By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 18, more
here --
After
seven-year UN
envoy Robert
Serry briefed
the UN
Security
Council on
August 18,
Inner City
Press asked
him if he is
leaving his
position in
October. Video
here.
Serry shook
his head, said
it is between
him and Ban
Ki-moon.
Inner City
Press asked
about Ban's
stated
five-year rule
for staying in
a UN post.
Serry replied
if that were a
rule, he would
be in
violation. So
it is not a rule.
But still:
October,
contract
expiring?
On the
destroyed and
damaged UNRWA
schools, Inner
City Press
asked Serry if
there will be
a UN Board of
Inquiry as in
2009. Serry
said that too
will be up to
Ban.
In the UN
General
Assembly
meeting about
Gaza on August
6, Ban said
"attacks
against UN
premises,
along with
other
suspected
breaches of
international
law, must be
swiftly
investigated."
So in the 12
days between
the two
statements,
has anything
been done? In
2009, Ban was
lobbied about
his
cover-letter
to the previous
board of
inquiry report
by Ian Martin;
now in 2014,
as it made up
for it, he
accepted free
private jet
travel from
Qatar, with
its stake and
position in
the conflict.
Neither is
acceptable.
On
the latter,
Israel's
Ambassador Ron
Prosor came
out of the
Council after
Serry's public
briefing and
said, among
other things,
that Qatar has
bought campuses
of six universities,
Harrod's and
the PSG
football club.
He cited the
2022 World
Cup, but did
not mention
Ban accepting
the
Qatar-funded
private jet.
He passed out
a flier, "Captured
Hamas Combat
Manuel," which
Inner City
Press put
online here.
Back
on August 6 at
the UN noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq if
Ban would at
least set up a
Board of
Inquiry as was
done in 2009.
(Inner City
Press first
published the
cover-letter,
here.)
Haq wouldn't
say if a Board
of Inquiry
would be set
up; he called
the decision
an internal
one. Video
here and
embedded
below. But
Wikileaks
released documents
showing that
Ban allowed
himself to be
lobbied about
the 2009 Board
of Inquiry
report by Ian
Martin,
including on
what should go
in "his" cover
letter. See
here. And
this time?
Update:
UN staff have
written to
Ban, the GA
President and
this month's
Security
Council
president,
Mark Lyall
Grant of the
UK, asking for
accountability.
The letter is here.
We hope to
have more on
this.
In the August
6 UNGA meeting
on Gaza, the
UN's
coordinator on
the Middle
East Peace
Process Robert
Serry this
process “may
also need
action by the
Membership,
including the
Security
Council, at
the
appropriate
time.”
As the meeting
began, a
Permanent
Representative
who has
previously
complained of
General
Assembly
inaction on
Gaza now noted
that no
outcome was
even proposed
to the GA
meeting, "just
talk."
An hour before
the belated
General
Assembly
meeting began,
a closed-door
consultation
was called on
the
Jordan-drafted
proposed
Security
Council
resolution, at
the level
(mostly) of
Permanent
Representative.
The day before
on August 5 it
was said that
this draft is
already "in
blue" --
strange, if it
is still being
negotiated.
But in front
of the General
Assembly on
August 6, an
African
diplomat told
Inner City
Press that the
resolution was
put "in blue"
precisely in
order to block
any General
Assembly
action. When
the Security
Council is
seized of a
matter, he
said, the
General
Assembly
cannot act.
So what is
going on in
this ping-pong
between UN
Security
Council and UN
General
Assembly,
while UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon has
still not
corrected his
August 1
statement that
an Israeli
Defense Forces
solider was
"captive" of
Hamas, now
that the IDF
said he was
killed in
action? Watch
this site.
On
August 1 at
noon in New
York, UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
through his
spokesman said
that an
Israeli
Defense Forces
soldier had
been taken
captive and
that this
called "into
question the
credibility of
Hamas'
assurances to
the United
Nations. The
Secretary-General
demands the
immediate and
unconditional
release of the
captured
soldier."
Later on
August 1, a
range of UN
officials
described to
Inner City
Press the
pressure put
on Ban to rule
that Hamas
broke the
ceasefire and
held captive
an IDF
soldier.
"How does he
know?" one UN
official
demanded.
On August 2,
the IDF said
that the
soldier, Hadar
Goldin, "was
killed in
action."
So on August
4, with no
correction
issued by the
UN, Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
associate
spokesperson
Vannina
Maestracci if
there would be
any
correction,
since Ban's
statement was
used --
Maestracci cut
off the
question, "let
me stop you
right there,"
and said that
the UN tried
to get things
right with
fast moving
events. Video
here, and
embedded
below.
Fine - but
when as here
the UN was
wrong, aren't
they supposed
to correct it?
Maestracci's
colleagues
have
repeatedly
said that they
correct the
record when
necessary. Is
that the case?
What about
this case?
Watch this
site.
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