CAABU Condemns the US Veto of UN Resolution on Palestine
The Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding ''CAABU'' condemned the United States' veto and Britain's' abstention of the proposed United Nations Security Council Resolution over the weekend, says a press release published Monday in London.
This is the third failed attempt in a year by the UN to establish a monitoring force in the Occupied Territories and the second time in a year that the US has vetoed the Security Council draft Resolution.
The Resolution received support from 12 members of the Council while Norway and Britain abstained. It is the third time that the UK has failed to support such a proposal.
This is the 24th time that the US has used its veto on the question of Palestine, and the 35th time on the Middle East - more than any other member of the Security Council, says CAABU.
The US has clearly showed contempt for the Security Council and its role as an international body, CAABU says.
The Resolution also called for the "resumption of negotiations," "demands the immediate cessation of all acts of violence," "condemns all acts of terror...extra-judicial executions äandÐ excessive use of force and wide destruction of property."
according to CAABU, the US veto can only act as another green light to Ariel Sharon to continue using F-16 jets, Apache helicopters, tanks and ground forces against a civilian population.
Since 29th September 2000, over 1,000 people have died, over 800 of whom have been Palestinians, while Israel has shown a flagrant disregard for human rights. UN observers or monitoring forces had been supported by a plethora of human rights groups and NGO's and International Bodies, including the UN High Commission on Human Rights, Mary Robinson, the G-8 Summit, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
The establishment of a UN monitoring presence in the region is a concrete and positive step that the International community could take, the body says.
CAABU deeply regrets that the US has prevented this step from being taken and continued in its support for Sharon's actions. The result is that the region remains in deep chaos and the only outcome will be yet more deaths.