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U.S. Condemns UN Jenin Resolution as "One-Sided"
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Palestinian observer to the UN Nasser Al-Kidwa speaks to General Assembly on atrocities in Jenin. |
By
Ayesha Ahmad, IOL Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON,
May 9 (IslamOnline) - The U.S. condemned a UN General Assembly
resolution which called for UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to reform
a fact-finding mission and report on events in Jenin adopted late
Tuesday, May 7, in an emergency session on the Jenin refugee camp,
calling it "unconstructive and one-sided."
The
resolution was passed by 74 votes, with 54 abstentions. It called for
Annan to reconstitute a fact-finding mission and prepare a report on
the events in Jenin, which Palestinians called a massacre and Israelis
called self-defense.
It
also condemned Israel's refusal to cooperate with the UN fact-finding
mission initiated by Annan and disbanded just last weekend in the face
of repeated delays and refusals on the part of the Israeli government.
But
the U.S. has said that the resolution is one-sided because it does not
equally recognize the failure of Palestinians to end the violence.
"This
resolution fails to recognize that the Palestinian side has failed to
comply with the Security Council's calls in Resolutions 1397 and 1402
for "an immediate cessation of all acts of violence,'" State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters Tuesday.
"We
find the resolution unconstructive and one-sided," he added.
"We could not support it unless it is dramatically
modified."
An
Israeli representative speaking before the resolution was voted on
said it was an offense to the memories of Israelis killed by
Palestinian bomb attacks.
And
the U.S. ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, echoed the same
sentiment, saying that the credibility of the Palestinian cause would
be undermined by the "biased" resolution.
"There
is not even mention of Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israeli
civilians, which have done so much damage" to peace efforts,
Negroponte said.
Despite
the fact that previous Security Council resolutions have as yet had no
impact on the situation - Israel continues its incursions, violence
continues to escalate, and no one knows the facts about Jenin yet -
Boucher on Tuesday said that the recent Security Council resolutions
had been more balanced and had "already addressed"
humanitarian issues.
"The
resolution adds nothing more than vitriol to the comprehensive and
constructive calls for action that have been embodied in recently
enacted Security Council resolutions on the Middle East and other
recent diplomatic initiatives," Boucher said.
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