Tag Archives: United Nations

U.N. Human Rights Council Picks Anti-Semitic Lawyer For Gaza Inquiry

Israel has released strong statements about the appointment of a Canadian lawyer with anti-Semitic views to head the inquiry into the conflict along the Gaza strip.

“This commission’s anti-Israeli conclusions have already been written, all it needs is a signature,” Israel foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said to AFP news agency.  “For this commission the important thing is not human rights but the rights of terrorist organizations like Hamas.”

William Schabas says the accusations are “absurd.”

“The suggestion that I’m anti-Israel is absurd,” Schabas said according to The Canadian Press.  “Like everybody inside and outside Israel, I disagree with people. Is everyone in Israel who has an opinion about (Benjamin) Netanyahu anti-Israel?”

However, critics of Schabas include even members of his own government.

“UN Human Rights Council continues to be a sham for advancing human rights; today’s (announcement) for members of its Gaza inquiry reveals its agenda,” Canadian Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird wrote on Twitter.  “It’s an utter shame and will do nothing to promote peace and dignity in Gaza for the Palestinian people.”

The head of a U.N. watchdog group says that Schabas must stand down because of his previous criticisms of the Israeli government.

“Under international law, William Schabas is obliged to recuse himself because his repeated calls to indict Israeli leaders obviously gives rise to actual bias or the appearance thereof,” Hillel Neuer of UN Watch said in a statement.

Red Cross Criticized For Attacking Israel

The International Red Cross is coming under fire for making veiled accusations that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza.

The European Center for Law and Justice has responded forcefully to the Red Cross assertions, stating that the terrorist attacks of Hamas and their continued use of children and women as human shields for their fighters and weapons is the real war crime.

“It is deeply disturbing that the International Red Cross, which should be an objective relief organization, is engaging in an unbalanced and biased campaign to smear Israel,” wrote Jay Sekulow, who serves as Chief Counsel of the ECLJ.  “While insinuating that Israel is committing war crimes as it protects its civilian population under attack by Hamas terrorists, the Red Cross is turning a blind eye to the deadly terrorist tactics used by Hamas – using its own population as human shields – in clearly violation of international law. We are urging the Red Cross to rely on the facts and the truth in reporting what is taking place in the Gaza conflict.”

The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross made statements during a visit to Gaza last week that in Gaza he saw “serious discrepancies between obligations” under the “laws of war” and what was “reality on the ground.”  The statement was widely seen as an attack on Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas wasn’t just committing war crimes but “double war crimes.”

“Hamas is committing a double war crime. It is both targeting civilians and hiding behind civilians, including U.N. facilities, which are not only rocket storage sites but rocket launching sites and mortar launching sites,” Netanyahu said.  “So, Israel has every right to defend itself and we are obeying the rules of war and the international code and those who are responsible for all these tragic civilian deaths are Hamas.”

U.N.: Israel Attacks Not Indiscriminate

International media organizations, such as the New York Times, ABC, NBC and CBS, have been running stories from Gaza showing casualties and claiming that the Israel response to being attacked by Hamas has not been targeted like stated by Israeli leadership.

A report from the United Nations says all the anti-Israel stories are wrong.

Figures released by the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights were analyzed by the BBC’s head of statistics and found that the number of civilian men killed in the attacks were almost four times higher than women.  The figures went even higher when Hamas terrorists killed were included in the total.

“If the Israeli attacks have been ‘indiscriminate,’ as the UN Human Rights Council says, it is hard to work out why they have killed so many more civilian men than women,” Anthony Reuben said.

Reuben said the conclusions being drawn in much of the media coverage is “premature.”

Several anti-Israeli politicians, including some within the United Nations, have been calling for Israel to be investigated for war crimes because of alleged targeting of civilians.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the statistics show Hamas has been using civilians as human shields.

Israeli Ambassador Slams U.N. Secretary-General

Ron Prosor, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, is calling out the body’s head for his open bias toward the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza conflict.

After Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made a verbal assault against Israel, saying they need to be investigated for their attacks that caused damage to some U.N. facilities in the Gaza Strip, Prosor responded by telling the Secretary-General he needs to realize who was behind the entire situation.

“Israel did not seek the confrontation,” Prosor said.  “We left Gaza with the intention of never returning.”

Prosor was referencing the 2005 unilateral withdrawal.

It was also pointed out to the Secretary-General that Hamas was using schools, hospitals and other locations to launch attacks.  On three separate occasions, Hamas weapons were found stored inside U.N. schools and the Secretary-General made no condemnation of Hamas for their actions in those cases.

Reports have begun from inside Israel that the government will agree to an extension of the 72-hour cease-fire to allow longer negotiations in Cairo, Egypt.  However, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces says they have plans in place to target Hamas leadership should they break the agreement and fire a single rocket into Israel.

IDF Says Hamas Fired From School Grounds

Israeli Defense Forces say that tank fire which struck near a school killing 19 people who were sheltering inside came in response to Hamas terrorists using the school grounds as a base to fire mortar attacks.

“Earlier this morning, militants fired mortar shells at (Israeli) soldiers from the vicinity of the UNRWA school in Jabaliya (refugee camp). In response, soldiers fired towards the origins of fire, and we’re still reviewing the incident,” a military spokeswoman told the Jerusalem Post.

The incident occurred just hours after the United Nations reported finding Hamas missiles and weapons being stored inside one of their schools for the third time in two weeks.  A U.N. spokesman said unlike the previous two times, the weapons are not being turned over to local authorities who in turn return them to Hamas.

However, a U.N. weapons disposal team that was scheduled to make the school safe for children has been unable to reach the site.

“We condemn the group or groups who endangered civilians by placing these munitions in our school. This is yet another flagrant violation of the neutrality of our premises. We call on all the warring parties to respect the inviolability of UN property,” a U.N. statement read without naming Hamas directly.

U.N. Demands “Unconditional” Cease Fire In Gaza

The United Nations Security Council has voted for an “immediate and unconditional” cease-fire in the Gaza Strip after more than 1,000 people were confirmed dead because of the fighting.

The demand for the cease-fire comes on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al Fitr that is part of the end of the Ramadan month of fasting.

The demand from the United Nations makes no reference to the fact Israel has respected five cease-fire agreements so far in the conflict and Hamas had rejected or breached each one.

President Barack Obama reportedly spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and told him that the U.S. continues to support their right to defend themselves from Hamas attacks.

“The President underscored the United States’ strong condemnation of Hamas’ rocket and tunnel attacks against Israel and reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself. The President also reiterated the United States’ serious and growing concern about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives, as well as the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza,” the readout of the call provided to the press said.

Netanyahu: U.N. Proposal Provides No Security To Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire because it gives benefits to a “murderous terrorist organization” and completely ignoring Israeli security.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Netanyahu called U.N. head Ban Ki-moon to tell him that the deal is not acceptable to Israelis.

“The statement did not deal with the harm done to Israeli civilians, nor to the fact that Hamas turned Gaza civilians into human shields,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu reminded Ban that Hamas violated three different humanitarian cease-fires and that the U.N. has never condemned the terrorists for using U.N. facilities to store their weapons and supplies.

The U.N. representative from Jordan, who represented the Arab League on the Security Council, said that the cease-fire was necessary because of the loss of civilian life in Gaza.  He called for “full respect” for international humanitarian law.

Netanyahu pointed out that unless the U.N. demilitarizes the area, takes away Hamas’ weapons and destroys their tunnels, no peace can be achieved.

“They are continuing to fire even now at Israel citizens,” he said. “Israel will continue to deal with the terror tunnels, which is only the first step in demilitarization.”

Hamas Found Storing Rockets In Second School Building

Terrorist group Hamas has been found storing rockets used to attack Israeli civilians inside a school that has been used by the United Nations to teach Palestinian children.

“Today, in the course of the regular inspection of its premises, UNRWA discovered rockets hidden in a vacant school in the Gaza Strip,” the organization said in a statement issued Tuesday. “As soon as the rockets were discovered, UNRWA staff were withdrawn from the premises, and so we are unable to confirm the precise number of rockets. The school is situated between two other UNRWA schools that currently each accommodate 1,500 internally displaced persons.”

While the second time that the U.N. has found terrorist weapons in their facilities twice, no action is being taken against Hamas.  The U.N. found 20 rockets in a school last Wednesday during a routine inspection of a school.

The U.N. gave the 20 rockets last week back to the local government which is controlled by Hamas.

Israel called out the U.N. for their refusal to stop terrorists from attacking their country.

“Time and again, over the years, UNRWA has been abused by gunmen from different terrorist factions who are using UN facilities to stockpile weapons, to fire rockets from, to steal UNRWA humanitarian equipment and to cause damage and fire in UNRWA’s hangars,” a senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official told The Times of Israel.

“Against all evidence, UNRWA refuses to acknowledge reality and pathetically attempts to ingratiate itself with Hamas, pretending that nothing serious has happened,” the senior official said. “This is a classic case of beaten-wife syndrome, which we have been witnessing for years from UNRWA. The people of Gaza, and indeed taxpayers from countries who contribute to UNRWA’s budget — including Israel — deserve better.”

Benjamin Netanyahu Stands Up To U.N. Chief

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood up to the head of the United Nations during a joint press conference, calling out Ban Ki-Moon for elevating Hamas to a position other than a terrorist organization.

U.N. head Ban Ki-Moon told reporters at a press conference that the two sides need to “stop fighting, start talking.”  He went on to talk about how too many Palestinian and Israeli mothers are burying their children because of the conflict.  He also began to push the two-state solution saying nothing else was viable.

That’s when Netanyahu challenged him on his fundamental basis for the comments.

“You spoke about the regional developments,” responds Netanyahu at their joint press conference in Tel Aviv. “What we are seeing here with Hamas is another instance of Islamist extremist that has no resolvable grievance. Hamas is like ISIS, like al-Qaeda, like Hezbollah, like Boko Haram.”

“What grievance can we solve for Hamas? Their grievance is that we exist.”

Netanyahu said that Israel will continue to defend themselves in any way they feel is necessary to stop the terrorists.

Islamic Militants Post Videos Showing Their Blood Lust

Islamic terrorists attempting to take over Iraq are showing their blood lust by posting videos online of their extreme violence against Christians and others who do not follow their extremist views.

The U.S. State Department has taken note that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has committed a mass murder of Iraqi troops.

“The claim by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant that it has massacred 1,700 Iraqi Shia air force recruits in Tikrit is horrifying and a true depiction of the blood lust that these terrorists represent,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.  “While we cannot confirm these reports, one of the primary goals of ISIL is to set fear into the hearts of all Iraqis and drive sectarian division among its people.”

The United Nations has said that a half million people have fled the city of Mosul after last week’s capture by the Islamic extremists.

President Obama informed Congress on Monday that approximately 275 U.S. troops will be deployed to support U.S. personnel and the U.S. Embassy located in Baghdad. Iran reportedly has sent 500 Revolutionary Guard troops into the country to help the Iraqi government.