UN probes Israeli settlements
March 23, 2012
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) voted on Thursday overwhelmingly in favor of an investigation into the expansion of Israeli settlements in the Palestinian West Bank territory.
The text of the resolution, introduced by Pakistan on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), condemned Israel's planned construction of new housing units for Jewish settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, saying they undermined the peace process.
"In violation of international humanitarian and human rights law, Israel is continuing construction of illegal settlements in the occupied territories including East Jerusalem," Pakistan's ambassador Zamir Akram said.
The resolution also called for Israel to confiscate arms from Jewish settlers and to enforce criminal sanctions to protect Palestinian civilians and properties in the territory. The council said three investigators would be named at a later date.
The 47-member council adopted the resolution with 36 states voting in favor, including China and Russia. Ten states abstained, among them Italy and Spain. The US was the only country to vote against the resolution.
'Hypocritical'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the resolution was "hypocritical" and that the council was "hostile" toward the Jewish state.
"Until today, the council has made 91 decisions, 39 of which dealt with Israel, three with Syria and one with Iran," said Netanyahu in a release issued by his office.
"One only had to hear the Syrian representative speak today about human rights in order to understand how detached from reality the council is," he added.
The Palestinians, meanwhile, called the UNHCR resolution a "new victory" for their cause.
"This position sends a message from the international community to Israel that settlements are illegal and must totally stop," Nabil Abu Rudeina, the spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told the news agency AFP.
The US expressed concern over what it called the council's "disproportionate focus on Israel" while reiterating its opposition to the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
"The US position on settlements is clear and has not changed: we do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," US political counselor Charles O. Blaha told the council. "The status quo is not sustainable for either the Israelis or the Palestinians."
More than 310,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and another 200,000 people live in a dozen settlement neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
slk/pfd (AFP, Reuters, dpa)