SWISS WRITER WHO PRAISED HOLOCAUST DENIER WINS U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL POSITION

Ziegler wins U.N. advisory role (JTA)
A Swiss writer who praised a Holocaust denier won an advisory position to the U.N. Human Rights Council.  Jean Ziegler won 40 of 47 votes Wednesday to become one of 18 "expert" counselors.

His election to the Geneva-based council, dominated by anti-Western authoritarian states, was virtually guaranteed and U.N. Watch, a United Nations monitor, had campaigned to convince Switzerland to withdraw his nomination.

That culminated in a letter this week signed by 24 human rights activists and groups opposing Ziegler. Swiss officials dismissed the effort as politicking.

Ziegler, a leftist theorist, has praised and supported dictators including Cuba's Fidel Castro, Ethiopia's Haile Mengistu, Libya's Moammar Ghadafy, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and North Korea's Kim Il-Sung.

In 1996, Ziegler praised French Holocaust denier Roger Gaurady as "one of the leading thinkers of our time."

In interviews, Ziegler says his critics are puppets of his Western opponents and notes that he had helped expose how Swiss banks hoarded funds deposited by Jews during the Holocaust.

Also elected as an "expert" adviser to the council was Richard Falk, a Princeton emeritus professor who has likened Israel's dealings with the Palestinians to the Holocaust.

ISRAEL LAYS INTO U.N. FOR MORAL EQUIVALENCY

Gillerman decries 'immoral equivalency' at Security Council (JPost)
Israel's UN ambassador, Dan Gillerman, slammed the "trend" of equating the "lawful actions" of a state defending its citizens with the "violence of terrorists," in a bitter exchange at the Security Council's monthly session on the Middle East on Tuesday.

"The misguided tendency to accept the status quo of terrorism is simply unacceptable," said Gillerman. "Such parity, which is often in the name of an ill-conceived balance, undermines the strength and credibility of moderate states to bolster one another and isolate the extremists."

SWISS BLASTED FOR ANTI-ISRAEL UN VOTE

Swiss blasted for anti-Israel UN vote (JPost)
Switzerland has "joined forces with countries that have little regard for human rights" in its vote in support of a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Thursday condemning Israel over the escalating violence in Gaza, according to the American Jewish Committee.

In a letter to Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey on Sunday, the AJC blasted the move as "detrimental" to "efforts to rectify the situation in the Human Rights Council and even more importantly, to promote peace in the Middle East."

"Most appallingly, the resolution fails to even mention the terror attack perpetrated last week by a Palestinian gunman against a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem, in which eight students were murdered, although this heinous crime was committed on the same day that the Human Rights Council adopted its resolution," reads the letter, signed by AJC Director David Harris and President Richard Sideman.

The resolution condemning the situation in Gaza was adopted by a vote of 33 to one, with 16 abstentions. Canada was the only state to vote against the resolution, which made no mention of terrorism or Hamas.

All Western states abstained on the vote except Switzerland.

According to the AJC, "by some accounts, the Swiss delegation actively lobbied the EU and other countries to support the Arab-sponsored draft in exchange for minor amendments."

TWO BIG ISRAEL-HATERS RESIGN!

AFTER CALLING HILLARY CLINTON A MONSTER, OBAMA'S SENIOR FOREIGN POLICY ADVISOR (AND ISRAEL-HATER) SAMANTHA POWERS HAS RESIGNED FROM HIS CAMPAIGN.

ALSO TODAY, LOUISE ARBOUR, THE ISRAEL-HATING U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS HAS ANNOUNCED SHE WILL BE STEPPING DOWN IN JUNE.

U.N. RIGHTS COUNCIL CONDEMNS....ISRAEL

UN Rights Council Condemns Israel - Eliane Engeler
The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday approved a resolution sponsored by Pakistan and Muslim countries condemning Israel's offensive in Gaza. Israel launched the offensive last week in response to Palestinian militants barraging southern Israel with rockets. (AP)

Statement by Israeli Ambassador to UN Human Rights Council - Amb. Itzhak Levanon
I cannot compete with the exaggerations, distortions and inaccuracies I have heard here. The truth is that the Hamas terrorists took over Gaza by force and established an irredentist entity. They have smuggled lethal weapons into this territory with the sole purpose to kill Israelis. Since the beginning of this year, in only two months, they have fired 671 missiles at civilians, women and children. They received these missiles from countries in the Middle East, such as the Iranian-made 122mm Grad missile. Hamas is committing war crimes and collectively punishing a population of a quarter of a million citizens living in Ashkelon, Sderot, the Negev, and Netivot. They call for the physical destruction of my country and translate these words into deeds. They brought al-Qaeda to Gaza, a fact confirmed by Mahmoud Abbas.

The truth is that in the 12 resolutions regarding the Palestinian-Israeli situation that have been passed by this Council, not one has made even passing mention of the relentless aggression against Israel. Not one of them has called explicitly to halt the deluge of Kassam rockets and Grad missiles. Not one of them attempted to recognize that Palestinians do not have a monopoly on suffering; not one of them acknowledged that the children of Israel have the same right to safety as Palestinian children. Not one of them attempted to empathize with the cries of an Israeli mother protecting her children, or the fear and trauma experienced while running to a bomb shelter, know that only 30 seconds separates you from death. (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

MASSACRE IN JERUSALEM

Mercaz Harav hit by capital's worst terror attack since April '06 (JPost)
A Palestinian terrorist opened fire at a central Jerusalem yeshiva late Thursday night, killing eight students and wounding 11 others, police and rescue officials said.

The 8:45 p.m. shooting at Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in the Kiryat Moshe neighborhood broke a two-year lull in terror in the capital and sent students scurrying for cover from a hail of gunfire - a reported 500-600 bullets - that lasted for several minutes.

"There were horrendous screams of 'Help us! Help us!'" recounted Avrahami Sheinberger of the ZAKA emergency rescue service, one of the first to respond to the scene. "There were bodies strewn all over the floor, at the entrance to the yeshiva, in various rooms and in the library."

As security forces raced to the scene, the gunman fired round after round of ammunition into the library at the seminary, religious Zionism's flagship institution. About 80 students had gathered in the library to celebrate the Hebrew month of Adar II, which begins on Friday evening.

It was not immediately clear, late Thursday night, whether there was a security guard at the entrance to the yeshiva.

Channel 2 reported that the terrorist carried a blue Israeli identity card and came from east Jerusalem.

Initial reports of a second terrorist on the loose proved unfounded, police said.

"We heard shooting and knew that something had happened," recounted Yitzhak Dadon, 40, who studies at the yeshiva. Dadon said he cocked his handgun and went up to the roof of the yeshiva, where he saw the terrorist spraying gunfire indiscriminately at the crowd inside. Dadon said he fired two bullets at the terrorist, who began to stumble.

At the same time, police arrived at the scene and an intense gunfight erupted with the terrorist lasting several minutes, witnesses said. The scent of gunpowder wafted in the air as undercover police stormed the building.

Jerusalem police chief Cmdr. Aharon Franco said the terrorist was killed by an IDF officer who lives near the yeshiva and raced to the scene.

Rescue workers recounted a grisly picture of students hiding under desks and locking themselves in classrooms to avoid being caught in the hail of bullets.

Yerach Toker, a paramedic for United Hatzola of Israel, said he saw several dead yeshiva students on the library's floor. "Some of them were still holding sacred Jewish books smeared with blood from which they were learning before they were murdered," he said.

Hamas hails 'heroic' Jerusalem attack (AFP)
The Palestinian Hamas movement hailed a deadly attack on a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem on Thursday night as "heroic," without claiming responsibility for the strike that killed eight.

"This heroic attack in Jerusalem is a normal response to the crimes of the occupier and its murder of civilians," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

Another spokesman, Taher al-Nunu, blamed the attack on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and the Israeli government.

"We have warned before about the responsibility of the escalation in Gaza and warned of Palestinian anger," Nunu said.

Hundreds of Palestinians poured into the streets of Gaza City as news of the attack at a west Jerusalem yeshiva spread, firing automatic rifles into the air in celebration.

Several more hundred people likewise celebrated in the northern town of Jabaliya, which has borne the brunt of deadly Israeli military strikes over the past eight days that have killed more than 130 Palestinians in Gaza amid a sharp escalation of violence in and around the impoverished territory.

SEE ALSO: Palestinians Celebrating Mass Murder (LGF)

UNSC fails to condemn J'lem shooting (JPost)
The UN Security Council failed to reach an agreement overnight Thursday on issuing an official condemnation over the deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav Yeshiva because of Libyan opposition.

"Most members (of the council) wanted to condemn (the attack) but Libya blocked it," Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, told reporters.

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said US efforts to issue a statement condemning the attack "in the strongest terms" failed because Libya sought to link it to its own resolution urging condemnation of Israel over the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip last week.

HEZBOLLAH HAS 30,000 ROCKETS

THE U.N. DID A GREAT JOB OF DISARMING THEM AD STOPPING THE FLOW OF WEAPONS.

Israel Says Hizbullah Has 30,000 Rockets - Edith M. Lederer (AP/Washington Post)
Israel has said Hizbullah is rearming and has an arsenal that includes 10,000 long-range rockets and 20,000 short-range rockets in southern Lebanon, according to a report from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

E.U. CONDEMNS ISRAELI ATTACKS ON GAZA

EU Condemns Israeli Attacks on Gaza
EU president Slovenia on Sunday condemned Israel's attacks on Palestinians in Gaza as disproportionate and violating international law. The statement also condemned the firing of rockets by Palestinians from Gaza into Israel. (Reuters)

Israel's Statement to the Security Council on Palestinian Rocket Fire from Gaza - Daniel Carmon (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Israeli Charge d'Affaires Daniel Carmon told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Saturday:

• Israel has exercised restraint for many months now. This has been in spite of the constant firing of rockets and mortar shells on our towns and villages in southern Israel, every single hour, every single day. While Israel has been showing restraint, Hamas has showed no intention of ceasing its vicious attacks. Since Wednesday, more than 150 rockets were fired at Israel, dozens in the past 24 hours alone. More than a quarter of a million Israeli citizens are in the range of the deadly and murderous weapons of Hamas. The government of Israel should thus not apologize for protecting its citizens.
• No responsible member state would sit back in silence and do nothing as its citizens and territory are under constant attack. The alarms in Sderot - and now Ashkelon - gave Israeli civilians less than 15 seconds before the rocket slams into their lives, their homes, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, and playgrounds. And their lives are destroyed forever.
• Hamas not only seeks to kill Israelis; it has no concern for its own civilians. It fires rockets from populated civilian areas, using their civilians as human shields. This is a war crime against both Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinians in Gaza are victims of Hamas' regime of terror. It is not only Israelis. We are all being held hostage by Hamas, the real and only occupier in Gaza through its terror.
• There should be no doubt in our minds that Hamas' true vision is the extermination of the State of Israel, and not to live peacefully side by side with us. It does not even seek to restore normalcy for the sake of the people of Gaza. Hamas bears sole responsibility for the violence.
• Sitting on the sidelines will only embolden the extremists and convince them that they should not stop their violence. Israel expects the international community to support us in our protection of our people.

Prime Minister: Striking at Hamas Increases Chance for Peace - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Prime Minister Olmert told the Cabinet Sunday: "The State of Israel has no intention of halting counter-terrorism actions even for a second....We will act...without respite in order to strike at the terrorist organizations - Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the others, including their leaders, those who dispatch them, those who provide their weapons, those who allow them in to act in given places, according to the outline that we will choose."

"I have recently heard criticism and claims that civilians are being hurt, that the State of Israel is using too much force....Nobody has the right to preach morality to the State of Israel for taking basic action to defend itself and prevent hundreds of thousands of residents of the south from continuing to be exposed to incessant firing that disrupts their lives."

"Striking at Hamas strengthens the chance for peace. The more that Hamas is hit, the greater the chances of reaching a diplomatic agreement and peace. It is clear to me that...the Palestinian leadership with whom we are trying to make peace understands this." (Prime Minister's Office)

Israeli Action in Gaza Met by Loud Silence from Arab World - Zvi Bar'el (Ha'aretz)
Palestinian Information Minister Riad al-Malki responded to Israel Defense Forces raids against militants firing rockets from Gaza by saying: "Hamas gave Israel an excuse to start a war in Gaza."

Mahmoud Abbas said that the "operation in Gaza is not just a reaction to the rocket barrage." Both comments can be interpreted as Palestinian backing of the Israel Defense Forces ground incursion.

Moreover, the very mild Egyptian reaction also indicates that the IDF raid is perceived by the Arab world to be first and foremost a war against Hamas, not the Palestinian people.

The fact that Al Jazeera devoted a whole episode of a popular debate show to the question "Why are the Palestinians keeping silent about the situation in Gaza?" also serves to prove this point.

U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER BACKS AWAY FROM ANTI-SEMITIC ARAB CHARTER

Arbour backs away from endorsing Arab charter (National Post)
UNITED NATIONS - Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, backed away yesterday from what appeared to be unqualified support for a new pan-Arab human rights charter that includes a commitment to eliminate Zionism.

The former Canadian Supreme Court justice had said in a statement that she welcomed the Arab Charter on Human Rights, a document critics say equates Zionism with racism, and some believe seeks the destruction of Israel.

In a new statement, Ms. Arbour said her Geneva-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has long been troubled by several of the "rights" enshrined in the charter, which goes into force in mid-March.

"Throughout the development of the Arab charter, my office shared concerns with the drafters about the incompatibility of some of its provisions with international norms and standards," the new statement said. "These concerns included the approach to the death penalty for children and the rights of women and non-citizens."

In addressing the Zionism references, Ms. Arbour touches on the UN General Assembly's repeal of its 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism. "To the extent that [the charter] equates Zionism with racism, we reiterated that [it] is not in conformity with [the 1991] General Assembly resolution, which rejects that Zion-ism is a form of racism and racial discrimination," she said.

"OHCHR does not endorse these inconsistencies. We continue to work with all stakeholders in the region to ensure the implementation of universal human rights norms."

In Ottawa, the Conservative government called on Ms. Arbour to wash her hands completely of the charter. "Eradicating Zionism would mean the eradication of the Jewish state," Tory MP Pierre Poilievre told the Commons yesterday.

Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists and Geneva-based UN Watch are among groups lobbying for changes to the Arab charter's wording.

Despite Ms. Arbour's clarification, her initial statement has sparked outrage among some members of Canada's Jewish community.

"As Canadians, we are ashamed of Ms. Arbour's actions," said Frank Dimant, executive vice-president of B'nai Brith Canada. "The fact that she holds the position of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights brings disrepute to that institution, further diminishing its standing as any kind of moral arbiter."

YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT THE VILE MS. ARBOUR AND HER ISRAEL-HATING WAYS  HERE.

UN: PALI TERRORISM JUSTIFIED, INEVITABLE

UN: Palestinian Terrorism “Inevitable”

ABE GREENWALD - (Contentions)

According to the Associated Press, a new UN report deems Palestinian terrorism the “inevitable consequence” of Israeli occupation. One has to ask: was terrorism the “inevitable” result of handing over Gaza to the Palestinians, as well? Because after more than two years Kassam rockets continue to land somewhat inevitably in Israel after being launched somewhat inevitably from non-occupied Palestinian territory. Here’s the report’s author, John Dugard:

[C]ommon sense . . . dictates that a distinction must be drawn between acts of mindless terror, such as acts committed by al-Qaida, and acts committed in the course of a war of national liberation against colonialism, apartheid or military occupation.

What about deadly acts carried out against a state that wants nothing more than to exchange land for peace? Dugard writes about this as if unaware that al-Qaida justifies the use of, say, the mentally deficient as bombs (something the Palestinians beat them to, by the way) with claims of national liberation and war against occupation.

Palestinian terrorism is in fact identical to the al-Qaida variety with respect to methodology, ideology, and public relations. Both groups target innocents as a matter of course, both are sworn to the complete annihilation of another group of people, both invoke Qur’anic principles when defending human slaughter, and both make lofty claims about liberation to certain credulous western audiences. The only thing inevitable about Islamist terror is the litany of justifications and apologies furnished by dangerous characters such as John Dugard.

SEE ALSO: John Dugard, racist (ELDER OF ZIYON)

CHUTZPAH ALERT

Iran Urges UN to Condemn Israel - Edith M. Lederer
Iran urged the UN Security Council on Wednesday to condemn Israel over Prime Minister Olmert's Jan. 14 warning that all options were on the table when it comes to keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Israeli UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman responded: "For a country whose leader describes a member state of the United Nations as a dirty microbe and a savage animal, to complain about others' statements is the height of hypocrisy," noting this was "coming from a country which is the world's major sponsor and exporter of terror." (AP)

Palestinians to report Israeli roadmap violations to US: official
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - The Palestinians will present monthly reports to the US listing any Israeli violations of the international roadmap peace blueprint, prime minister Salam Fayyad said on Wednesday.

The reports will also list measures taken by the Palestinian Authority to comply with the peace plan, he told journalists in Ramallah.

U.N. ISRAEL BASHING

UN Human Rights Commissioner a Cheerleader for Israel Bashers - Neal Sher (Los Angeles Jewish Journal)
Louise Arbour, the UN high commissioner for human rights, has been nothing short of a cheerleader for Israel bashers.  Her most recent display of animus toward the Jewish state takes the form of gushing praise for the Arab Charter on Human Rights.

While this oxymoronic document pays lip service to a laundry list of human and political rights (most of which are honored in their breach in the Arab world), it leaves no doubt in its Preamble where the Arab League stands on Israel and Jews, by "rejecting racism and Zionism, which constitute a violation of human rights and pose a threat to world peace." So sinister is Zionism, that Article I admonishes the Arab states to "endeavor to eliminate" it.

BOY LOSES LEG FROM ROCKET

Israeli Boy, Brother Injured by Rockets - Laurie Copans
An 8-year-old boy and his older brother were seriously wounded Saturday when a rocket fired by Palestinians from Gaza slammed into the Israeli town of Sderot. The younger boy's legs were at least partially severed by the explosion, Israel's Army Radio reported. His 19-year-old brother was also badly hurt. (AP)

See also Boy Injured by Palestinian Rocket Loses Leg - Shmulik Hadad

Doctors at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon were forced Sunday to amputate part of the left leg of Osher Tuito, 8, who was seriously injured in a rocket attack in Sderot on Saturday. "We are trying to keep the second leg, but it's also in bad condition," said Dr. Emil Chai, the hospital's deputy director-general. "Apart from that, he has a hole in his chest and his lungs are injured."  (Ynet News)

Osher, who dreamed of becoming a soccer player, does not know yet that he has lost one of his legs. He remains under total sedation so he doesn't suffer from severe pain. Staffers at Barzilai Medical Center were themselves traumatized by Osher's suffering, as he was conscious upon arrival at the trauma room and repeatedly screamed "Save me!" (Jerusalem Post)

See also Israel Protests to UN Over Gaza Rocket Fire (AFP)

U.S. TO BOYCOTT ANTI-ISRAEL DURBAN II MEETING

U.S. to Boycott Anti-Israel Durban II Meeting - William C. Mann
The U.S. has decided not to attend next year's follow-up to the 2001 UN World Conference on Racism because the panel seems certain to repeat anti-Semitic and anti-Israel positions of the original gathering in Durban, South Africa, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) announced in a news release. The U.S. and Israel walked out of that conference, which ended two days before 9/11. Coleman said the decision came in response to a letter he and 26 fellow senators wrote to Secretary of State Rice. (AP/MSNBC)

U.N. ENDORSES ANTI-SEMITISM

'UNHRC endorsed anti-Semitic charter' (JPost)
UN Watch has urged UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour to clarify a recent endorsement of the Arab Charter of Human Rights, which it said "contains several provisions that promote classically anti-Semitic themes."

In a letter issued Monday, the organization pointed to several phrases in the charter, such as "rejecting all forms of racism and Zionism, which constitute a violation of human rights and a threat to international peace and security," as well as "all forms of racism, Zionism and foreign occupation and domination constitute an impediment to human dignity... all such practices must be condemned and efforts must be deployed for their elimination."

The Arab Charter on Human Rights is intended to serve as a basis for the principles of freedom by which Arab nations must abide. The charter protects the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights of the people of those nations.

The Arab League initially adopted the charter in 1994, after which the document underwent several changes, but it never came into force as it was not ratified by the required number of seven member states. However, earlier this month, the United Arab Emirates became the seventh nation to approve it after Jordan, Bahrain, Algeria, Syria, Libya and the Palestinian Authority.

On January 24, Arbour released a statement in which she welcomed the ratification, which would bring the charter into effect, saying it was "an important step forward" in strengthening the enjoyment of human rights in the Arab world.

"The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is committed and stands ready to support the [states party] to the Charter in ensuring that core values of human rights are upheld," Arbour said.

The UN’s “Great Step Forward” ABE GREENWALD  (Contentions)

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour has recently endorsed the recently ratified Arab Charter of Human Rights. Arbour called the Charter “an important step forward,” and on January 24 she released a statement saying she “is committed and stands ready to support the States Parties to the Charter in ensuring that core values of human rights are upheld.”

“All forms of racism, Zionism and foreign occupation and domination constitute an impediment to human dignity . . . all such practices must be condemned and efforts must be deployed for their elimination,” says the document Arbour heartily endorses. The Charter, like the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam was created by the Arab League of States specifically to make-up for the lack of Sharia-inspired anti-Semitism in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The organization UN Watch has asked Louise Arbour to clarify her endorsement. “”We trust that Ms. Arbour was not aware of [the charter’s contents], but this must be made clear, and the responsible person in her office must be held fully accountable,” said Hillel Neuer, the body’s executive director. Neuer must be trying to shame Arbour with his feigned ignorance. Louise Arbour is a professional flatterer of tyrants and anti-Semites. Like the Human Rights commissions of her native Canada, she applies an Orwellian version of human rights promotion: the grossest violators are offered impunity under the umbrella of “Islamophobia” protection. She took the side of vengeful imams in the Danish cartoon affaird and recentlyenjoyed the company of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a Human Rights conference in Tehran. In Arbour’s universe, the ratification of this disgraceful charter is, in fact, “an important step forward” in legitimizing the institutional anti-Semitism of the Council of the Arab League of States.

Tom Lantos Is Shocked ABE GREENWALD (Contentions)

In a UN speech delivered by his daughter on the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, U.S. congressman and chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Tom Lantos (D-CA) laid into the UN for its efforts to de-legitimatize Israel, as the Jewish state faces a renewed threat to its very existence:

Two generations after the Holocaust, I never thought - I could not even have imagined - that within the structure of the United Nations there would be some who would attempt to de-legitimatize the Jewish State, the State of Israel, founded and built by the remnants of European Jewry and by the hundreds of thousands of Jews expelled from Arab lands.

The UN deserves to be hammered on this point, but Lantos’ words raise the question: why was he so ill-prepared for this revelation? It’s harder to imagine that there are some “within the structure of the United Nations” who don’t attempt to de-legitimatize Israel. TheJerusalem Post reports: “Lantos lamented the fact that the UN chamber was too often the setting for “shameless invective against Israel.” Well, it’s his fellow Democrats who seek the approval of said chamber.

Lantos added, “Just as an earlier dictator pledged to destroy the Jews of Europe, so a new one is threatening to destroy the Jewish State.” But according to prominent members of his party, Iran has been effectively deterred from waging such an attack. Moreover, after the release of December’s NIE claiming that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons development, Lantos hadthis to say:

This newest information supports what I have said all along: We need to give diplomacy with Iran more of a chance. I continue to favor dialogue between our two countries, in contrast to the Administration’s belligerent and stiff-necked refusal to talk with Tehran. And I believe we need to use every means at our disposal - economic, political and diplomatic - to persuade Iranians that peaceful development of energy options, free of any hint of military use, is well within reach.

So: which is it Tom?

U.N. CONDEMNS ISRAEL OVER GAZA

UN Human Rights Council Rebukes Israel on Gaza - Stephanie Nebehay
The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday demanded Israel lift its week-long blockade of Gaza. The 47-member council adopted a resolution presented by Arab and Muslim states by a vote of 30 in favor and one against (Canada) with 15 abstentions, and one delegation absent. Britain, France, Germany and Japan were among countries to abstain. China and Russia backed the resolution. Western countries abstained in bloc after criticizing the text as unbalanced for failing to even mention the rockets launched into Israel from Gaza by Palestinian militants. The Israeli army estimates about 250 rockets and mortar rounds have pounded Israel since last week.

U.S. Ambassador Warren Tichenor warned that the Council session and its "one-sided resolution" would only stoke tensions and erode chances for peace. "The Human Rights Council has far too often been used simply as a platform from which to single out Israel, while too often ignoring the other human rights situations. This unbalanced approach has squandered its credibility." (Reuters)

See also UN Security Council Debates Condemnation of Israel over Gaza - Michal Lando
As the UN Security Council discussed a draft presidential statement about the situation in Gaza Thursday for the third day in a row, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said the mere occupation of the council with this matter was "unjustified" and played into the hands of Hamas. "By engaging, they are rewarding terror, doing Hamas' work, and doing what Hamas wants, which is undermining Abbas and the peace process." "There is no way to balance terrorists and killers and a country trying to defend itself," he said. (Jerusalem Post)

The Case Against Moral Inversion
Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, addressed the UN Human Rights Council on Jan. 24: "It is, after all, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations, who deliberately fire rockets - over 200 in the past week alone - at innocent civilians in Sderot and other Israeli towns....It is they who reject the very notion of a distinction between combatants and civilians."

"Israel risks the lives of its own soldiers to avoid harming civilians. To Israel, causing a civilian casualty is an unintended tragedy; to Hamas, it is a cause for celebration. The world knows this. The supporters of those who fire rockets at nursery schools summoned us here to accuse Israel of violating international humanitarian law." (UN Watch)

The Enemy Within - Editorial
As always, Gazans look around, see how terrible conditions are, and point fingers. Many blame Israel. Or they blame the U.S. Or they blame Fatah, rival to Hamas. If things are to improve in Gaza, then that reflexive attitude is one of the first things that must change. Until most Gazans fix the blame for their miserable living conditions where it belongs - on their elected leaders of Hamas - Gaza will remain poised on the brink of crisis, sending rockets into Israel and then complaining bitterly when its foe retaliates.

This really isn't all that complicated. It's quiet for quiet. If the Palestinians stop lobbing rockets into Israel, there will be no retaliation. This is not a matter of the "cycle of violence." Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. That was supposed to end the "provocation" of the settlements and stop the rocket fire. But it hasn't. There's also no doubt Hamas could stop the rockets. Unfortunately, the leaders of Hamas find it to their political and economic advantage to allow their people to suffer while they smuggle arms and money from Iran and elsewhere to continue the campaign of terror against Israel.

As long as Hamas is in power, Gaza will be driven further into misery, further from the path that would lead to an independent state. For Gazans, the real enemy is within. (Chicago Tribune)

PALI MEDIA DISTORTS U.N. REMARKS

Palestinian Press modifies UN remarks (Elder of Ziyon)

The UN released a statement yesterday: Deeply concerned at the escalation of violence in Gaza, the West Bank and southern Israel, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate halt to Palestinian sniper and rocket attacks, as well as maximum restraint by the Israeli Defence Forces. But when Palestinian Press Agency reported on it, something was missing: United Nations Secretary-General expressed concern about the Israeli escalation Ban Ki-moon stressed the Secretary General of the United Nations, deeply concerned about the current escalation in the killings in Gaza and the West Bank. In a press statement issued at dawn today, deeply regretted the bloodshed and the killing and wounding of civilians in the Palestinian territories, warning of the likelihood of further victims in the case are not calm the situation in the region. Notice that this "news" agency somehow managed to overlook Ki-Moon's call for an "immediate halt" to Palestinian Arab rockets and shootings? Once again, the PalArabs show no ability to comprehend that they have any responsibilities at all - to the point that they will censor any news stories that indicate that they are responsible for their actions. Everything, and I mean everything, is 100% Israel's fault. Always.

IS U.N. LEAKING ISRAELI INTEL TO HEZBOLLAH?

UNIFIL leaks to Hizbullah worry IDF (JPost)
A day after two Katyusha rockets struck Shlomi in the Galilee, defense officials raised concerns Wednesday that information they were regularly passing on to UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) was also making its way to Hizbullah.

According to the officials, the IDF regularly updates UNIFIL and the LAF on its assessments concerning Hizbullah's military buildup in southern Lebanon.

Unconnected to those concerns, on Tuesday two 107-mm. Katyusha rockets struck Shlomi. Defense officials said that an al-Qaida-inspired Palestinian group was the prime suspect in the attack.

"This is a difficult scenario," one official in Jerusalem said. "On the one hand, we count on UNIFIL and the LAF and therefore need to update them. On the other hand, there is always a concern that the information we supply them with will fall into the wrong hands."

As a result, the IDF is constantly debating the "depth" of the information it is willing to share with UNIFIL and the LAF, out of fear that due to the Lebanese Armed Forces connection, it will find its way to Hizbullah.

SEE ALSO: UN PEACEKEEPERS LEAKING ISRAELI INTEL TO HEZBOLLAH (MereRhetoric)

LIBYA BLOCKS U.N. CENSURE OF MISSILE STRIKE ON ISRAEL

Libya Thwarts Security Council Censure of Missile Strike from Lebanon - Shlomo Shamir and Barak Ravid

Libya, which last week took over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, is hindering diplomatic efforts spearheaded by Israel to issue a resolution condemning Tuesday's Katyusha strike on the Galilee, Ha'aretz has learned. Libya also seeks to include language condemning the Israel Air Force flights over southern Lebanon in any resolution. (Ha'aretz)

Palestinian Rocket Hits Sderot Home, Wounds Four - Shmulik Hadad

Palestinians in Gaza fired five Kassam rockets at Israel Wednesday afternoon, including one that hit a house in Sderot. Four people sustained injuries, including a 17-year-old girl who suffered shrapnel wounds and a boy who was hurt while attempting to take cover. (Ynet News)

ISRAEL PROTESTS U.N. REPORT WHICH IGNORES KIDNAPPED SOLDIERS

Israel protests UN report which ignores kidnapped IDF soldiers (YNet)
The Israeli delegation to the UN protested the fact that the latest UN report on the Middle East totally overlooks the issue of IDF soldiers being held hostage in Lebanon on Wednesday. Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman passed a letter on to UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon which stated that "the international community must be aware of this grave situation especially since their condition and location are still unknown."