At UN, No Council Statement on Gaza Blockade, Which Libya Calls Attempt at Genocide

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, January 22 -- No statement about the blockade of the Gaza Strip was announced by the Security Council, after more  than six hours of debate. The public session ended with Israel's representative taking this month's Council president, Giadalla Ettalhi of Libya, to task for using the word "genocide." Ambassador Ettalhi's quote, available here at Minute 2:16:52, was that the Council should "protect them from attempts at genocide by the occupying authority, I'm sorry, I couldn't find anything to describe this." Afterwards, the Libyan ambassador was asked for his reaction to the Israeli's statement. I don't care what Israel says, was the response, but only what they do.

            In terms of deeds, Council sources tell Inner City Press that "thirteen and a half" Council members wanted some form of statement to issue on Tuesday. The half, they say, is the United Kingdom, though some ascribe this to the absence from negotiations of UK's Permanent Representative. Then again, when he was asking on Monday morning, after a weekend of no lights or power on the Gaza Strip, UK Ambassador Sawers said the issue could wait until Wednesday and the then-scheduled general purpose debate on the Middle East. Now that session has been postponed to January 30, at which time, the Libyan Council president says, the complicated issues of Gaza can be considered.

            The "one" in the one and a half is the hyper-power itself, the United States. At the close of Council business on Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative Alejandro Wolff spoke at length in the hallway with his Israeli counterpart. Afterwards, Amb. Wolff told Inner City Press that Permanent Representative Zalmay Khalilzad was back at the U.S. Mission, preparing for his appearance Thursday in the U.S. Senate about the UN Development Program's dealings with North Korea's Kim Jong Il.

            Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, before he flew to Geneva on Monday, put in calls to Israel and Egypt. He also, as confirmed by his spokesperson on Tuesday, did not respond affirmatively to a meeting request from the Permanent Observer of the League of Arab States, Yahya Mahmassani. It was just a scheduling problem, the spokesperson assured. When asked why he hadn't called any Palestinian party, she said that it is Israel and Egypt which control the border crossings to Gaza.

            On the use of the word genocide, there was no time to asked Council president Ettalhi if, like some commentators, he would apply the word to some of the ethically-based killings in Kenya, or to the clan-based killings in Somalia. When questioned about his comments on Israel Tuesday, Ambassador Ettalhi said his statement on genocide had been very clear. We'll see.

Name plate to be changed to JPMorgan Chase

Tony-less in Gaza: And again we ask, where is Tony Blair, the Quartet's representative? In this week of chaos in the zone he's purportedly focused on, Blair instead preached to Canada to not let the deaths of its peacekeepers in Afghanistan undermine their participation in the military effort there. Was he perhaps also doing business for JPMorgan Chase, his new $1 million employer? Click here for Inner City Press' story.

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These reports are also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

  Because a number of Inner City Press' UN sources go out of their way to express commitment to serving the poor, and while it should be unnecessary, Inner City Press is compelled to conclude this installment in a necessarily-ongoing series by saluting the stated goals of the UN agencies and many of their staff. Keep those cards, letters and emails coming, and phone calls too, we apologize for any phone tag, but please continue trying, and keep the information flowing.

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Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

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