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Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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U.N. Watch: Council a ‘disappointment’
The new U.N. Human Rights Council has proven to be a “profound disappointment,” a U.N. watchdog said.
In its three months, Hillel Neuer, U.N. Watch’s executive director said, “the council, dominated by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, devoted 100 percent of its country-specific resolutions, two special sessions, one ‘fact-finding’ mission and a ‘high-level commission of inquiry’ to one-sided and politically motivated attacks on Israel, all of which granted effective immunity to violations of international law by Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Neuer, whose Geneva-based organization monitors anti-Israel and anti-Jewish bias at the United Nations, was testifying Wednesday before Congress.
In contrast, he said, the council has virtually ignored severe human rights crises in places like Sudan.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan dismantled the council’s predecessor, the Human Rights Commission, in part because of its anti-Israel bias. Neuer said the council may yet improve because of structural reforms, including mandatory periodic reviews and an election procedure designed to discourage human-rights violators from joining the council.
RJC launches anti-Democrat campaign
The Republican Jewish Coalition launched a campaign saying that support for Israel among Democrats is eroding.
The e-mail campaign, titled “Democrats Increasingly Turn Their Backs on Israel,” quotes recent statements by former President Carter, who said Israel’s war in Lebanon was not justified, and two polls showing that, while both Democrats and Republicans are likelier to favor Israel, Republicans outpace Democrats overwhelmingly on the question.
“American Jews, who for decades supported the Democratic Party, need to take a fresh, objective look at the Democratic Party today and decide if it’s the party for them,” the e-mail said.
The National Jewish Democratic Council counters that the Republican Party has its own critics of Israel’s Lebanon war, including U.S. Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee.
Diplomat links Lebanon war to U.S.-Iran tensions
A Russian diplomat described Israel’s war on Hezbollah as a preamble to a conflict between the United States and Iran.
“If we look at Israeli and U.S. plans, they aim at removing the Hezbollah factor ahead of the forthcoming U.S. settling of accounts with Iran,” Russian news agency Interfax quoted Foreign Ministry official Vladimir Trofimov as saying Wednesday. “This was a U.S.-Israeli conflict with the Islamic world, in which Iran has become a de facto leader.”
Iran is Hezbollah’s patron. It is also a Russian trading partner, which analysts point to when trying to explain Moscow’s reluctance to join U.S. calls for sanctions against Tehran’s nuclear program.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is due to visit Israel, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria later this week.
N.J. Democrats: Iraq war endangers Israel
Two New Jersey Democrats running to unseat Republicans said the Iraq war endangers Israel.
The argument advanced Wednesday by Linda Stender and Paul Aronsohn in a conference call with reporters for Jewish media launched what will be the national party’s strategy to counter Republican claims that President Bush has been the best friend the Jewish community ever had.
“Iran has emerged as a greater threat which is part of the reason I always opposed the war in Iraq,” said Stender, an assemblywoman running to unseat U.S. Rep. Michael Ferguson. “Everything we have devoted to the war in Iraq are resources not available to the real war on international terrorism,” said Aronsohn, a health-care specialist targeting U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett.
Israel on Campus leaders meet in D.C.
Thirty leaders of the Israel on Campus Coalition met with White House officials and Israel’s ambassador to Washington to plan for the academic year.
The group, which convened Tuesday, anticipates a tough year ahead for pro-Israel students on college campuses in the aftermath of Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The leaders launched a petition drive to thank congressional leaders for their support of Israel during the war.
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 10:31 PM Permanent Link
 
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