| Submit your comments on this article |
| Europe |
| Europe seeks to pin down President Trump – and America |
| 2018-06-27 |
| h/t Gates of Vienna [CarolineGlick] National Security Advisor John Bolton said last Wednesday that while discussion of President Donald Trump’s decision to leave the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has centered on the administration’s revulsion with its institutional anti-Israel bias, the move was really about restoring American control over U.S. foreign policy. In his words: "We did talk about Israel [in setting out our reasons for leaving the UNHRC] because it’s singled out unfairly. But in many respects, Israel is, as the saying goes, ’the canary in the mine shaft’ for the United States. Countries that attack Israel do so because they think it’s easier, but much of their criticism is really aimed at us." Bolton added, "Getting off of the council is an assertion of America’s determination to stick to its Constitution and not to recognize that there’s some ’higher authority’ at the UN ... to judge our performance or to give us advice on how to implement the constitution ... That’s what this is about: self-government." ...The UNHRC is a perfect vehicle for advancing Europe’s foreign policy. Its name gives it a do-gooder halo effect. The notion that a "human rights council" could be anything but a force for good in the world is hard to accept. But a year after it was established, the council focused its efforts not on protecting human rights, but on attacking the human rights of Jews in Israel. In 2007, the UNHRC passed Permanent Agenda Item 7. Item 7 created a separate standard for judging the Jewish state. Under Item 7, Israel is automatically subjected to condemnation for every action it takes to defend itself. Under Item 7, the council automatically embraces every Palestinian libel against Israel. ...In her remarks Tuesday explaining America’s decision to leave the UNHRC, UN Ambassador Nikki Haley expressed frustration at the fact that Europe had refused to assist in the U.S.’s efforts to reform the UNHRC by, among other things, cancelling Agenda Item 7. ...Haley attributed their refusal to help to cowardice ‐ or what she called "moral compromise." Haley’s explanation for Europe’s refusal to work with the U.S. on what she thought was a common goal of ending the UNHRC’s anti-Semitism was reasonable, but wrong. And her mistake was understandable. The EU and its member nations go to great lengths to hide the fact that they are on the opposite side of the fence from the U.S. in regards to Israel specifically and the issue of nationalism and U.S. independence more broadly. |
| Posted by:g(r)omgoru |