It isn't because they hate us for our freedoms!
The United Nations Security Council has 15 members. Five of them (China, France, Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States) are permanent members. The other ten (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, Portugal, Brazil, India, South Africa, Colombia, Lebanon, Gabon, and Nigeria) rotate their membership on the basis of a two year term. The General Assembly elected Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Morocco, Pakistan and Togo to serve as non-permanent members of the Security Council for two-year terms starting on 1 January 2012. The newly elected countries will replace Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria.
Source: The United Nations website
Yesterday (Dec. 20, 2011), according to the Associated Press, some shit hit a fan and that fan was pointed our way. Excerpts after that squiggly thing.
Fourteen frustrated members of the U.N. Security Council pointed a finger at the United States Tuesday for blocking any condemnation of Israel's accelerated settlement construction in Palestinian territory. In a move which Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin called historic, diplomats from almost all regional blocs represented on the council stepped to the microphone Tuesday after closed council consultations on the Mideast to condemn the lack of progress toward a solution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Clearly referring to the United States, Churkin said dismissively that one delegation believes things will "miraculously" sort themselves out on their own.
Every other member of the prestigious U.N. Security Council (UNSC) took the opportunity to chastise the USA for its intransigence on two issues critical to peace in the Middle East: Unrestricted colony-building by Israel on Palestinian land and the violence perpetrated against Palestinians by the people living in these colonies – which are restricted by Israel itself to being Jewish-only housing. If you're an Arab-Israeli, Israel will not let you live in this brand-new taxpayer-subsidized housing being built in the West Bank on land which has never been Israel.
The four European Union members of the UNSC who also happen to be key US allies (Britain, France, Germany and Portugal ) issued a joint statement condemning Israel's colonies as being illegal under International Law and calling on Israel to reverse the process. The statement also said, “The viability of the Palestinian state that we want to see and the two-state solution that is essential for Israel's long-term security are threatened by the systematic and deliberate expansion of settlements.” The statement also condemned colonist violence against the Palestinians and deplored the recent burning of two mosques, the Burqa mosque in the West Bank and the Nebi Akasha mosque in Jerusalem. Those who would condemn the burning of any church, synagogue, temple, or other religious structure understand how depraved are acts like this.
UN Ambassadors speaking on behalf of the group of more than 120 states known as the Non-Aligned Movement expressed the same sentiments as the Europeans. India, Brazil, and South Africa added their voices to this planet-wide complaint against us.
Which brings us back to the USA and the reasons behind the entire UNSC (less us) banding together to collectively spank the ass of our nation so publicly. We have blocked – via our veto power over UNSC actions – a joint UNSC resolution which condemns the building of these colonies even though the official position of the United States is that these colonies represent a major roadblock to peace in the Middle East. Yes, the USA has decided to ride the hypocrisy helicopter and go against our own official national policy in order to keep the rest of the planet from issuing a complaint about these colonies. Talk about awkward!
What I don't understand is why the US has decided to say one thing and do another, thereby causing us to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world regarding this issue. Several of our closest long-term allies are on the right and morally-correct side of this resolution. This is an issue of right and wrong. We would be doing Israel a favor by getting that nation to help itself to do what is right – remove the illegal colonies it has built upon Palestinian land and stop its citizens from committing violence against the Palestinian People. We would be helping ourselves, the Palestinians, the Israelis, and the entire planet if we would get our asses on the right side of this issue instead of making ourselves moral pariahs in the eyes of the rest of the civilized world. Why would the USA do this when our official policy and the rest of the world is on the other side of the issue?
When everybody else in the clubhouse – especially those who you know and trust to be good, moral, and honest people – tell you that you're fucking this up . . . perhaps you should realize America that you are, indeed, fucking this up.
Sources for reporting on this event:
The AP hosted by The Daily Record of Morris County, NJ
Voice of America
Haaretz.com, Israel's newspaper of reasonability
Al Jazeera
This link includes a video which I haven't watched.
The Jerusalem Post, Israel's much more right-wing newspaper
Just don't read the extraordinarily ugly comment section which follows the article.
Plus, you can always hit Google News for more sources.