U.N. General Assembly Upgrades PLO Observer Status to “Non-member State”
New UN Watch Report: UNGA to Adopt 21 Resolutions on Israel and 4 Resolutions on Rest of the World Combined — See below
Although mostly symbolic, the statehood designation, as President Abbas boasted last year in a New York Timesop-ed, paves the way for the “internationalization of the conflict as a legal matter,” enabling the PLO to pursue claims against Israel in the International Criminal Court (ICC).Nov. 29 — The U.N. General Assembly today voted 138 to 9, with 41 abstaining, to upgrade the PLO’s observer status to the same level held by the Vatican, that of a “non-member state.”
In tandem, the U.N. Human Rights Council is planning to relase a massive report in early 2013 — by a commission of inquiry modeled after the one that produced the notorious Goldstone Report — which is likely to recommend the ICC prosecution of Israeli officials for “war crimes” in connection with the settlements.
Though today’s number of Yes votes may appear large, UN Watch noted that in fact it amounted to the usual automatic majority for any resolution attacking Israel — and actually won 28 less votes than a pro-Palestinian resolution adopted last week, and than is usually received by such resolutions.
Moreover, as UN Watch also reported — in a Tweet reposted by Canadian Cabinet Minister Rona Ambrose among many others — the PLO won 38 less than the 176 votes the U.N. General Assembly gave to genocidal Sudanwhen recently electing it to a principal U.N. body that oversees human rights.
____________
Is the U.N. General Assembly Objective?
Resolutions to be adopted by U.N. General Assembly 67th session (2012) that criticize countries.
UN Watch Exclusive Report
Source: Website of UNGA plenary and of each of its committees.
On Israel:
21 Resolutions
For a detailed analysis of the one-sided resolutions below, see critique of virtually identical texts adopted in a recent session here.
A/C.2/67/L.33 – “Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied PalestinianTerritory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources”
A/C.2/67/L.13/Rev.1 – “Oil slick on Lebanese shores”
A/C.1/67/L.13 – “Towards a nuclear-weapon-free world: accelerating the implementation of nuclear disarmament commitments”
A/C.1/67/L.2 – “The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East”
A/C.4/67/L.18 – “The occupied Syrian Golan”
A/C.4/67/L.17 – “Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in theOccupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”
A/C.4/67/L.16 – “Israeli settlements in the OccupiedPalestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan”
A/C.4/67/L.15 – “Applicability of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to theOccupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the other occupied Arab territories”
A/C.4/67/L.10 – “Assistance to Palestine refugees”
A/C.4/67/L.11 – “Persons displaced as a result of the June 1967 and subsequent hostilities”
A/C.4/67/L.12 – “Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East”
A/C.4/67/L.13 – “Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues”
A/C.4/67/L.14 – “Work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories”
A/67/L.20 – “Peaceful settlement of the question ofPalestine”
A/67/L.19 – “Special information programme on the question of Palestine of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat”
A/67/L.18 – “Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat”
A/67/L.17 – “Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People”
A/67/L.24 – “The Syrian Golan”
A/67/L.23 – “Jerusalem”
A/67/L.28 – “Status of Palestine in the United Nations”
A/C.3/67/L.54 – “The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”
On Rest of World Combined:
4 ResolutionsSyria: 1 UNGA resolution
Murdered 40,000 of its own people in past 2 years.Iran: 1 UNGA resolution
Hangs gays, persecutes women, orchestrates world terrorism.
North Korea: 1 UNGA resolution
Runs concentration camps, starves own people, considered worst regime on the planet.
Burma: 1 UNGA resolution (which praises the government)
China: 0 UNGA resolutions
Gross and systematic abuser of human rights of more than 1 billion people. Listed on “Worst of the Worst” Freedom House annual survey.
Belarus: 0 UNGA resolutions
Listed on “Worst of the Worst” Freedom House annual survey.
Cuba: 0 UNGA resolutions
Jails journalists, recently murdered human rights activist Oswaldo Paya. Listed on “Worst of the Worst” Freedom House annual survey.
Equatorial Guinea: 0 UNGA resolutions
UNESCO recently dedicated a “science prize” sponsored by the dictator. Ranked as “Worst of the Worst” regime on Freedom House annual survey.
Eritrea: 0 UNGA Resolutions
Ranked as “Worst of the Worst” regime on Freedom House annual survey.
Libya: 0 UNGA resolutions
The “new” Libya is rife with horrific abuses. After being restored to the U.N. Human Rights Council last year, it was first to attack gays, saying they“threaten the human race.”
Saudi Arabia: 0 UNGA resolutions
Subjugates women, total denial of religious freedom.Ranked as “Worst of the Worst” regime on Freedom House annual survey.
Somalia: 0 UNGA resolutions
Pirate state, lawless, replete with gross abuses of human rights. Ranked as “Worst of the Worst” regime on Freedom House annual survey.
Sudan: 0 UNGA resolutions
Sudan continues to murder its own people in Darfur, but was just elected by 176 UNGA states to a top post overseeing human rights bodies. Many EU states voted for Sudan.
Uzbekistan: 0 UNGA resolutions
Ranked as “Worst of the Worst” regime on Freedom House annual survey.
Venezuela: 0 UNGA resolutrions
Persecutes human rights activists, throws judges in jail. The UNGA just elected Venezuela to the UN Human Rights Council.
________
NOTE: UN Watch has repeatedly submitted draft resolutions on these countries, yet the UNGA — tragically — refuses to act.
