UN Security Council takes up the Gaza conflict
It shouldn’t be surprising that Libya, the only Arab member of the United Nations Security Council, has proposed a resolution that condemns Israel and it’s attacks on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. Obviously, everyone wants these attacks stopped, but what is most disturbing about the resolution is what it does not contain. There is no mention of Hamas stopping it’s rocket attacks on Israel. From Yahoo:
Libya presented a draft resolution from the Arab League to a UN Security Council emergency meeting that calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.The draft resolution “strongly condemns all military attacks and the excessive, disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force by Israel, the occupying power, which have led to the death and injury of scores of innocent Palestinian civilians, including women and children.”
It calls for “an immediate ceasefire and for its full respect by both sides.”
It also calls on Israel “to scrupulously abide by all of its obligations under international humanitarian law, particularly under the Geneva Convention relative to the protection of civilians in time of war.”
The 15-member council is now expected to convene a public debate on the draft resolution that includes representatives from Israel, Egypt, the Arab League and the Palestinian territories.
The resolution makes no mention of the ongoing Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli territory that Israel said prompted its retaliatory offensive against Gaza.
The United States and Great Britain have said the current draft is unacceptable and will surely veto it, if it comes to a vote of the council. I am at a loss to understand if Libya and the other members of the Security Council really believes Israel is solely to blame for the current conflict, or they just refuse to grant Israel the same leeway any other country would have, when it comes to defending itself against outside forces. I find it hard to believe that anyone with any modicum of partiality could believe Hamas does not share the blame for it’s refusal to stop it’s rocket attacks on Israeli territory.
As I have said here, here, and here, peace would not be that hard to obtain in the region. It may sound over simplified, but to do so, the rest of the Arab world had to realize Israel isn’t going anywhere and has a right to exist, right along with the other Arab nations. That includes Hamas and other Palestinian organizations, whose stated purpose is to wipe the Jews from the face of the Earth. In defense of Israel, it has said it would consider a truce and a halt to the air strikes, but it has it’s own conditions for doing so. One of those demands is for international monitors to be set up to monitor and enforce the truce. No one can blame Israel for wanting such a condition. With the amount of Arab animosity towards the Jewish nation, an impartial body is needed to monitor any such truce. Without it, Israel is bound to be on the receiving end of a very short stick.
That’s my take!
Larry
We must pray for the peace of Jerusalem, as the scriptures implore. It is a terrible thing when some people want to wipe out another people, as many in the Arab world have openly stated. I find that very sad. Just curious, did Libya condemn Hamas for the numerous rocket attacks they perpetuated on the Israelis?
While stationed in a certain Arab country before retiring, I made a trip to the local bazaar. As I strolled through the shops, I met a Jewish man (the only one, I do believe) who had grown up around there, and lived among thousands of Arabs. You know, they all got along very well, and the man told me how strong the relationship was between his Arab friends and himself. Now, that’s the way it should be. Just a thought.