Tag Archive for UN

| February 24, 2014
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Italy’s newly elected PM supports Israel, sees Iran as serious threat

Just sworn in, Matteo Renzi regards the Iranian regime as the Middle East’s ‘main problem’, suggesting the left should learn to understand Israel’s concerns and support them.

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Matteo Renzi is Italy’s youngest-ever premier, and he could also be one of the most pro-Israeli.

Newly appointed Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi delivers a speech at Florence's City Hall

Newly appointed Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi could prove to be a valuable friend for Israel in light of the present anti-Israeli mood in Europe. – Photo: AFP

The 39-year-old ambitious leader of the center-left, who was sworn in on Saturday as Italy’s fourth prime minister in four years, may bring Rome, already one of Israel’s key allies in Europe, even closer to the Jewish state.

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Category: The Diaspora | Tags: , , , , , ,
| February 14, 2014
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Hamas rejects UN textbooks promoting human rights in Gaza schools

The Hamas gov’t believes the UN curriculum does not represent the ‘ideology & philosophy’ of the Palestinian population, reports Hamas spokesman for the Education Ministry.

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Gaza‘s Hamas authorities have blocked a UN refugee agency from introducing  into local schools, saying it ignores Palestinian cultural and focuses too heavily on “peaceful” means of conflict resolution.

Students in classroom in Gaza school

Students in Gaza school.- Photo: Reuters

Motesem al-Minawi, spokesman for the Hamas-run Education Ministry, said Thursday that the government believes the curriculum does not match the “ideology and philosophy” of the local population.

He said the textbooks, used in grades 7 through 9, did not sufficiently address Palestinian suffering and did not acknowledge the right to battle Israel.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| February 7, 2014
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UN reports increase in Israeli demolitions of illegal West Bank structures

 

According to latest UN report on Israel, 390 shacks & other unsafe or illegal structures in the Jordan Valley were demolished in 2013, displacing roughly 600 Palestinians, twice as many as 2012.

Associated Press

 

 

Israel demolished 390 shacks and other structures in the West Bank’s strategic Jordan Valley in 2013, displacing nearly 600 Palestinians, twice as many as the year before, a UN agency said Thursday.

A destroyed structure at Twail Abu Jarwal. - Photo: Yeela Raanan

A destroyed structure at Twail Abu Jarwal. – Photo: Yeela Raanan

The fate of the valley is a sticking point in US-led negotiations that seek to produce a deal on setting up a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| January 26, 2014
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United Nations: Hungarian Envoy apologizes for complicity in the Holocaust

Ambassador Casba Körösi: “Institutions in the then-Hungarian state were responsible for the Holocaust.”

By MAYA SHWAYDER, SAM SOKOL
 

 

The Hungarian ambassador to the UN said in New York on Thursday his nation took responsibility for its role in the Holocaust, days after the country’s Jewish community accused the government of engaging in Holocaust revisionism.

He spoke at a event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the deportation of Hungarian Jews, sponsored by the UN Department of Public Information for NGOs.

Ambassador Casba Körösi, who became unusually emotional for a diplomat during his remarks, conveyed the sincere apologies of the Hungarian state for the crimes committed, and admitted the state’s guilt in both its complicity in standing by and its assistance to the criminals. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| January 23, 2014
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UN General Assembly launches ‘Int’l Year of Solidarity with Palestinian People’

 

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, slams event, calls the int’l body a ‘propaganda machine.’

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The United Nations launched the International Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (IYSPP) at an official ceremony last Thursday.

The UN GA voting on August 3, 2012

The UN General Assembly – Photo: AP

The UN hopes the initiative will enhance efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace and claims its purpose is to contribute to international awareness on the “question of Palestine” and the main obstacles to achieving a just solution, a statement issued by the UN stated.

Known as Resolution A/68/12, the initiative was adopted last November by 110 votes to 7, with 56 abstentions. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| January 22, 2014
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UNESCO moves Land of Israel exhibit to June

 

The exhibit, “People, Book, Land: The 3,500-year relationship of the Jewish People with the Holy Land,”  was postponed in response to a protest letter from the Arab League, who fear it ‘could damage the peace process’.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF

 

 

 

UNESCO now eyes a June date for an exhibit on Jewish ties to the Land of Israel, after it suddenly canceled the scheduled Monday opening at its Paris headquarters, in response to a protest by Arab states who fear it could damage the peace process.

The exhibit at UNESCO headquarters in Paris just needed to be installed.

Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to open the exhibit as planned on January 20, or to schedule a new opening. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| January 20, 2014
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Israel to chair UN-linked Conference on Disarmament for month

This is Israel’s 2nd time to assume the rotating role to head the UN-linked Conference on Disarmament.

By HERB KEINON

 

Israel will be in the driver’s seat of the UN-linked Conference on Disarmament starting on Monday, assuming the organizations’ presidency for one month.

Council Chamber at the UN in Geneva where the Conference on Disarmament holds its meetings. - Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Council Chamber at the UN in Geneva where the Conference on Disarmament holds its meetings. – Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Israel’s ambassador to UN organizations in Geneva, Eviatar Manor, will take the gavel at the first formal session to be held on Tuesday, in the presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The Conference on Disarmament is the sole multilateral body for negotiating agreements for disarmament and arms control, and Israel has been a member state since 1996. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags:
| January 18, 2014
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White House presses UNESCO on its sudden cancellation of ‘Jews in Israel’ exhibit

 

The U.S. administration is ‘deeply disappointed’ with UNESCO after it succumbed to pressure by Arab League.

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The Obama administration is “deeply disappointed” with a decision by UNESCO, the United Nation’s cultural arm, to cancel the opening of an exhibition on the Jewish presence in the land of Israel and is seeking its placement “as soon as possible.”

UNESCO headquarters

UNESCO headquarters Photo by Unesco.org

Complaints by Arab states led UNESCO to cancel the exhibition, organized by the Simon Wiesenthal Center along with the governments of Canada and Montenegro. It was scheduled to open January 20 at the Paris headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| January 6, 2014
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UNHCR criticizes Israel’s terminology: They’re Not Illegal Aliens, They’re Refugees

UN blasts Israel’s policy towards the illegal infiltrators, complaining that they shouldn’t be detained & their refugee requests need to be considered.

By Elad Benari

 

The United Nations on Sunday night criticized Israel’s policy towards illegal immigrants, as thousands of them protested in Tel Aviv, demanding that Israel recognize them as refugees and grant them asylum.

The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) released a statement in which it accused Israel of “sowing fear and chaos” among the illegal aliens who, it said, should be referred to as “asylum seekers” and not “infiltrators”.

“We demand that the government examine the asylum requests of the foreigners, and stop the large-scale arrests in south Tel Aviv,” said the UN agency, adding that while it supported the holding facility for infiltrators in southern Israel, it was not acceptable in its present form as the agency deemed it to be a long-term detention center. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| December 19, 2013
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UN Security Council condemns all military activity on Syrian Golan Heights


Security Council warns Golan fighting could jeopardize the existing ceasefire between both Syria and Israel.

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The UN Security Council has strongly condemned all military activity on the Golan Heights by the Syrian army and opposition fighters warning that it could “jeopardize the ceasefire” between Syria and Israel.

Fire caused by clashes between Syrian army, rebels near Quneitra.

Golan Heights fire caused by clashes between Syrian army and rebels, June 6, 2013. – Photo: AFP

The council approved a resolution Wednesday extending the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force until the end of June. The force, known as UNDOF, was established after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| December 3, 2013
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Australian FM to United Nations: Stop the Constant Israel Bashing


Australia’s recent abstentions “reflected the  gov’t’s concern that Middle East resolutions should be balanced.”

By Israel Today Staff

 

 

Australia recently surprised everyone by abstaining on two UN General Assembly resolutions targeting Israel, signaling that the folks “down under” are growing fed up with the world body’s biased approach to the Israeli-Arab conflict.

Australia's Foreign Minister Julie Bishop - Photo: SBS/AAP

Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop – Photo: SBS/AAP

Like most other nations, Australia typically votes in favor of the dozens of UN resolutions targeting Israel every year. By the end of the General Assembly’s current session, it will have passed 22 resolutions against Israel, and only four against the rest of the world combined. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| December 1, 2013
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Israel finally invited to join UN’s Western nations WEOG group in Geneva

 

Officials in Jerusalem sees move as beginning of “normalization” of relations between Israel and the numerous UN bodies in Geneva.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF

 


The United Nations is expected to formally invite Israel to join its group of Western nations in Geneva on Monday, a move that is critical for Israel’s continued involvement in the United Nations Human Rights Council.

 

OVERVIEW OF the Human Rights Council at the UNHRC – UN Photo/Pierre Albouy

Israel is part of the Western European and Others Group at the UN’s headquarters in New York. But until Friday, that group’s counterpart (also called WEOG) in the United Nations Office at Geneva had refused to allow Israel to be a member.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| November 30, 2013
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Year after UN observer status, Palestinians eye diplomatic avenues against Israel

 

Pressure mounts on PA leaders to exploit UN observer status as most Palestinians believe peace talks will not yield results.

PA chief Abbas swears to ‘never give up ounce of Palestinian demands’

By AFP

A year after the Palestinians were granted non-member observer status by the United Nations, pressure is mounting on their leaders to exploit that rather than pursue peace talks few see bearing fruit.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Photo: AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: AP

No official ceremony was scheduled Friday in the Palestinian territories to mark the historic November 29, 2012 vote of the UN General Assembly.

But in comments published Thursday by official news agency Wafa, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to do everything possible to establish a Palestinian state with its capital in Israeli-annexed Arab east Jerusalem. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| November 29, 2013
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Turkey to cover fuel costs for Gaza’s utilities

Because of Egypt’s crackdown on Hamas’ smuggling tunnels, UNRWA begins to distribute fuel in Gaza in attempt to alleviate crisis.

By Reuters

 

Turkey will fund a purchase of fuel to provide power for emergency services in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, including hospitals and idle sewage treatment plants, a United Nations official said on Thursday.

Palestinian youths carry empty containers standing in front of a mock petrol pump.

Palestinian youths carry empty containers standing in front of a mock petrol pump during a protest in Gaza City. — Photo: AP

Robert Turner, of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency that provides assistance to Palestinian refugees, said Turkey had pledged $850,000 that should allow emergency services to operate over the coming four months. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , , ,
| November 28, 2013
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Israel to sit on UN’s Human Rights Council

In a complete turn-around, the UNHRC accepts Israel as a member.

Analysts: Israel threatened to leave UN, whereas the UN feared Syria & North Korea to follow, making the UNHRC irrelevant.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Israel has been accepted to join the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Maariv reported Thursday. The international body infamous for condemning the Jewish state will now add it to the list of 9 Western states.

The move is a complete about-face for the UNHRC, which in its 5-year history has condemned Israel over 46 times – more than any other nation in the world. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
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