As long as Israel remains a standing agenda item at the United Nations and “Syria’s regime butchers and murders its people on a daily basis” the UK will vote down any attempt to debate the future of the Jewish State.
This warning was made on Friday at the 31st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) by the UK mission in Geneva. It came as the UNHCR debated Israel’s conduct in the occupied Syrian and Palestinian territories.
In its history, the UNHCR has condemned Israel more often than any other of the 192 UN states. Comparative totals after Friday’s session in Geneva tell the story: Israel – 78 resolutions and decisions, Syria – 29, North Korea – 9, and Iran – 6. As for Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China, there’s nothing at all.
While it made clear its “serious concerns about the growth in illegal demolitions and settlement activity” and said the UK stood “shoulder to shoulder with the international community” in support of a two-state solution, the UK mission added the council’s “unacceptable pattern of bias” as evidenced by the sheer number of motions condemning the Jewish state would only make the goal harder to achieve.
The statement continued:
“The trend of Israeli conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories over the past year has been negative.
“But we must also recognise the continuing terrorism, incitement and violence that Israel faces. Renewed Hamas efforts to rebuild their tunnels are a grave concern. The scourge of anti-Semitic incitement and glorification of terrorism continue.
“And yet neither ‘terrorism’ nor ‘incitement’ were a focus of this week’s council discussions and resolutions. This is not acceptable.”
The mission also questioned why Israel was still a standing agenda item while “Syria’s regime butchers and murders its people on a daily basis”.
Friday’s vote marked a reversal of previous UK efforts to isolate Israel from the international community.
As Breitbart Jerusalem reported, a UN resolution last May singled out Israel as the world’s only violator of “mental, physical and environmental health” and commissioned a delegation to report on “the health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory” and in “the occupied Syrian Golan.”
The United Kingdom, France, and Germany were among 107 countries that voted for the proposal during a gathering of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva. Eight countries voted against the resolution and eight abstained, while 58 other countries taking part in the assembly were absent for the vote.
The entire European Union (EU) membership voted as a block to support the motion of condemnation against Israel.
The UN cultural body UNESCO has also singled out Israel for past condemnation, criticizing it for recent actions on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and declining to acknowledge Jewish ties to the site.
Follow Simon Kent on Twitter: Follow @SunSimonKent or e-mail to: skent@breitbart.com
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