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."