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| Middle East |
| U.S. Vetoes U.N. Condemnation of Israel |
| 2003-10-15 |
| EFL The United States on Tuesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have condemned Israel for building a barrier that cuts into the West Bank. Surprise meter reads ’0.00000’. The American veto came after the United States suggested an alternate draft that would have called on all parties in the Middle East work to dismantle terrorist groups. But Syria, which had introduced the draft, went ahead with the vote anyway. The United States was the only country to vote against, using its veto as one of five permanent members of the council. Four of the 15 members of the Security Council abstained: Bulgaria, Cameroon, Germany and Britain. The Palestinian U.N. observer, Nasser Al-Kidwa, lamented the American decision and said there can be no peace process so long as Israel is building the barrier. ``You cannot have this construction of the expansionist wall and simply pretend that the road map exists,’’ Al-Kidwa said. ``It’s either or.’’ Brilliant! You’re absolutely right: the roadmap is dead. Now if you’d only understand cause-and-effect we could get somewhere. U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said the resolution ``was unbalanced’’ and ``did not further the goals of peace and security in the region.’’ The vote came after a fierce daylong open debate that saw several of about 40 countries that spoke portray the wall as racist and colonialist, and an overreaction that would turn some parts of the Palestinian territories into ``open-air prisons.’’ As opposed to Ein-al-Hellhole. Syria’s U.N. Ambassador Fayssal Mekdad, whose country is the only Arab nation on the 15-member council, introduced the draft resolution Thursday on behalf of the 22-member Arab League. Al-Kidwa said the Palestinians would seek an emergency session of the General Assembly to introduce a similar resolution. General Assembly resolutions - unlike those of the council — aren’t legally binding but carry symbolic weight. That in a nutshell describes the Paleostinians. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 General Assembly resolutions - unlike those of the council — aren’t legally binding but carry symbolic weight. Ooooh, "symbolic weight"....yeah, that'll intimidate someone. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-15 2:45:41 PM |