The UN has been marking as a day of mourning the day on which it recommended partition of Palestine into a Jewish and an Arab state.
The UN is currently marking the historic date of November 29 1947, the day in which it approved the partition plan separating Israel into two states – Jewish and Arabic.
But while in Israel the date is celebratory, as it marks the end of the British mandate and the beginning of independent rule, the UN headquarters in New York and Geneva are holding ceremonies of mourning and solidarity with the Palestinian people.
The General Assembly in New York has embarked on a two-day marathon of anti-Israeli debates and votes, during which it plans to focus on the promotion of the Palestinian issue. Hearings will be held on subjects such as sovereignty over Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.
Israel has traditionally boycotted the debates due to their one-sidedness, but in recent years has changed its tune. Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev, is scheduled to speak before the assembly Tuesday and condemn the UN tradition of memorializing the date on which Israel was given a state as a day of mourning.
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The special debates are scheduled to begin Monday evening, and resolutions will be approved on the following day. Each year six of the 20 annual anti-Israel resolutions are passed by the November 29 assembly.
In addition, the UN will hold ceremonies and exhibitions on the Palestinian people and show a film on the subject.
Need I say any more?
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
5:58PM: Terrorist Samir Kuntar has some words of advice for the terrorists who captured Gilad Shalit: Don’t worry, Israel will cave in.
Samir Kuntar, the Lebanese who murdered the Haran family in Nahariya and was later released from Israeli prison in exchange for the bodies of captured soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, learned from his own experience just how much Israel is willing to pay for the return of its captured soldiers.
He assured the Palestinians that Israel will ultimately capitulate to the demands being put forth by the organizations holding captured soldier, Gilad Shalit.
Kuntar, who made the hajj to Mecca, spoke with an Islamic Jihad online reporter in Saudi Arabia: “The prisoner swap deal will be an honorable deal. The enemy’s government will consent to the names demanded by the resistance organizations and to the number of prisoners. But the organizations need to stand their ground, be insistent, and not agree to any concession because concessions will draw additional concessions.”
Kuntar addressed the prisoners currently jailed in Israel with a recommendation that they be patient. “I spent 30 years in jail, and I ultimately got to see freedom,” he said.
Someone really needs to take him out (And I don’t mean to a restaurant).
And speaking of eating, here is a picture of Kuntar today.
And here he is while in an Israeli prison.
I’d say he was better fed by Israel.
3:00PM: From the Jerusalem Post.
Yep, looks pretty frozen to me.
12:25PM: The Chinese think more dialogue, not sanctions, is needed to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, after Teheran announced Sunday that it plans to build 10 more uranium enrichment facilities.
That’s just prain ridicurous.
12:15PM: When they are not refusing to condemn anti Semitic blood libels, the Swedes are presenting draft resolutions stating that Jerusalem should be divided and that the eastern part of the city should serve as the capital of a future palestinian state.
Needless to say, Israel’s pissed.
Israel on Tuesday slammed a Swedish proposal to recognize east Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine. “The move being led by Stockholm damages the European Union’s ability to take part and be a significant element in the mediation efforts between Israel and the Palestinians,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy.
“The Europeans must pressure the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table. Such moves like the one being led by Sweden lead to the opposite outcome,” Levy said in response to a report by Haaretz newspaper that Sweden was working to change the EU’s stated policy.
If only they’d stick to meatballs.
6:52AM: Surgeon-General’s warning: Handling explosives in your car may prove hazardous to your health.
A car exploded in the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing a militant and wounding two, witnesses and medical workers said.
The blast was caused by explosives within the car, according to Health Ministry official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain.
The incident, in the Shati refugee camp next to Gaza City, appeared to be an accident involving militants. However, witnesses said Israeli warplanes were flying overhead at the time.
An Israeli military spokeswoman denied Israel was involved, saying “there was no Israeli army activity in the area” in the Hamas-ruled enclave at the time of the blast.
Did I mention the terrorists-cum-french-fries were not Hamasholes, but rather members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of “moderate” Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah?
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades of Fatah said one of its members was killed and another was wounded. But no militant group accused Israel of staging an attack, and media reports said the blast may have been an accidental explosion of ammunition inside the vehicle.
5:55AM: Head Hamashole Ismail Haniyeh is interviewed by Al Jazeera. Amongst other things, he states that Hamas is about to kick off an investigation into possible war crimes – pursuant to the Goldstone report – to find out “the truth about some of the misconduct that may have happended as a result of confusion during the war” (quite the comedian, no?), and indicates he is emboldened by private visits by European parliamentarians (including from governments hiding this fact from the media) and other dignitaries.
5:42AM: Gaza’s Hamas government has approved a legal change that will allow for the execution of convicted drug dealers.
