| Gotta love this ... how the h*** did Syria get a position on the Security Council, anyway?
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria on Friday equated the
Sept. 11 attacks against the World Trade Center with Israel's
demolition of Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip, drawing
immediate criticism from the United States.
In his debut speech as a new U.N. Security Council member,
Syrian representative Fayssal Mekdad said the 15-member
body practiced a double standard in denouncing terrorism
around the world but avoiding condemnation of Israel.
"We must note the scene of tens of Palestinian houses which
were demolished by Israeli tanks in the Rafah camps a few
days ago is not much different from the scene of the World
Trade Center which was destroyed by the terrorists, whom
we have all agreed here to combat and eliminate," Mekdad
said.
The Israeli military last week demolished dozens of houses the
southern Gaza Strip, saying the buildings had been abandoned
and were being used as cover for gunmen. The International
Committee of the Red Cross said some 600 people were left
homeless in the Rafah refugee camp.
A U.S. official told reporters that "the idea of equating the
destruction of the World Trade Center and the demolition of
homes that has been going on in the territories is
outrageous."
"It's really unfortunate the Syrians took this opportunity of an
open meeting on counterterrorism to make what we saw as
an outrageous speech. This is not the kind of speech we
would expect to come from a responsible member of the
Security Council," the official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
The Syrian delegate, a senior counselor in his U.N. mission,
was addressing a Security Council debate on terrorism reports
that his country and others had submitted on how they were
combating threats in their respective countries.
Syria was elected late last year as a non-permanent member
of the 15-nation Security Council for a two-year term that
began this month.
In his address to the council, Mekdad condemned the Sept.
11 attacks on the United States but said "foreign occupation
is the most brutal form of terrorism."
"Therefore, resisting such foreign occupation, particularly the
Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, is a legitimate form
of struggle," he said.
Israel's "daily acts" against Palestinians are a "war crime that
requires us to bring its perpetrators to justice," Mekdad said.
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It's going to be a long two years. I don't envy our envoy to the U.N. at the moment, since they're going to be forced to listen to a lot more of this probably nonstop until Syria's term on the Council expires.
It would have been fun to put both Israel and Syria on the Council, though. It might make international politics (the kind the U.N. practices, anyway) a little less boring.
--Phoenix Rising |
