Palestinarane tapte nok ein gong i Tryggjingsrådet i går kveld, men om
fleire hadde stemt for resolusjonsforslaget, ville det ikkje ha blitt
vedteke likevel. Som vanleg ville USA ha lagt ned veto.
Katten leikar med musa...
<<<<<<<
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PALESTINIANS LOSE U.N. VOTE ON MIDEAST OBSERVER FORCE
U.S. DIDN'T NEED TO VETO BECAUSE OF LITTLE SUPPORT FROM OTHER COUNTRIES
By Evelyn Leopold
"Had there been a chance of it passing
my delegation would have cast a veto."
U.S. Delegate to Security Council
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 18 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council defeated
Palestinian demands late on Monday for a U.N. observer force to calm the
worst Middle East violence in years, with more than 300 people killed in
over two months.
The Palestinian-initiated resolution for military and police observers in
the West Bank and Gaza received eight votes, one less than the minimum
required for adoption in the 15-member council.
The other seven members, the United States, Russia, Britain, France,
Argentina, the Netherlands and Canada, abstained, saying the measure could
jeopardize upcoming fragile Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Voting in favor were Namibia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Jamaica, Tunisia,
Mali, Ukraine and China.
"The draft resolution is not adopted because the required number of votes
were not gathered," announced Russia's U.N. ambassador Sergei Lavrov, this
month's council president.
The United States, Israel's closest ally, said it would have vetoed the
measure had it gathered more support -- a move that could have inflamed
further Arab sentiment. But it did not have to because of the low vote and
instead abstained.
For about six weeks, the Palestinians and their supporters on the council
have been trying to get support for U.N. military observers and police to
protect civilians. They had wanted a force of 2,000 but then modified the
resolution without giving any figures.
During that period the violence that broke out on Sept. 28 has soared and
at least 330 people have been killed, the majority of them Palestinians.
Israel sees the Palestinian push for a force as an attempt to embarrass it
on the world stage and provide an opening for U.N. involvement in its
country. Israelis would only be willing to consider third-party observers
if they are negotiated directly with the Palestinians in the framework of
a comprehensive peace agreement.
Israeli U.N. ambassador Yehuda Lancry, quoting Arab newspapers, accused
Palestinians of having planned the violence, saying they therefore did not
need "protection of the consequences of their own actions."
Palestinian U.N. delegate Nasser al-Kidwa, saying Lancry "defies our
patience," told the council that during the months of revising and
negotiating on the resolution "the bloody Israeli campaign against our
people and against Palestinian civilians continued."
He said he put the resolution to a vote, despite U.S. pressure on council
members, so the 15-member body could be put on notice and cope with the
violence.
"Whether the United States had to use the veto or find another way to
prevail...the result remains the same," he said. The vote showed
Palestinians could not rely on the council.
With Israeli and Palestinian negotiators heading to Washington for a new
round of peace talks on Tuesday, Western members of the council said they
could not support an observer force at this time and would abstain.
"There's no point in driving the car into a brick wall just because it
makes a nice noise," British ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock told
reporters before the meeting.
Greenstock and French ambassador Jean-David Levitte told the council that
they had no dispute with the text and supported sending a U.N. observer
mission. But they said the timing was not right in light of the Washington
talks.
American delegate James Cunningham told the council it "has acted wisely
this evening in an inappropriate and ill-timed resolution. Had there been
a chance of it passing my delegation would have cast a veto."
>>>>>>>
Eit positivt trekk er at Frankrike og Tyskland i det minste har manna seg
opp til å stanse våpeneksporten til Israel:
<<<<<<<
FRANCE AND GERMANY STOP ARMS SALES TO ISRAEL
(including non-lethal crowd control devices)
By Nicole Krau
[Ha'aretz - 17 December 2000]:
Since the outbreak of violence in the territories, in late September,
France and Germany have initiated an undeclared embargo on Israel,
refusing to export defense equipment and materials.
Tomer Avnon, the CEO of TAR Ideal Concept, a company which imports defense
materials for Israel's security forces, says that attempts to acquire a
new smoke-grenade, made by the German firm, Buck, met with refusal. Buck,
which is represented by TAR in Israel, sent a notice saying that at this
time it is impossible to gain an export license from the German government
permitting the sale of defense equipment and materials to Israel.
Avnon had already experienced a similar problem, at the onset of the
Intifada, with a French company called Nobel Securite, from which he
sought to purchase tear-gas grenades for the Israeli police.
According to Le Monde, Israel intended to buy 100,000 grenades at a cost
of $6 million. However, the French Foreign Ministry and the
inter-ministerial committee dealing with exports of military hardware and
materials, blocked the sale, without specifying any reason for their
decision. The report adds that France was concerned with its image if it
was seen as selling Israel weapons to fight the Palestinians. Avnon told
Ha'aretz that his company sought the assistance of MKs and the defense
attache based in Paris; however, the efforts met with no response.
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