Support grows for Palestinian status upgrade at UN

[knowledge_of_self]

Israelis are and always have been extremely paranoid that the world will "turn on them", which naturally leads to a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy where the paranoia results in extreme reactions by the Israelis to what might otherwise be relatively insignificant or 'normal' events, which in turn leads to further condemnation by others which leads to more extreme reactions from the Israelis and down it goes. The big red flag for the Israelis is, of course, any hint that the Americans, Brits and Europeans would be changing their pro-Israel stance. If the Israelis become convinced of that, it could all crash and burn very quickly. Then again, I have little doubt that any such change in Western attitudes towards Israel would be a conscious move, at least at some level of the power structure.

I totally agree with you Perceval. Here is a red flag that I saw this morning!

http://www.sott.net/article/254414-Canada-joins-in-global-criticism-for-new-Israeli-settlement-plan

mind you they are still standing by their lack of vote for the Palestinian UN bid, but still.. this is pretty unheared of when it comes to Harper government saying anything "anti-Israel".

 

[loreta]

I think, but I am a pessimistic, that those are just words, bla bla bla. In reality nobody for now is doing nothing against these new settlements and Palestinians continue to suffer. Politicians are hypocritical. They talk a lot but do nothing. We know all this, their void discourses, their void words, their double actions. So you can talk and talk and talk, the reality is that Israel is doing what she wanted and will continue. Is there a solution for Palestinians? Really.

 

[Voyageur]

I think, but I am a pessimistic, that those are just words, bla bla bla. In reality nobody for now is doing nothing against these new settlements and Palestinians continue to suffer. Politicians are hypocritical. They talk a lot but do nothing. We know all this, their void discourses, their void words, their double actions. So you can talk and talk and talk, the reality is that Israel is doing what she wanted and will continue. Is there a solution for Palestinians? Really.

Don't know what the solution is to this horrible suffering that the Palestinians bravely endure at the hands of these bullies, not to mention the silent voices of other states and humanity at large. Perhaps as has been said, we continue to work hard to keep the light on this even in mental thought.

In the transcripts:

Q:(L) They are planning destruction of Palestinians, right?
A: Yes.
Q: (L) It seems that through out history whenever the Jews have plotted and planned to destroy somebody, they are the ones who have ended up being destroyed themselves. Or am I misreading my history here?
A: No.

Q: (A) Well, we still we have one problem: the problem involvement of Israel. We were worrying about what is going to happen in Israel. At present, all the anger is directed at the United States.
A: America may shift blame.

&

A: The situation looks bleak indeed. But remember the Achilles heel of STS: Wishful Thinking.
Q: In this case, how is wishful thinking going to help?
A: There will be a big miscalculation made. It will reveal the "Man behind the curtain."

 

[Voyageur]

From a Canadian Jewish human rights group.

_http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/ijv/2012/12/jewish-human-rights-group-slams-harper-governments-un-vote-palestine

A Canadian Jewish human rights group is condemning the Harper government's opposition to giving Palestine non-member observer state status at the United Nations. In a vote taken this week by the General Assembly, 138 countries voted to grant Palestine this status.

"Once again the Harper government has embarrassed Canadians on the world stage, rendering itself not only useless but dangerous on the question of peace in the region," explained Independent Jewish Voices - Canada spokesperson Sid Shniad.

"Two years ago, Canada failed -- for the first time ever -- to obtain a seat on the UN Security Council. That failure was seen as an implicit reprimand for the Harper government's oft-declared disdain for the UN as well as its unquestioning support for any and everything the Israeli government does," Shniad continued. "Not only are we failing to promote peace in the Middle East; Canada is alienating the entire world by supporting Israel right or wrong."

"The United Nations vote shows that the world is increasingly uncomfortable with Israel's actions," he maintained. "But Israel remains intransigent. Instead of heeding to the message contained in the vote, it responded with the arrogant announcement that it is commencing construction on 3,000 new illegal settlement housing units in Palestinian East Jerusalem and the West Bank."

"While Israel's military strength is tremendous, the vote at the UN indicates that both its diplomatic and its moral strength are waning," said Shniad, pointing to Israel's failure to garner the support of more than nine countries to vote against Palestinian recognition. Joining Canada, the U.S and Israel in voting 'no' were the Czech Republic, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Panama.

"Fourteen European Union countries voted in favour of the Palestinian initiative. Countries which could formerly be counted as strong supporters of Israel -- including the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, and New Zealand -- either voted yes or abstained," Shniad noted.

"Moreover, the Israeli decision to ramp up its illegal settlement construction, announced immediately after the UN vote, is generating unprecedented condemnation from the world community. France and Britain are talking about recalling their ambassadors to Israel over this. Even the United States has denounced the new building campaign," he stressed.

"Canada is pursuing a uniquely reckless and intemperate approach in all this," noting the Harper government's deafening silence in the face of the announcement of the new Israeli settlements and its threat to slash its aid to Palestine. “Both Ottawa and Tel Aviv would be well advised to pay attention to these unprecedented developments on the world stage," Shniad concluded.
...
Independent Jewish Voices – Canada is a national organization that promotes a just resolution to the conflict in Israel and Palestine through the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all parties. IJV has chapters in Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Victoria.