Saturday, March 29, 2014

UNHRC passes five resolutions on Israel


UNHCR Meeting


In a final meeting for its 25th session, held on Friday, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed five resolutions on Israel; four on the conflict with Palestinians and one on the Golan Heights.


The Palestinian permanent mission in the UN introduced the four-draft resolution regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.


The resolutions covered self-determination for the Palestinians, human rights violations in the occupied territories, settlements and the report of the UN fact-finding mission about the conflict in the Gaza Strip.


Before voting on the resolution, Palestinian ambassador to the UN Ibrahim Khreeshi delivered a speech in which he thanked the UNHRC member states for their cooperation regarding Palestinian-Israeli issues.


He said: “We look at the Palestinian-Israeli issue from three perspectives: continuous human rights violations carried out by the Israeli occupation, daily and systematic Israel aggressions and efforts to reach the two-state solution.”


A peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, according to Khreeshi, is the key to self-determination. He also mentioned the Israeli attack on Jenin last week, which left three Palestinians dead.


Khreeshi also referred to Israeli settlements as a type of violation of international law by Israel. He called for Israel to respect international law.


From the 47 members, 46 voted for the resolutions; the US voted against them. US representative Paula Shcriefer said: “They work against our collective efforts to advance a peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.”


According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, she called on the council’s members to “avoid actions that hinder” such an outcome, in a short speech in which she argued “the council continually singles out Israel for criticism without acknowledging the violent attacks directed against its people.”


“Only Israel, a vibrant and open democracy, has received such treatment,” she said.



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