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United Nations (UN)

Palestine Takes Seat At UN General Assembly In ‘Historic First’

September 11, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , ,
Palestine was seated for the first time among UN member states on 10 September during the first session of the 79th General Assembly in New York. Permanent Observer to Palestine at the UN, Riyad Mansour, was seated at a table labeled “State of Palestine” between Sri Lanka and Sudan. The seating was approved by UN General Assembly president Philemon Yang. “This is not merely a procedural matter. This is a historic moment for us,” said Egyptian ambassador to the UN Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud. Israel’s representative at the UN strongly denounced the seating of Palestine among the UN member states.

BAP Condemns US Plans For Another UN Military Occupation Of Haiti

September 11, 2024 Black Alliance For Peace Haiti/Americas Team, Black Agenda Report. , , , ,
Once again, the Haiti/Americas Team of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) strongly denounces the latest attempts by the U.S. to push for yet another UN military occupation of Haiti. We condemn this action and the relentless assaults on Haitian self-determination by the US and its criminal allies. We also urge Caribbean and Latin American governments to stand in solidarity with Haiti – just as they have stood with one another against violations of national sovereignty in Venezuela, Cuba, Honduras, etc. – as the Haitian people continue to bear the brunt of U.S. imperial policies and actions in the region.

Tel Aviv Threatens To ‘Dissolve PA’ Over UN Push To End Occupation

September 9, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , ,
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has threatened to “break and dissolve” the Palestinian Authority (PA) if it moves forward with non-violent diplomatic measures at the UN to end Israel’s occupation of Palestine, the Times of Israel reported on 9 September. Katz made the threat after the PA submitted a draft resolution to the UN General Assembly demanding that Israel be forced to implement the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. The General Assembly will vote next week on the draft resolution, which calls for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories within six months, dismantling the illegal Jewish settlements, and facilitating the return of Palestinians to their land.

Suspending Israel From The United Nations

August 31, 2024 Anton Ferreira, Consortium News. , , , , ,
Israel’s devastating onslaught on Gaza, now approaching the one-year mark, and increasing settler outrages in the West Bank are giving fresh urgency to moves to suspend the Jewish state from the United Nations General Assembly. Palestinian civil society has long been calling for such a step, and the Gaza war, along with the two major pronouncements from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) about Israel this year, have given the initiative new traction. The idea is to use the same mechanism against the Jewish state that was used in 1974 to freeze apartheid South Africa’s participation in the General Assembly. The action contributed to the white minority government’s isolation and its eventual collapse.

‘What’s Good For The Goose…’

August 8, 2024 María Páez Victor, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , , , ,
The head of the government said, ‘This is violence, it is not protest'(1) and signaled that he had lost patience with “the far-right thugs” who caused civil unrest around the country. He said they were not peaceful protesters but demonstrating pure violence…and that they would have a standing army of specialist public duty officers…to deal with this where we need them.(2) Furthermore, the government leader said they would “ramp up criminal justice. There have already been hundreds of arrests, some have appeared in court this morning…I have asked for early consideration of the earliest naming and identification of those involved in the process who will feel the full force of the law.(

What The United Nations Chief Can Do For Gaza

August 7, 2024 Mona Ali Khalil, Consortium News. , , , , ,
Secretary-General António Guterres has limited his role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to that of a town crier, expressing “grave concern” from time to time regarding the terrible Hamas attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 and Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinian people in Gaza every day since then and long before. To change his legacy, Guterres should establish a truth commission, propose a U.N. transitional administration and present a peace plan to get us to the “day after” in Gaza and beyond. Over decades, U.N. resolutions have compelled Palestinian leaders to surrender 78 percent of Palestine to Israel to achieve a more peaceful, secure future for their children.

Why The SCO Summit In Kazakhstan Was A Game-Changer

July 10, 2024 Pepe Escobar, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , , , , ,
Let’s start with the final declaration. As much as SCO members state “tectonic shifts are underway” in geopolitics and geoeconomics, as “the use of power methods is increasing, with norms of international law being systematically violated”, they are fully engaged to “increase the SCO’s role in the creation of a new democratic, fair, political and economic international order.” Well, there could not be a sharper contrast with the unilaterally-imposed “rules-based international order”. The SCO 10 – with new member Belarus – are explicitly in favor of “a fair solution to the Palestinian issue”. They “oppose unilateral sanctions”.

Russia Rejects The Swiss Peace Summit As A ‘Fraud’

June 16, 2024 People's Dispatch. , , , , , , ,
The two-day Ukraine peace summit will start on Saturday, June 15 amidst widespread speculation about its objectives. The possibility that this will start a process for peace is also in serious doubt given the non-participation of several significant countries such as China and no invitation to Russia, one of the main parties of the conflict. According to the Reuters, nearly 90 states and international organizations, mostly from the West, have confirmed participation in the summit which will be held on June 15-16 at Burgenstock in Switzerland. Despite the participation of some Global South countries such as India, the summit is expected to be dominated by the Europeans, the US, and their allies.

UN Commission Accuses Israel Of Committing ‘Crimes Against Humanity’

June 13, 2024 Abdul Rahman, People's Dispatch. , , , , , , , ,
The report specifically accuses Israel of committing “crimes against humanity of extermination, murder, gender persecution targeting Palestinian men and boys; forcible transfer; and torture and inhuman and cruel treatment,” and recommends accountability for such crimes. Although the report claims that both sides indulged in indiscriminate killings and sexual violence, it states that Israel has launched “a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population in Gaza” with the intent to cause maximum damage, “disregarding the principles of distinction, proportionality and adequate precaution.”

Gaza And United Nations Veto Power

June 10, 2024 Dan Becker, Consortium News. , , , , , ,
In the United Nations Charter, the very sentence that establishes the Security Council’s permanent-five veto power ends — surprisingly — in these nine words:  “. . . a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting.” Let’s allow the phrase to sink in for a moment before acknowledging that there is indeed a host of conditions, requirements, litmus tests and hoops to jump through before the phrase can be invoked and applied to a resolution. But at the same time, it’s also crucial and a bit remarkable to remember that the five permanent members (P5) of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — are not exempt. They must abstain as well. So there it is, this little-known mechanism hiding in plain sight in Article 27 (3). It’s the Rodney Dangerfield of the U.N. Charter. It gets no respect.

Over 160 Groups Call On UN To Stop Promoting Carnivorous Fish Farming

June 9, 2024 Michaela Herrmann, DeSmog. , , , , ,
Over 160 experts and civil society groups are calling on the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to remove carnivorous fish farming from its definition of “sustainable aquaculture” ahead of World Ocean Day on 8 June. As industrial aquaculture expands globally, concerns are mounting among academics, fishing communities, and campaign groups about the environmental and social impacts of farming species like salmon, shrimp, and sea bass  – carnivorous fish that are reared on wild-caught fish for feed. The FAO has advocated for the growth of aquaculture and claims the sector can play a bigger role in feeding the world “sustainably” in the face of climate change and a growing global population – a stance the EU and salmon companies have eagerly echoed.

UN To Place Israel On Blacklist Alongside ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram

June 7, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , , ,
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is expected to include the Israeli army in the annual blacklist of countries and organizations harming children in conflict zones, according to reports in Israeli media. Hebrew-language Channel 13 News reported late on 6 June that Guterres has informed Israeli army Defense Attaché in the US, Major General Hidai Zilberman, of his “final decision.” Israel will reportedly appear on the blacklist to be published next week as part of a report distributed to UN Security Council members. A discussion on the report will take place on June 26. According to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's “efforts to persuade Guterres to avoid this move have failed.”

UN Chief Calls For Ban On Fossil Fuel Advertising

June 6, 2024 Geoff Dembicki, Ellen Ormesher and T. J. Jordan, DeSmog. , , ,
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on governments to ban fossil fuel advertising and warned creative agencies to stop working for the industry. “Many in the fossil fuel industry have shamelessly greenwashed, even as they have sought to delay climate action — with lobbying, legal threats, and massive ad campaigns,” Guterres told an event at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History. “They have been aided and abetted by advertising and PR companies — Mad Men fuelling the madness,” Guterres said, speaking in the museum’s Hall of Ocean Life, which is dominated by a 94-foot-long blue whale model suspended from the ceiling.

Countries Should Withdraw Recognition Of Israel

June 4, 2024 Joseph Massad, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , , , ,
On May 28, three additional European states officially recognised a non-existent Palestinian state. Ireland, Spain, and Norway are the latest to join more than 140 other United Nations members in recognising this phantom entity. The Palestinian Authority, which was set up in 1993 to aid Israel in suppressing Palestinian resistance to Israeli colonisation and occupation, welcomed the expansion of this improbable club. Other European states like Belgium, Malta, and Slovenia also threatened to follow suit. The Israelis, who have denied Palestinians the right to a state since 1948, reacted angrily to this largely symbolic move.

$320 Million US Pier Collapses In Gaza, Drifts To Ashdod

May 28, 2024 Al Mayadeen, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , , , ,
Part of the American naval pier in Gaza collapsed on Saturday as waves carried it toward Ashdod, according to Israeli media. In further detail, Israeli Channel 12 reported that strong waves swept away a section of the American floating pier off the coast of the Gaza Strip, heading towards the shores of Ashdod. The Israeli navy reportedly retrieved and reattached the section, as per the report. The US floating pier in the Mediterranean Sea has faced significant challenges since its creation on May 15, questioning its efficiency in alleviating the humanitarian crisis in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
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