Tag: international community

US turns to UN to hold off ICC case against Israel

The White House is about to turn to the UN to help force a deal between Israel and the Palestinians. The development also reflects deepening pessimism over the prospect of negotiations delivering peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

After years of blocking efforts to pressure Israelis and Palestinians into accepting a lasting two-state solution, the United States is moving toward supporting a UN Security Council resolution that would call for the resumption of political talks to conclude a final peace settlement, according to Western diplomats.

The move follows Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decisive re-election Tuesday after the incumbent publicly abandoned his commitment to negotiate a Palestinian state — the basis of more than 20 years of US diplomatic efforts — and promised to continue the construction of settlements on occupied territory.

The prospect of direct negotiations appeared to evaporate with Netanyahu’s pre-election declaration that he would never allow the creation of a Palestinian state.

The comment completely reversed the Israeli leader’s previous support for an independent Palestine as part of a permanent peace deal between the two sides.

On Wednesday, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s top diplomat in the United States told Foreign Policy the Palestinians would move forward with plans to use the ICC to try to hold Israel accountable for alleged war crimes during last summer’s war in Gaza.

“The fact that we have a government in Israel publicly opposing a two-state solution just reinforces our position that this conflict must be handled by the international community,” Maen Rashid Areikat said.

The United States would actively seek guarantees from the international community to hold off on ICC activity in exchange for a Security Council resolution outlining international standards for a final peace agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians.

‘Western promotion of LGBT values a concern’

South African artist Steven Cohen
South African gay artist Steven Cohen

A senior Russian diplomat has blasted as unacceptable the ongoing attempts of Western nations to impose their values on other countries, while at the same time infringing on the socio-economic rights of their own citizens.

“The urge of Western countries to impose their neoliberal system of values on the other members of the international community as a universal basis of living can only cause concern. This is especially noticeable on the background of their aggressive promotion of the sexual minorities’ rights,” said the Foreign Ministry’s plenipotentiary for human rights, Konstantin Dolgov, while addressing the International Human Rights Forum, currently underway in Beijing.

Attempts to force other nations into accepting homosexuality and same-sex marriage as some natural social phenomenon which deserves support at a state level cannot be tolerated, Dolgov emphasized.

He added that such an approach was met with resistance not only in countries that hold to traditional values, but also those that have always had liberal attitudes to people of non-traditional orientation. He recalled the protests held in France after same sex marriage was legalized earlier this year.

In addition, Dolgov noted that the aggressive advertising of neo-liberal values is often done at the same time with frequent infringement of socio-economic rights and liberties inside the countries that pursue such politics. 

The speech was made against the backdrop of the massive international campaign against a Russian act that outlaws the promotion of non-traditional sexual relations to minors. LGBT activists around the world dubbed the act ‘the gay propaganda ban’ and called for protest measures ranging from a boycott of Russian vodka to a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi.

Russian sponsors of the ban and senior officials have repeatedly noted that the law is not discriminatory and only seeks to protect children.

The Russian Olympic Committee at some point issued a special address assuring that LGBT athletes had nothing to fear in Sochi and that people of all orientations would be welcome in Sochi as contestants and guests.

Russia has also addressed the International Olympic Committee with a request to help stop the relentless campaign of speculation and protests over the issue, noting that LGBT activists often distort the meaning of the Russian law in their addresses.

In a recent TV interview, President Vladimir Putin also described the ban as non-discriminatory and said he was ready to meet with leaders of the LGBT community to discuss their problems, but had not yet received any suggestions.

The ban on the promotion of non-traditional sex to children has also caused some protests and a great deal of public discussion inside Russia. However, the majority of Russians support it. In March this year, the Levada public opinion center released the results of the poll that said that about 85 percent of adult Russians were strongly against same sex marriage and 87 percent oppose the idea of gay pride events in their cities. – RT