Anti-Semitic UN to Act

The loathsome United Nations will, in its great tradition of antisemitism, act against Israel this week.

The Great Mona Charen writes,

Israel's Deadliest Foe to Strike This Week

The war over the war in Gaza is heating up. Next week, the United Nations General Assembly will consider the tendentious Goldstone Report, the highest profile exercise in blaming the victim in the U.N.'s tawdry history. Simultaneously, lawyers in Britain, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, and Norway are drawing up criminal indictments against IDF officers who participated in the Gaza operation. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that a number of names are on a police watch list for arrest and detention should they attempt to enter Britain.

Israel's enemies certainly seek to terrorize and demoralize Israel. But the more important campaign -- which is gaining traction -- is to delegitimize her and to brand Israel's self-defense as a war crime.

Hamas wants the world to recognize them as a legitimate government, and many in the world do. If they are, then it seems to me that the same rules should apply. This piece offers a comparison.

ISRAEL

Consider the assessment of Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, and a veteran of the Gulf War and the conflicts in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, and Macedonia. "During Operation Cast Lead, the IDF did more to safeguard the rights of civilians in a combat zone than any other army in the history of warfare. Israel did so while facing an enemy that deliberately positioned its military capability behind the human shield of the civilian population."

What army has offered 48 hours notice to its enemies of planned operations? Israel did so, dropping 2 million leaflets in advance of army movements. Twenty-four hours before the IDF moved on a suspected terrorist site, the army phoned civilians to warn them to evacuate. There were 100,000 calls. And five minutes before an operation began, the IDF sent out text messages. The calls and messages contained not just warnings, but instructions on which roads were safe to take and which schools or other buildings could be used for shelter. In the midst of the conflict, hundreds of trucks brought food, water, and medical supplies to Gaza.

In Rafa, Israel sought to close 225 tunnels (with 800 entrances) used to smuggle arms to Gaza from Egypt. The easiest and safest course for the IDF would have been to level the homes without warning that contained the entrances using air power or tanks. In Gaza City, to avoid civilian casualties, IDF infantrymen went house to house, encountering booby traps along the way and fending off seven attempted kidnappings.

Hamas was so confident that Israel would not knowingly shoot at civilians that they hid behind human shields throughout the short war. It was common, when word came of an impending attack, for Hamas to send children out to play in the streets at that moment. "Will I shoot?" Gruber asks. "I will not." There is video of a terrorist with a rocket launcher slung over his shoulder grabbing a 10-year-old boy by the collar and dragging him across the street to deter Israeli snipers. And it worked. Israel has similar video (from Reuters actually) showing U.N. ambulances ferrying armed men. "Yes," says Gruber with resignation, "the 'ambulances' were always at the front."

HAMAS

There are scores of other examples -- Hamas firing from mosques, schools, private homes, and hospitals. The very fact that Hamas used human shields betrays their admission that Israel abides by ethical standards in war fighting. They took advantage of Israel's moral qualms about harming non-combatants. Now they accuse Israel of the crimes they themselves committed -- deliberately targeting civilians by raining down 12,000 missiles on southern Israel since the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Liberals, amongst whom antisemitism is mainstream (of course they accuse we conservatives of it constantly), will back the UN in efforts to punish Israel for defending herself and support the real terrorists.

UPDATE: Just in case anyone objects to my view that modern liberalism™ is the home of mainstream antisemitism, this from Caroline Glick;

Former ambassador to the UN Dore Gold should probably buy himself a flak jacket. Gold is scheduled to debate Richard Goldstone at Brandeis University next Thursday and the anti-Israel forces are organizing quite a reception for him.

Goldstone, who chaired the UN Human Rights Council's commission charged with accusing Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead, has become a darling of the anti-Israel Left in the weeks since his report accusing Israel of committing both war crimes and crimes against humanity was published last month. And anti-Israeli leftists don't like the idea of someone challenging his libelous attacks against Israel in a public debate at a university.

In an e-mail to a campus list-serve, Brandeis student and anti-Israel activist Jonathan Sussman called on his fellow anti-Zionists to disrupt the event that will pit the "neutral" Goldstone against Gold with his "wildly pro-Zionist message." Sussman invited his list-serve members to join him at a meeting to "discuss a possible response."

As the young community organizer sees it, "Possibilities include inviting Palestinian speakers to come participate, seeding the audience with people who can disrupt the Zionist narrative, protest and direct action." He closed his missive with a plaintive call to arms: "F**k the occupation."

Apparently the aspiring political organizer never considered another possibility: listening to what Gold has to say.

More to follow on liberalism™ and antisemitism.

North Korea Atom Bomb Test

As we in the newly weakened United States mumble about negotiating and working with the (feckless) United Nations, the DPRK (interesting how tyrannies love the title "Democratic Peoples Republic") has exploded an atom bomb comparable to the ones used against Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Even the leftist rags are reporting this. From the Guardian

The KNCA news agency, the regime's official mouthpiece, said: "We have successfully conducted another nuclear test on 25 May as part of the republic's measures to strengthen its nuclear deterrent."

Officials in South Korea said they had detected a tremor consistent with those caused by an underground nuclear explosion. The country's Yonhap news agency reported that the North had test-fired three short-range missiles from a base on the east coast immediately after the nuclear test.

The underground atomic explosion, at 9.54am local time (0154 BST), created an earthquake measuring magnitude 4.5 in Kilju county in the country's north-east, reports said.

President Barack Obama called the test a matter of grave concern to all countries. "North Korea is directly and recklessly challenging the international community," he said in a statement. "North Korea's behaviour increases tensions and undermines stability in north-east Asia."

He added that North Korea's behaviour would serve only to deepen the country's isolation.

"It will not find international acceptance unless it abandons its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery," he said.

This is about a forceful as the US response will get.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said he was "deeply worried" by the development.

Which is what the UN Secretary General is good for.

Japan has a lot to worry about.

In Tokyo, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, Takeo Kawamura, said the test was "a clear violation of the UN security council resolution and cannot be tolerated".

Kim will not want to trash South Korea with radioactive contamination since he plans to take ownership of it one day. I think that Japan and the US are at the top of Kim's target list.

The Japanese are currently having a national conversation about amending their Constitution to allow for a more powerful armed force with offensive capabilities. This is a good idea. They are in danger.

See: Japan Moving Toward Amendments To Pacifist Constitution, Official Says

Japan May Amend Pacifist Constitution To Allow Nukes To Protect Against North Korea

North Korea's nuclear weapons has ignited a debate in Japan about allowing nuclear weapons by amending its pacifist Constitution as a deterrent to an attack from nuclear-armed North Korea

Shoichi Nakagawa, former finance minister, said Japan should examine the possibility of obtaining nuclear weapons to defending itself from potential attacks by North Korea and its growing arsenal of ballistic missiles that could be armed with nuclear warheads.

"North Korea has taken a step toward a system whereby it can shoot without prior notice. We have to discuss countermeasures," Kyodo News quoted him as saying.

"It is common sense worldwide that in a purely military sense it is nuclear that can counteract nuclear," said Nakagawa, who has long called for debate on whether Japan should go nuclear.

Kill the Innocent - Allow Heinous Criminals to Live

From the UN:

November 16 - Death Penalty Resolution Adopted Because of Concerns About Human Rights Says EU President

Ambassador Joao Manuel Guerra Salgueiro, President of the European Union, says member states of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly voted to adopt a resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty in part because of their concerns about human rights. The Ambassador rejected claims that the resolution sought to impose values [Although that is the entire purpose of it. - Photi] on all member states and noted the broad support for the resolution. Now that the third committee -- which addresses social, humanitarian and cultural issues -- has approved the resolution, the matter can be discussed in the full General Assembly sometime after mid-December.

From "progressive religious leaders":

A Faith-Filled Commitment to Development Includes a Commitment to Women’s Rights and Reproductive Health

As progressive religious leaders, we call on other religious leaders and policy makers to overcome the fears, taboos and stigmas associated with sexuality and reproduction, to accept that these matters are part of the legitimate scope of human rights and public policy and include these important human rights more explicitly in the struggle to end poverty. We call on the world’s leaders—religious, governmental, nongovernmental and those in multilateral and UN agencies—to incorporate the ICPD agenda and goals to ensure that all the world’s people have available to them the reproductive health services [read "abortion" - Photi] that will enable them to live healthy, dignified and financially secure lives.

UN Human Rights Head Joins Anti-Semites

As if further indication were needed to demonstrate the evil supported by this organization, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour joined a human rights meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), currently chaired by Cuba this week. Here she is in the front row, far right, along with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (left).



From Eye on the UN Anne Bayefsky writes, UN Human Rights Chief takes Front row seat to hear Ahmadinejad in Tehran

While Arbour was hobnobbing with anti-semites, butchers and anti-democratic forces from around the world, Iranians were being prepared for public hangings. Arbour was reported by the Islamic Republic News Agency as having "expressed pleasure with being at the NAM meeting and described Iran's representation office in the UN in Geneva as "very good." In an unusual move, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has so far neglected to put her official statement on their website.

The day after Arbour left Iran the government felt sufficiently buoyed by their UN stamp of approval, that they executed 21 prisoners. People are executed in Iran for charges like "enmity against God" or "being corrupt on earth."

Iran need not worry about the UN reaction after-the-fact either. Arbour is quoted by Iranian news sources as telling participants: "The new method of considering issues related to human rights is comprehensive and not selective and the UN Human Rights Council is ready to present technical and consultation assistance to Iran." "Non-selective" is UN code for refusing to name states that violate human rights, let alone taking action to stop them. "Technical assistance" is UN code for helping the state avoid criticism by pretending the problem is some kind of infrastructure glitch. It has been clear for some time that the new UN Human Rights Council is bent on eliminating all country-specific criticism, (not directed at Israel of course). Now, apparently, Arbour agrees.

And, not to put too fine a point on it, but;

The Iranians were delighted at Arbour's visit - crowing that the UN had "taken part in the conference at the highest level." They clearly understood her presence as support for their view that human rights are all relative, or as Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Mehdi Mostafavi put it, participants "indicated international resolve to uphold human rights in line with the cultural diversity in the international community."

As I have said many times before, there is only one reason for the United States to remain a member of one of the most evil, corrupt, anti-semitic organizations on Earth, and that is to veto all resolutions that would cause harm to the only decent, democratic country in the area - Israel.

Louise Arbour and everyone else involved with the UNHCR should be ashamed of themselves. But they are not, of course.

North Korea Pours UN Money Into Food Program

That would actually be elegant and expensive food for Kim Jong-il and friends, not for the people of North Korea. You know, the ones referred to in the title Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Nope, not them.

Oh, and the rest goes to weapons, etc.

U.S.: N. Korea misused UN cash

WASHINGTON -- A senior State Department official told members of Congress in a recent classified briefing that funds transferred to the North Korean government by the United Nations Development Program were used by the Kim Jong Il regime to pay enterprises involved in weapons sales, as well as to purchase buildings in Europe and technology that could be used in a nuclear weapons program.

And because UN money is not enough,

The memo, which the State Department says is based on eyewitness accounts from program officials and internal UNDP business records, also alleges that the program's local employees withdrew from the UNDP's account at Pyongyang's Foreign Trade Bank tens of thousands of dollars worth of what UNDP officials identified as counterfeit U.S. currency.

Of course one should ask, what is the United Nations Development Program doing holding couterfeit U.S. money?

It is instructive to note that this is not shocking to anyone anymore, and that we just let it go on and on.

"It is disturbing but it should not be surprising," said Mike Green, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council until the end of 2005. "Cash transfers to the North Korean regime are tightly controlled at the top to ensure Kim can procure dual-use materials for his weapons programs, finance his operations abroad and provide luxury goods for the elite. This is all fungible money."

How I wish we had a government that would not roll over for monsters.