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Информация о материале: Автор: Asaf Romirowsky; Опубликовано: 30 ноября -0001

FrontPageMagazine.com

September 21, 2006

http://www.meforum.org/article/1024

In a barefaced statement UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed his dismay at Israel's actions against Hezbollah that resulted in the accidental death of UN peacekeepers saying, "I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defense Forces of a UN Observer post in southern Lebanon." This is merely one of the latest and most egregious examples of Anna's and the UN's massive and continuing bias against Israel. On paper the UN should be the one impartial force defending all democratic nations however, in practice it doesn't even come close.

Woodrow Wilson's vision for the League of Nations as a forum of cooperation between nations was based upon the promotion of democratic and free market values. After this vision was incinerated by World War II, the creators of the United Nations took some of the former's weaknesses to heart, providing the organization with mechanisms such as the Security Council for enforcement of the international will. Instead, the UN has turned into a major repository of the systemic disease called anti-Semitism. And, instead of looking for a cure, UN members are actively looking for ways of spreading this epidemic through Islamism. The systematic bias against one, and sometimes two, member states is clear through the hundreds upon hundreds of resolutions passed against Israel, the endless committees and investigations and resources lavished upon one conflict, and the ludicrous efforts at even-handedness that have characterized the UN since its inception.

The UN's abnormalities are certainly not confined to anti-Semitism. For many UN delegates, diplomatic immunity has become synonymous with fraudulent and scandalous behavior which does not have any consequences whatsoever. Just ask the parking division of the New York City Police Department. This status has allowed them to spread anti-Israel , anti-Semitic and jihadist rhetoric right here in America. More serious, however, are the criminal actions of UN personnel, ranging from bribe-taking to pedophilia that are thoroughly covered up by the institution the world over.

But anti-Israel bias remains the ideological pivot around which the entire institution revolves. Kofi Annan's recent appearance at a UN Palestine Day event which astonishingly featured a map of the Middle East that conspicuously omitted Israel is emblematic of the way in which the UN has transformed itself into a propaganda machine for such thinking.

Since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon on in 2000, Israel honored its commitment to peace. The U.N. required nothing of the sort from the Lebanese side of the border. The "peacekeepers" of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNFIL) continued to sit and do nothing whiles Hezbollah trucks weapons, digs tunnels, and runs protection rackets in order to control that part of Lebanon. And for this UNFIL has a budget of about $100 million annually.

Moreover, Hezbollah's leadership is ferociously anti-American and Western as Nasrallah clearly made the "satanic connection" between America and Israel saying, "the Arabs must understand that Israel is merely a battalion of the American army, and the United States is the principle enemy." On this, and on Hezbollah's often stated goal of destroying Israel, Annan and the UN have not a word.

UNIFIL's presence provided the international community with a false sense of

confidence and a false impression of due diligence while a terrorist organization systematically built up an arsenal of long-range rockets-imported from Iran with Syrian help-and stored them in arms caches in civilian homes, mosques and hospitals.

When Hezbollah cloaked themselves as UNIFIL personnel to attack and kidnap Israeli soldiers, UNIFIL ran interference for them. In 2001 after UNIFIL discovered two vehicles used by Hezbollah in the raid, stained with the blood of the injured Israeli servicemen, they promptly surrendered the evidence to Hezbollah upon its request. Shameless, as it later confessed, the UN lied by denying its possession of videotape that shed light on the abduction. The recent appearance of video footage that shows UN personnel permitting, and perhaps participating in, the abduction of Israeli soldiers – soldiers who were subsequently murdered in cold blood.

There is no other army other than the IDF that takes every possible measure to minimize hitting civilians and noncombatants. The best example is probably what has become known in the UN corridors and pro-Arab circles as the "Jenin Massacre," in practice Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, the IDF made a conscious decision to use infantry to flush out terrorists rather than bomb them from the air and kill innocent civilians. Dozens of soldiers paid with their lives for upholding this standard

The above only shows how deep Annan's ignorance goes or better yet how he only represents one camp – the Arab one.

Annan in his own report on UNIFIL, to the UN Security Council he stated "on the morning of 15 July, IDF announced via loudspeakers to the residents of [the Lebanese villages of] Ayta ash Shab and Marwallin that they should vacate their villages," clearly to minimize noncombatant casualties. This proves that Annan is well aware of how the IDF routinely sacrifices the element of surprise in order to spare innocent civilians.

The bottom line is that until the UN changes its mandate, from being a forum of the least common denominator to an organization with a rudimentary sense of right and wrong, its agencies will reflect the depravity of the organization. UN agencies like UNIFIL will not prevent future conflict and will actually instigate it unless it is clear that they must to stop terrorists from attacking Israel and unless they are given the means to prevent provocations. Otherwise, any premature ceasefire which will allow Hezbollah to survive with much of its arsenal intact will invite a replay of recent events only with greater human suffering.

Asaf Romirowsky is a Campus Watch Associate Fellow for the Middle East Forum and the Manager of Israel & Middle East Affairs for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

Russian version

An introduction to MAOF
Haim Goldman

Dear Friends,

Would you believe that the undersigned has anything in common with

-- Professor Victor Davis Hanson (Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University),
-- Dr Charles Krauthammer, (Washington Post, Time, The Weekly Standard),
-- Caroline Glick (Deputy Managing Editor of the Jerusalem Post),
-- Jonathan Tobin (Executive Editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent).

Amazingly, the editors of the MAOF website decided that the missives of the undersigned are worthy of translation and posting along the articles written by these distinguished authors.

The first letter was published without the consent of the undersigned.
However, after thorough examination of the laudable attitude of MAOF and of the excellent contents of the website, the undersigned had most graciously granted his permission for publication of his missives in both English and Russian.

“Analytical Group MAOF” [1] is an organisation founded about ten years ago by Russian-speaking Jewish intellectuals. The attitude of MAOF is definitely pro-Zionist -- unambiguously and unapologetically.

One of MAOF’s primary purposes is providing information and analysis about Middle-Eastern and world affairs as well as about Israel’s history, values and dilemmas. In addition to extensive publication activity in various media, MAOF also organises excursions and seminars. While the vast majority of the contents of the MAOF website is in Russian, texts originally written in English are provided in the original [2] as well as in Russian.

There are arguably about 250 millions of Russian-speakers worldwide and many of them do not read English. The indisputable motivation for the author’s permission was to grant those millions of disadvantaged people the grand benefit of reading the author’s ruminations. If the author is ever maliciously accused that his tacit motivation for authorising the publication was his craving to be listed along with the above-mentioned distinguished writers, his plea will definitely be “nolo contendere”.

The editors of MAOF expressed their gratitude by granting the undersigned a privilege that no other author got – the opportunity to review and correct the Russian translation before publication. The original letters of the undersigned are at [3] and their Russian version is at [4]. At of today, only two letters are posted but several other letters are pending translation.

You are kindly ENCOURAGED TO RECOMMEND the MAOF website to your friends and colleagues worldwide, particularly those who speak Russian. Those who do not enjoy the benefit of proficiency in the exquisite Russian language can find many thought-provoking and inspiring articles about Middle-Eastern and world affairs in the English section [2].

Sincerely,

Haim Goldman
28.10.2006

REFERENCES:

[1] http://maof.rjews.net
[2] section.php3? sid=37&num=25
[3] authorg.php3? id=2107&type=a
[4] authorg.php3? id=2166&type=a

Maof

Who and What Does the UN Represent?