Posted on March 6th, 2010 by Marian Houk
Palestinian officials are saying that they were under too much pressure from the Europeans and the Arabs to resist any longer accepting an American proposal to undertake “indirect” or “proximity” talks with Israel after more than a year of no negotiations. “It’s only for four months”, Palestinian officials say, apologetically, with a shrug of [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Gaza, International Humanitarian Law, Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Negotiators and negotiations, Palestine & Palestinians, UN General Assembly, UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council, USA
Posted on November 7th, 2009 by Marian Houk
The AP’s indefatigable Edith Lederer has reported that “Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday he will send a report calling for Israel and the Palestinians to investigate alleged war crimes during last winter’s conflict in Gaza to the UN Security Council ‘as soon as possible’.”
She added that “The 15 council members have already received copies of [...]
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Filed under: BAN Ki-Moon, Gaza, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, UN General Assembly, UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council
Posted on October 24th, 2009 by Marian Houk
Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at UNHQ in New York on Friday afternoon, and afterward told the Israeli Ynet media group that the Goldstone report on the Gaza war should be “buried”, according to a report on the YNet website.
According to Ynet, Shalom said, “I am more optimistic [...]
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Filed under: BAN Ki-Moon, Gaza, Goodwill Ambassadors, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, UN General Assembly, UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council, United Nations
Posted on October 22nd, 2009 by Marian Houk
Both the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon — a cautious bureaucrat if ever there was one — and the more-willing-to-take-risks UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have backed the Goldstone report on last winter’s Gaza war that at least two (or three) and perhaps four (or all five) of the UN Security Council’s Permanent Members don’t [...]
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Filed under: Gaza, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council, United Nations
Posted on October 2nd, 2009 by Marian Houk
The Palestinian decision to “withdraw” support for a resolution they were pushing in the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva remains unexplained — at least, to the Palestinian people — on Friday night.
The draft resolution would have called for support of the report submitted by South Africa’s Justice Richard Goldstone, who was appointed [...]
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Filed under: Ambassadors and other diplomats, BAN Ki-Moon, Gaza, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, International Tribunals, Israel, Middle East Peace Process, Palestine & Palestinians, UN General Assembly, UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council, USA
Posted on July 12th, 2009 by Marian Houk
Boycotts are in the air — billed as a peaceful alternative to war and conflict of all sorts. The definitive worth of the tactic is debatable — and in some circles it is being debated. Naomi Klein recently visited Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory [West Bank + Gaza -- yes, the [...]
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Filed under: Blogging, Boundaries & Borders, Human Rights, International Court of Justice - ICJ, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, Register of damages due to The Wall, UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council, US in UN, United Nations Agencies and Programmes
Posted on July 8th, 2009 by Marian Houk
Two very rare events — public hearings into the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead “and the circumstances surrounding it” — are over.
The hearings were held by the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict that was mandated by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which is headed by South Africa’s Justice Richard [...]
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Filed under: Egypt, Gaza, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council
Posted on June 2nd, 2009 by Marian Houk
This photo was published in the Israeli media – but it is not available on the UN photo site:
Whereas this is one of two UN photos, published on the UN website, showing Barak — standing alone: his preference? Or UN decision? — talking to journalists at a “stakeout” probably after the meeting:
UN Radio’s Diane Bailey [...]
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Filed under: BAN Ki-Moon, Gaza, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, UN Secretary-General
Posted on May 6th, 2009 by Marian Houk
At the U.S. State Dept Briefing on Tuesday (5 May), spokesman Robert Wood said in answer to a journalist’s question: “We would just note the Secretary General’s reminder that this board of inquiry, for one, is not a court of law. It is not a judiciary body. Also, I think in his cover [...]
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Filed under: Gaza, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council
Posted on May 5th, 2009 by Marian Houk
In an astonishing — and, sorry, I can’t help, but it’s also highly amusing — illustration of the matrix of the Israeli government, the Israeli media, the role of leaking, and attempts to influence international policy and opinion, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) sent out an email at 11:22 this morning denouncing a [...]
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Filed under: BAN Ki-Moon, Gaza, International Humanitarian Law, Israel, Journalism and Journalists, Palestine & Palestinians, UN Secretary-General, UN Security Council
