Tuesday, November 1, 2005
OK, I'm jaded. The UN actually voted unanimously to 'declare January 27th as the new annual international day to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust' and here I am, remembering various UN condemnations of 'terrorism,' skeptical that they really mean it.
JPost: UN unanimously adopts international Holocaust Day
On January 27th, 1945 Ausshwitz-Birkenau was liberated.
Deputy Minister Michael Melchior, who is responsible for the government's response to anti-Semitism, welcomed the decision. "This important declaration by the United Nations comes very late, but better late than never. By declaring this day, the United Nations is recognizing the importance of dealing with anti-Semitism which gave birth to the most terrible crime in the history of humanity," he said.
According to Melchior, "By its decision to institute an international day of Holocaust Remembrance, the United Nations is giving recognition to the fact that the attempted extermination of the Jewish people serves as a warning to all of humanity of the dangers of hatred and racism which can even lead to the extermination of a people."...
Although the vote was unanimous, perhaps the spirit was not:
Hmmm...where have we heard that before.
Bush and Israel – Stormy Weather Ahead?
Unlike some of my colleagues, who see George W. Bush as Israel's "best friend ever" in the White House, I have for four years mistrusted the president's understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict. I fretted over his radicalism and inconsistency, flayed his key speech on the topic, tore other ones apart as illogical, dismissed his "roadmap," worried about his bifurcated policy, and predicted stormy weather ahead. On the last point, here is a prediction of mine from November 2004:
A small sign of a possible confrontation came in today's Washington Post, in a story by Glenn Kessler about a surprise meeting Bush granted last week to a low-level Palestinian group visiting Washington. Relying on an account from Diana Buttu, legal adviser to Mahmoud Abbas, it has the Palestinians complaining that an Israeli settlement expansion might make a Palestinian state impossible to achieve. To this Bush reportedly responded: "Don't worry. I have some political sway with Israel and will use it if need be." (October 12, 2005)
How Long Until the Arab-Israeli Conflict Ends?
Robert J. Aumann, an Israeli-American economist, on winning the 2005 Nobel Prize in economics for his work in game theory: he said the fighting between the Israelis and the Palestinians goes back more than 80 years and "As far as I can see, it's going to go on for at least another 80 years." (Quoted in Josef Federman, "Israeli Nobel Winner Sees Continued Strife," Associated Press October 10, 2005)
I think they should look these gift horses in the mouth. They are basic things they are entitled to as a country (Red Cross Membership) not an example of "how disengagement works" with the 'world community' which is how the left and Bush will shortly use it.
Yes, you have a point.