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By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR Letter PFTracker

UNITED NATIONS GATE, February 1 – On the United States' draft UN resolution to condemn Hamas, going into the Security Council meeting there was a Bolivian amendment. But after an hour's delay, the amendment was withdrawn and a vote held on whether to require a two thirds majority on the US draft. Now gone US Ambassador Nikki Haley opposed this, but it passed, 75-72-28. Now on February 1, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres through his spokesman Stephane Dujarric who refuses Press questions has said, "The Secretary-General noted the joint statement issued by the Foreign Ministers of Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey following Israel’s decision not to renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), established pursuant to the provisions of the 1995 Interim Agreement (Oslo II Accord) between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).  He is grateful to the TIPH’s contributing countries and the service of their respective observers over the past 22 years. He further hopes that an agreement can be found by the parties to preserve the TIPH’s long-standing and valuable contribution to conflict prevention and the protection of Palestinians in Hebron.     The Secretary-General continues to engage with relevant Member States and the parties on the ground to ensure the protection, safety, and wellbeing of civilians. He reiterates his commitment to the two-state solution and to safeguarding the principles and vision enshrined in the Oslo framework, relevant United Nations resolutions, and other applicable agreements.     Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General  New York, 1 February 2019." Dujaric and Guterres had Inner City Press roughed up by UN Security on 3 July 2018 and banned 212 days since. Despite Dujarric's on camera promise to answer, he has refused including on why Guterres skipped the January 26 human rights meeting in the UNSC on Venezuela, unanswerd questions here. On January 14, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who more and more issues no read outs much less disclosing such conflicts of interest as his paid board position on his forms covering 2016 with the Gulbenkian Foundation which tried to sell its Partex Oil to UN briber CEFC China Energy has issued this empty read out: "The Secretary-General met today with H.E. Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine.     The Secretary-General congratulated the State of Palestine for assuming the Chairmanship of the G-77. He expressed his wishes for a successful year for the Group.     The Secretary-General reiterated that the two-state solution is the only viable option to sustainable peace." What about the other meetings? Inner City Press has asked: "January 8-8: Please provide read-outs of the following SG public appointments on Jan 4: 10:25 a.m. Professor Anna Tibaijuka, Member of Parliament for Muleba South, United Republic of Tanzania 10:45 a.m.  Meeting with H.E. Mr. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, President, Leaders for Peace, and Members of Leaders for Peace 12:15 p.m. H.E. Mr. Aurélien Agbenonci, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Benin 12:45 p.m. and prospectively H.E. Mr. Matteo Renzi, Senator and Former Prime Minister of Italy - or state why no read outs are being provided." But days later, no answer, despite Spokesman Stephane Dujarric's on-camera promise. On December 26, after Inner City Press submitted a Palestine question to the Office of the Spokesperson for absent UNSG Antonio Guterres without any answer, the Israeli Mission issued this: "In anticipation of the upcoming Security Council debate on the ?Situation in the Middle East, the Palestinians are expected to initiate an application for full state membership at the United Nations.

Ambassador Danon: "We are preparing to stop the initiative. The Palestinians pay terrorists and encourage violence yet seek to become a member state of the United Nations."
Today, the Palestinian Authority's (PA) Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, announced that the Palestinians would appeal to the United Nations ?Security Council to gain recognition as a full member state of the United Nations. The request has emerged against the backdrop of the Security Council's quarterly discussion on the Situation in the Middle East, which is expected to take place on 15 January 2019, and focus primarily on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In response to the PA's announcement, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said that he is preparing to block the Palestinian initiative in cooperation with the United States delegation. "Even as it continues to pay salaries to terrorists every month, encourage violence and lead an unrelenting campaign of incitement against Israel, the Palestinian Authority has the audacity to ask the Security Council to recognize it as a full member state of the United Nations." At noon on December 26, Inner City Press asked the UN: "December 26-9: What is the SG's comment (and action if any) on this “Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki declared on Wednesday that Palestine would apply for full state membership at the United Nations in January.Mr Al-Malki told the official radio station Voice of Palestine that he would file the application to upgrade Palestine's status from an observer state to a full member state to the UN Security Council.”
The questions were emailed by banned Inner City Press, pursuant to USG @Alison_Smale's promise to UNSR @DavidAKaye they would be answered, also to, among others, Amina Mohammed, Marcia Soares Pinto, Keishamaza Rukikaire, Hua Jiang (who refers to Hak-Fan Lau, Mita Hosali, Joachim Harris and Lydia Lobenthal) and Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, who refers to Arnab Roy and Eihab Omaish - as well as the Guterres' own email. No answers more than five hours later, including on the UN Public Financial Disclosure omissions by Guterres. We will be reporting on this, from the UN Gate if necessary. Back on December 6 after the vote, Saudi Arabia spoke, as if it had already voted against the US resolution (not mention of Jamal Khashoggi or Yemen, of course). With the new threshold, the US draft failed, 87 yes, 58 no and 33 abstentions. There was some applause in the UNGA hall. (Some didn't vote at all, including with one vote to go Burundi, Togo and Chad, in the news for UN bribery, offers of weapons for oil that Antonio Guterres has not even audited or dis-accrediting, while having banned Inner City Press 155 days and counting). Finally a draft by Ireland, running for a UN Security Council seat against Norway and Canada, passed 155 yes, five no, 12 abstaining. And so it goes at the UN. On November 13 after the UNSC meeting those two countries' Ambassadors along with the State of Palestine's Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour took two questions at the stakeout that Inner City Press was banned from for the 132nd day by UNSC Antonio Guterres. Kuwait's Mansour Al-Otaibi said that most Council members would like to travel to the region. Palestine's Mansour cited a three kilometer incursion into the Gaza Strip by Israeli military men, some dressed in women's clothes. The first question went to Al Jazeera English, which worked with Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric to get Inner City Press roughed up by UN Security June 22 and July 3 then banned since, all the while marketing that Journalism Is Not A Crime. The question, responded to by Bolivia's Sacha Llorenti, was about Jared Kushner. And then it was over. Earlier at 3:30 pm, Israel's Ambassador Danny Danon spoke to (some) reporters at the Council stakeout position. Inner City Press, which has covered this issue for a decade at the UN, was banned from entering the UN to cover this meeting, by Antonio Guterres who is out of town, this time in DC but without meeting with a single Administration official but attending a predatory investor's award ceremony. This is today's UN. Israel's Mission provided this: "Every time Hamas shoots a rocket - children at school, adults at work, families all over the country hear this" Danon said to the sound of the "red alert" air raid siren playing from a phone. "Think of the children running fearfully into bomb shelters," he continued. "Certain morally bankrupt members of the Security Council will jump to blame Israel, and others who pretend to be objective will call for restraint on both sides. But let me be clear: there is no 'both sides'. There is Hamas that attacks and fires over 460 missiles at civilians, and there is Israel that protects its people. The Security Council must condemn Hamas for its aggressive assault and finally designate it as a terrorist organization," Danon said. Palestine has written to the absent Guterres, including "On 11 November, an Israeli military so-called “undercover unit”, using a civilian car and dressed as civilians, in violation of the principle of distinction, entered 3km (2 miles) inside the Gaza Strip. invading east of Khan Younis city in the southern Gaza Strip and killing seven Palestinians. This attack has stoked high tensions and provoked yet another cycle of violence between the two sides that risks further escalation and destabilization, jeopardizing the lives of millions of innocent civilians. Since yesterday, Israel, the occupying power, has been carrying out large-scale assault against civilian areas in the Gaza Strip. These air strikes constitute the most intense military raids and attacks since 2014. Six more Palestinians were killed as a result of the bombing of numerous civilian properties, including a hotel building and a television station building that were targeted and destroyed by the occupying forces." Back in June, 12 days after Kuwait's draft UN Security Council resolution was vetoed by the US, on June 13 an essentially identical draft was adopted in the UN General Assembly with 120 in favor, eight against and 45 abstaining. But what did it accomplish? Now on November 12, this from the Israeli Mission: "Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, appealed to the Security Council Tuesday to condemn the firing of hundreds of rockets at Israel. In his letter to the Council's members, the ambassador noted that 'after a day of rocket barrages, there is no room for any other definition of Hamas except that of terrorist organization. To the world it presents its civilians as victims, but then uses them as human shields.' The ambassador added that 'Israel cooperated with all international bodies, including the UN, but the aggressive escalation from Gaza indicates that there are elements pushing for another round of violence that will cause destruction and losses within the Gaza Strip.'" UNSG Antonio Guterres, just off his 16th junket to Lisbon was in Paris for two speeches. Al Jazeera flew its correspondent who worked with Guterres' Stephne Dujarric to get Inner City Press roughed up June 22 and July 3 and banned since to Paris, where he put out this breaking/broken news: Guterres called the situation in Gaza "very serious." Later the UN issued this: " The Secretary-General is following closely the latest security developments in Gaza. He urges all parties to exercise maximum restraint. The United Nations Special Coordinator, Nickolay Mladenov, is working closely with Egypt and all concerned parties to restore calm.Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General New York, 12 November 2018." The same Farhan Haq who did not answer a single one of the six questions Inner City Press submitted in writing at noon on November 12 - while his boss Dujarric reached out selectively to Europe to defends the ban of Inner City Press...  

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