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 17th, 2009 by Marian Houk
Palestinian negotiator Sa’eb Erekat said on Sunday that “We are now facing a moment of truth”.
He told journalists in Ramallah (according to a press release issued by the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department that he heads) that “the move to issue a Security Council resolution recognizing the Palestinian state on the borders of June 4th, 1967 [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, UN Security Council
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 12th, 2009 by Marian Houk
The Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki asked diplomatic representatives in Ramallah on Monday for their government’s support to — at least — discuss the Goldstone report on last winter’s war on Gaza.
Al-Maliki has been a frequent flyer in the past ten days — he’s back in Ramallah for two days from trips between UN [...]
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Filed under: Ambassadors and other diplomats, Human Rights, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, UN General Assembly, UN Security Council
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 September 24th, 2009 by Marian Houk
U.S. President Barack Obama presided over the UN Security Council meeting today that adopted Resolution 1887, which notes, among other things, that “enjoyment of the benefits of the NPT by a State Party can be assured only by its compliance with the obligations thereunder”. That is a nice, consensus phrase — and [...]
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Filed under: China, Disarmament, International Atomic Energy Agency - IAEA, Iran, Israel, Japan, North Korea, Nuclear technology and weapons, Russia, UN Security Council, US in UN, USA
Posted on September 15th, 2009 by Marian Houk
A UN press release reports that the Goldstone Commission looking into Israel’s 22-day Operation Cast Lead in Gaza from 27 December to 18 January has published its findings — some 574 pages worth of findings — today.
The Goldstone Commission report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva can be consulted in full [...]
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Filed under: Gaza, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, International Tribunals, Israel, Palestine & Palestinians, Sanctions, UN Security Council
Posted on September 5th, 2009 by Marian Houk
The Jerusalem Post is reporting that “Two weeks ago … a Palestinian Authority security officer was spotted near a junction north of the Efrat settlement just off Road 60, the main highway connecting Jerusalem and the Gush Etzion bloc [n.b. in the West Bank]. The policeman, who is based in Bethlehem, told IDF officers [...]
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Filed under: Boundaries & Borders, Human Rights, International Humanitarian Law, International Law, Israel, Journalism and Journalists, Palestine & Palestinians, UN Security Council
