And the winner is: Alvaro De Soto, now (thankfully) the former UN Middle East Envoy.
The United Nations’ former top Middle East envoy has sharply criticized U.S. and Israeli efforts to isolate the Hamas-led Palestinian government, saying the policy has further radicalized Palestinian opinion and undercut long-term efforts to establish a viable Palestinian state.
Really? You mean the people who marched for peace in Gaza yesterday and who were fired on by Hamas terrorists? Those people were “radicalized” by Hamas? I think they were, um, “killed” by Hamas. At least one was.
Several hundred tribal leaders, women, children and Islamic Jihad militants turned out in Gaza City for a protest initiated by Egyptian mediators. Some demonstrators scattered after masked Hamas gunmen fired in the air, but others pushed on, carrying Palestinian flags and shouting, “Do not shoot” and “national unity” over a loudspeaker.
Witnesses said Hamas gunmen shot at the protesters as they approached the home of Fatah loyalists, trapping them.
Protester Bilal Qurashali said he saw a man shot in the head. “We are unable to get out. The place is closed,” he said.
Health officials said one protester was killed and 14 others were injured by bullets and brought to the hospital in civilian cars because ambulances couldn’t navigate the heavy fire.
Separately, Hamas gunmen opened fire from a high-rise building at about 1,000 protesters in Khan Younis, injuring one and breaking up the protest.
What else does De Soto get wrong? Well, just about everything. He calls the UN’s approach to Israel biased—towards Israel. Say, how many anti-Israel resolutions are there so far this year at the UN? Twenty-two? That’s all? And what’s that about the UN Human Wrongs Council?
In its first six months of existence, the Council only censured one country in the entire world for human rights violations—Israel. Between June and December 2006, it adopted six condemnatory resolutions and held three special sessions against the Jewish state. (One resolution against Israel was adopted at the Council’s first session, in June; two more at its resumed second session, in late November; and one each in the three special sessions on Israel, held on July 5-6, August 11, and November 15.) The only other resolution on a specific country situation adopted during this period was a soft text on Darfur, which did not find Sudan guilty of violations.
But wait. You have to read this:
De Soto said that the Quartet has grown increasingly biased in favor of Israel over the past two years. He said that it made a strategic mistake by imposing conditions on Hamas after its January 2006 electoral victory — that it renounce violence, recognize Israel and embrace prior peace agreements.
“Even handedness has been pummeled into submission,” De Soto wrote in the report, which was first reported by London’s Guardian newspaper and posted on its Web site. “The Quartet took all pressure off Israel. With all the focus on the failings of Hamas, the Israeli settlement enterprise and barrier construction has continued unabated.”
Do you see the moral depravity of this man? The “failings” of Hamas include its dedication to the destruction of Israel, use of terrorism to achieve its goals, and refusal to change either of these first two “failings” is seen as—a mistake. Because Israel wasn’t pressured to—what? Not build the fence to keep Hamas terrorists out?
This is the man the UN set as its “Special Envoy to the Middle East.”
Buh-bye, Al. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.
Well obviously Meryl, Mr. De Soto is a fair man and Israel is (as always) in the wrong. NOT !! This man makes me sick.
De Soto can go and suck eggs!
In the same document, DeSoto and his staff of deranged anti-semites wrote that the present chaos in Gaza is a direct result of Israel’s decision to withdraw. Therefore, they blame Israel for occupying Gaza, then they blame Israel for withdrawing under UN directives. It isn’t just Mr. DeSoto who needs to be shown the door, but the entire corrupt secretariat because it cannot be reformed for the foreseeable future.
Ambassador Bolton had begun to force reforms when he corralled the countries which provide almost 90% of UN funding to push for UN reforms. Of course, most of the General Assembly consists of foreign aid sponges who voted these reforms down. The next step might have been a devastating (to the UN) financial boycott. However, this impetus died when Congress refused to confirm Bolton to a permanent position. With a Jackass Party administration likely after the 2008 elections, there is little likelihood that a Democratic Bolton equivalent would be appointed.
chsw
I’m acutally somewhat surprised that nobody has attempted to blame Israel somehow for the current violence in Gaza.
They have. I just haven’t bothered linking it. Saab Erekat, I think, blamed Israel’s withholding of tax revenues, for one, and the “boycott” for another.
Oh, of course. I mean whenever I get boycotted, I tend to pick up a Kalashnikov and start shooting my neighbors.