UN Human Rights Council on
Friday adopted the resolution submitted by Palestine by a vote of 25
to six, with 11 abstentions. The council is made up of 47 members
and requires a majority of votes to pass a resolution. The
Palestinian envoy to Geneva, Ibrahim Kraishi, had demanded the UN
body pursue criminals “wherever they are and whoever they are.” “The
occupying power wants to make it look like it’s doing the right
thing,” he said. “It wants the international community to look as if
it’s mistaken. But it’s not logical. It’s not possible for everybody
to be wrong at the expense of one power.”
My people will not forgive the international community,” Kraishi
concluded, if it cannot see fit to pursue investigations against the
crimes in Gaza. The Israeli representative called the report’s
adoption “a setback for the efforts to revive peace,” and said the
move to pass the resolution would be “rewarded by terrorism.” He
reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself. The few Western states
that spoke showed concern about why the special session was being
called when the report had been on the agenda just two weeks earlier
during a regular session of the Human Rights Council. Deputy US
Ambassador to the United Nations Alejandro Wolff called the
resolution “regrettable,” and said it went “beyond the scope of the
Goldstone report.” He said the resolution contained elements that
should be “discussed within a final-status agreement,” including
Jerusalem.
Wolff said the report failed to deal adequately with the
asymmetrical nature of the confrontation, and the adoption of the
resolution could only postpone a lasting peace and deepen the divide
between Israel and Palestine. Six countries voted against the
report, including US, Italy, Holland, Hungary, Slovakia and the
Ukraine. Among those that abstained were Bosnia, Burkina-Faso,
Cameron, Gabon, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Belgium, South Korea,
Slovenia and Uruguay. Madagascar and Kyrgyzstan were not present
during the vote. Those voting yes included China, Russia, Egypt,
India, Jordan, Pakistan, South Africa, Argentina, Bahrain,
Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ghana, Indonesia, Djibouti, Liberia, Qatar,
Senegal, Brazil, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Nigeria and Palestine.
The voting was postponed for several hours before the session
started. Following the delay, more than 20 states and 30
nongovernmental organizations, including the Palestinian Centre for
Human Rights, Al-Dameer and Adalah addressed the council. The French
requested first a short delay for consultations and then a longer
two-hour delay, to which Egypt, one of the sponsors of the
resolution, objected.—Agencies
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