One small step in the right direction

General Discussion
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One-hundred and twenty countries voted in favor of the non-binding resolution introduced by Jordan, while just 14 voted against, including the United States, Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Fiji, Guatemala, Hungary, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Papua New Gineau, Paraguay and Tonga.

Forty-five countries abstained, including Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Greece, India, Iraq, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, Tunisia, Ukraine and the UK.

While the US, Austria plus a bunch of right wing ex Soviet satellites are happy to condone the continuing slaughter of women and children and shamefully the abstainers are happy sit by and watch a genocide unfold, at least a message has been delivered to the Regime in Israel.

Relieved to see France voted the right way and is saying the right things…

France’s Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière speaking after the resolution passed, said his delegation voted in favour, as “nothing justifies the killing of civilians”.

“We have to work collectively to set up a humanitarian truce because the situation in Gaza is catastrophic,” he said, noting that France has already sent an aid vessel. “The Assembly must call for the release of hostages.”

However, the adoption of this resolution cannot replace the Security Council’s efforts nor the decisions that the organ must now adopt, he said, expressing hope that the Council can reach a decision.

“We have a duty to prevent a worsening of the situation,” he said. “The only viable solution is a two-State solution.”

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I struggled to find the text but here it is dir anybody that’s interested.

UN Gaza Resolution .pdf (195.9 KB)

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Biden’s sent 900 “military advisers” to Israel.

I’m sure that won’t possibly draw the USA into another multi-decade long waste of blood and treasure.

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Yes, I thought the same after the US strikes on Syria. There’s no end to US foreign policy stupidity it seems.

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There’s not John but they have to stay one step ahead of Putin et al.
Testosterone rules methinks…

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ICJ orders Israel to prevent genocidal acts in Gaza but not to end war

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-68097640

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Interesting reactions to the ICJ report:-

“Riyad al-Maliki , the Palestinian foreign minister, said in a televised speech on Friday: “The ICJ judges assessed the facts and the law, they ruled in favor of humanity and international law.”

**Al-Maliki added that Palestine called on all states to ensure the measures ordered by the court are implemented “including by Israel, the occupying power.”

I agree with everything he said provided he is not cherry picking the report which went on to say –

The Court deems it necessary to emphasize that all parties to the conflict in the Gaza Strip are bound by international humanitarian law. It is gravely concerned about the fate of the hostages abducted during the attack in Israel on 7 October 2023 and held since then by Hamas and other armed groups, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.”

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Hamas is not a state though Mik so not bound by ICJ findings. That’s the reason I would suspect they didn’t call for a full ceasefire. They couldn’t order Israel to stop the legitimate efforts to recover their hostages. Obviously the return of the hostages AND a full ceasefire would be the ideal situation. Then the work on the future could begin.

I think this analysis was balanced.

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All the time Peter.

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Well I have no legal experience so am not qualified to comment but I understood that Palestine is party to the ICJ and Hamas is the de facto government so are therefore liable to its findings.

Either way it is specious to suggest that one side has to obey one set of rules while the other side is free to do what it likes.

I cannot understand why EVERYONE is not demanding “the immediate and unconditional release of hostages” instead of making excuses for them not to do so. I also want the IDF to cease fire but there is no shortage of interests pursuing that argument.

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Well no, they are just a (terrorist) organisation encouraged by the Israeli government specifically in order to weaken the PLO and the Palestinian Authority. They aren’t the de jure government and consequently outwith any such process, saying they are the de facto government doesn’t change that.

No, because one side is an organisation without any status as a government and the other is an elected government loudly proclaiming (as it has for decades) that it’s the only democracy in the area.
Both are terrorist organisations but that’s just an opinion.

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You are, of course Vero, entitled to your opinion. I also consider Hamas to be a terrorist organisation.

However, a quick Google shows, in 2006 elections in the Palestinian territories, Hamas won 74 seats out of a total of 132 seats of the Legislative Council. So I guess that makes them Government of Palestinian territories in the absence of any other process.

To be honest, I don’t give a fig about the politics involved. Kidnapping is plainly wrong whatever your beliefs. You may have a different opinion. Everyone with an ounce of humanity should be calling for the “the immediate and unconditional release of hostages ” without that being qualified with a “but”.

From John Scully original post - The United Nations General Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution calling for an “immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce” between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza. It also demands “continuous, sufficient and unhindered” provision of lifesaving supplies and services for civilians trapped inside the enclave, as news reports suggest Israel has expanded ground operations and intensified its bombing campaign.

In my opinion that resolution, however laudable, should have called for “the immediate and unconditional release of hostages” at the start of the resolution.

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The statement did call for the release of the hostages, didn’t it? If so, where it came in the statement is irrelevant in my opinion.

This was a statement on genocide, not hostage taking or any other incitement or excuse for genocide, no matter how compelling that excuse may appear to the perpetrators. The fact is Israel, to its shame, has a case to answer.

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Yes it did John, and a long way down. I guess I was wrong. Perhaps the statement “the immediate and unconditional release of hostages” should have been the subject of a separate resolution.

It seems to me the moment you conflate “the immediate and unconditional release of hostages” with any other statement you are legitimising kidnapping as a means to an end. This the puts the lives of hundreds of innocent people, some of which have yet to be born, in danger in the future.

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And the 25000 murdered in Gaza since October don’t count? How many Palestinian lives for one Israeli life, do you think? Or doesn’t it matter because they are just Palestinians and who cares?
How shameless.

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I am afraid I cannot bring them back to life Vero, but I can TRY and do something about the future.

What about the 600,000 lives lost in Syria? – or does the fact that they were mostly killed by other Arabs have something to do with the lack of international concern.

The fact that you conflate the death of Palestinians with “the immediate and unconditional release of hostages ” suggests to me that the strategy of kidnapping is working and will presumably be used again in the future.

I DO feel shame that the human race contains people who can behave so barbarically (on both sides of course)

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Hi Vero, I was listening to an interview with Piers Morgan who was quizzing an IDF representative who was saying the number of Palestinians killed was about half the figure published by Hamas.
Who is telling the truth ?

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This has been a topic of discussion since the start Peter. Whenever the number of casualties is mentioned it is prefaced by “the Hamas controlled Health Ministry states” or some such proviso. There is caution about just accepting the numbers, but the general consensus seems to be that the numbers are correct. They have been correct in previous Gaza conflicts and they are gathered by medical staff, not politicians. Furthermore, I’ve no idea how the IDF would have more accurate figures.

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I lived in Damascus for a year, we were regularly buzzed by the Israeli Air Force.
I don’t particularly want to engage with whataboutery.

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I know the feeling Vero. I was working on a construction site on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. I was rather nervous as it was a restricted military area and we had to attend an induction course on what to do when things go wrong. On the first day I was having a cup tea with the lads in the tea hut when there was an almighty BOOM.

As I crawled back from under the table my “mates” were laughing their heads off and a colleague explained that it was only the Israeli Air Force patrolling the border, creating a sonic bang to piss off the locals. He continued “ … and they always go around “ … BOOM … and I was under the table again as he put his head under the table and finished his explanation “… in twos”.