As
Israel
Writes SC on
Violence from
Gaza, OIC
Lobbies for
Palestine at
UNESCO
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 30 --
As Israel complained of
Security
Council
silence on
their
complaint of
"violence
emanating from
Gaza"
and the
Organization
of the Islamic
Cooperation
promoted its
lobbying
in Paris for
Palestine to
join UNESCO,
it was a
Sunday morning
of
dueling press
releases.
First
at 8:04 am
from Israel's
Mission to the
UN came Ambassador
Ron Prosor's
letter
which the
Mission said
was sent to
the Council on
snowy Saturday
night, saying
"Two
days
ago, I wrote
to the
Security
Council and
expressed my
Government’s
concern about
the escalating
violence
emanating from
Gaza, alerting
the
international
community
about the
dangerous
potential for
civilian
casualties.
The Council
did not utter
a single
word of
condemnation.
Today one
Israeli
civilian was
murdered and
others lay
injured in
hospitals this
evening as a
result of the
escalating
rocket fire –
and we still
only hear
silence from
the
Security
Council."
Some,
particularly
on the Sunday
morning talk
shows if they
got it in
time, would
see
this in
context as an
implicit
critique of
the Obama
administration,
or at least
the US Mission
to the UN for
not seeking a
Council
meeting. Click
here for
Prosor's
letter.
Inner
City Press
on Friday
outside the
Security
Council asked
Ambassador
Prosor about
Palestine's
bid for UN
membership,
specifically
the November
11
meeting at
which the full
Council will
get a report
from its
Committee on
the Admission
of New Member.
Prosor
replied
that he
doesn't think
the Council
will vote that
day on
Palestine's
application.
The addition
to the Council
on January 1
of Pakistan,
Azerbaijan
-- whose
foreign
minister told
Inner City
Press on
camera
he'll follow
the OIC line
on Palestine
-- and
Morocco, which
has said
the same off
camera,
may result in
those opposing
Palestinian
membership
calling for a
vote
before then. Click here
for first
story by
Inner City
Press on this.
(c) UN Photo
Prosor hands
to Ban
Ki-moon, as he
did Saturday
night letter
Palestine's
application
to join UNESCO
remains
pending;
Security
Council
members
Germany and
the US, among
58 UNESCO
members in the
preliminary
vote,
opposed it as
untimely.
Now
OIC chief
Ekmeleddin
Ihsanoglu has
described his
lobbying in
Paris on
October
30 of OIC
members and
non member
states in
advance of the
October 31
voting. If
Palestine
joins UNESCO,
not only would
World Heritage
Site
status be on
the table: it
would seem to
be a precedent
for Palestine
joining the
International
Criminal Court
and being able
to call, as
an ICC member,
for
investigation
of the
situation in
Gaza. Watch
this
site.
, 
