After
Gaza Meeting,
Palestine
Tells ICP
Observer State
Would "Open
Door" to ICC
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 14 --
After the
closed door
Gaza meeting
of the UN
Security
Council late
Wednesday,
both
Palestine's
Riyad Mansour
and
Israel's Ron
Prosor spoke
to the press
again, as they
had in the
afternoon.
What was
changed, by
this 9 pm
"urgent"
meeting?
A
Security
Council
diplomat
exiting the
meeting told
Inner City
Press
it was
"useless,"
that the
United States
would "never
agree to a
statement."
Other
Ambassadors
were more
upbeat, at
least on the
record. Both
Russia's
Vitaly Churkin
and India's
Hardeep Singh
Puri said they
hoped the
closed door
session would
send a message
and
de-escalate
things. But
how?
Inner
City Press
asked Riyad
Mansour if the
draft
resolution to
upgrade
Palestine's
status at the
UN to that of
Observer State
would allow
referral of
cases to the
International
Criminal
Court. He
replied
that it would
open many
doors.
Here is
Palestine's
draft
resolution to
become a
non-member
State of the
UN.
Earlier, Egypt
made the
first
request for a
Security
Council
meeting on
Gaza. Inner
City Press has
obtained Egypt's
letter.
Palestine,
after a first
letter that
did not
request a
meeting,
requested one
and brought
representatives
of other Arab
states. In the
first
stakeout,
including
Lebanon,
Sudan,
Djibouti and
others,
expanding in
the second
stakeout to
include
Algeria, Saudi
Arabia, Libya
and others.
Some
found the ICC
question
ironic, in
that Sudan is
a vocal
opponent of
the ICC and
referrals to
it.
When
Israel's Ron
Prosor came to
speak, Inner
City Press
asked him the
same question,
whether the
status
Palestine
seeks would
bring the ICC
with it.
Prosor's
response was
about Hamas
being a
terrorist
entity.
He said NMS,
Non Member
States, should
be switched to
NMTS, Non
Member
Terrorist
State.
By the same
token, it was
ironic when
Israel said no
country would
accept being
bombed -- when
Sudan accuses
Israel of
bombing the
Yarmouk
facility in
Khartoum.
Mansour
said
if Israel
continues
attacks, more
"products"
will be
presented to
the Security
Council,
including a
resolution.
But US
opposition
seems certain.
Watch this
site.
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