UN Watch publishes 20 urgent letters sent
this year by Israeli representatives to the U.N.
this year by Israeli representatives to the U.N.
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Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin suddenly demanded U.N. action this week.
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Excellency,
I
write following another week in which Israeli citizens felt the evil of
terrorism inside our country and around the world. As terrorist attacks
shook cities from Bangkok to Tbilisi to New Delhi — rockets continued
to rain out of the Gaza Strip, exploding in communities throughout
southern Israel.
In letter after letter, I have made clear that the rockets fired from Gaza
could ignite an escalation of conflict in our already volatile region.
Yet, the Security Council has still not uttered a single syllable of
condemnation against them.
In
the past two weeks alone, 11 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israeli
cities, landing in the areas of Sha'ar Hanegev, Sdot Hanegev, Eshkol and
Ashkelon.
Today,
terrorists fired two rockets into southern Israel — and attacked an
Israel Defense Forces border patrol, using rocket propelled grenades and
an improvised explosive device.
On
the evening of 10 February 2012, two rockets were fired into the
communities of Kibbutz Zikim and Kibbutz Alumim, injuring a woman. It is
only by chance that these attacks did not cause a much larger tragedy,
considering that one rocket exploded between two fully occupied homes as
the residents were observing the Sabbath.
It
is high time that the Security Council condemned these attacks fully
and unequivocally, not only as grave violations of international law but
also as serious threats to regional peace and security. Israel expects
the Security Council, and all responsible members of the international
community, to condemn the relentless rocket fire from Gaza without any further delay.
Each
of these attacks reveals the character and intentions of the Hamas
terrorist organization, which remains in de facto control of Gaza and
continues to be supported, funded and armed by the Iranian regime. Hamas
leader Ismail Haniyeh made this clear during his visit to Iran this
week, when he said that “we can obtain our goals only through fighting
and armed resistance.
Israel
holds the Hamas terrorist organization fully responsible for all
attacks emanating from Gaza. Israel has exercised and will continue to
exercise its right to self-defence, as appropriate, and will take all
necessary measures to protect its citizens.
I should be grateful if you would have the present letter distributed as a document of the Security Council.
(Signed) Ron Prosor
Ambassador Permanent Representative |
GENEVA, Nov. 22 -- Although
this past week saw U.N. agencies and high officials rushing to
intervene the moment Israel began to defend its civilian population from
hundreds of Hamas rocket attacks, letters published by UN Watch show
that the same U.N. actors repeatedly turned a blind eye while Israel
pleaded for action.
Russian
ambaasador Vitaly Churkin, who for nearly two years now has blocked any
U.N. Security Council action to stop the Syrian regime of Bashar
al-Assad from murdering more than 30,000 of his own people, lashed out
this week at "procrastination on Gaza."
In
reality, it has been the procrastination, indifference and inaction of
Russia and its Security Council allies that gave Hamas the green light
to bomb Israeli civilians, finally prompting Israel's belated response.
On
at least 20 separate occasions this year, the Israeli government turned
to the U.N. concerning Palestinian rocket attacks, in identical letters
sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council.
Israel urged the United Nations to act, and, at a minimum, to speak out and condemn the attacks.
“Inaction
today could help ignite an escalation of conflict tomorrow,” Israel
warned, while exercising astonishing measures of restraint that no
country facing a similar onslaught of rockets has ever shown. Yet we are
unaware of any U.N. action taken in response.
The
letters constitute an important legal record that refute
myths propagated by U.N. figures like Judge Richard Goldstone, author of
the notorious 2009 report (which he later retracted) that excoriated Israel and exonerated Hamas. From an interview that year:
Israel TV's Yaacov Ahimeir: "Maybe
this is one reason why the Israeli government decided not to cooperate
with your commission: your commission, Mr. Goldstone, was established
only after the Israeli military operation, which was a reprisal act, and
not after seven or eight years of Palestinian shelling of innocent
civilians in Israel."
Goldstone: "...
I don’t believe this was an issue, the shelling. I don’t believe [it]
was really taken to the Security Council by the Israeli government. I
may be wrong but that’s my impression..."
As UN Watch noted at the time, Israel has repeatedlyappealed
to the Security Council -- which many in the world absurdly imagine to
be in Israel's pocket -- yet to no avail. Indeed, here is a massive list of Israeli letters, from 2000 to 2008, completely ignored by the UN.
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20 Israeli Appeals Ignored by U.N.
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