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Tag: united nations

  • Goh Meng Seng: Supporters Of Israeli Nationhood Must Not Blindly Support Its Oppressive Anti-Palestine, Apartheid Policy

    Goh Meng Seng: Supporters Of Israeli Nationhood Must Not Blindly Support Its Oppressive Anti-Palestine, Apartheid Policy

    I had sent my response to TRE with regards to an article written by Philip Ong but they actually didn’t publish it! Well, cannot expect anything else when the mind is bias.

    People who “support Israel” really has an emotionally charged mind fill with religious rhetoric . No wonder Karl Marx said “Religion is the Opium of people”! It numbs the minds of people, giving them fantasies and weird logic. They can justify anything under the Sun, regardless whether it is logical to the human mind, just or unjust or otherwise.

    It just electrifies them when something just touches on Israel, never mind what you say, you don’t support Israel, you are my enemy!

    All sound and logical reasoning just fallen on deaf ears. Even when we are just asking for a reasonable stance from Israel, stop the atrocities in Palestine, stop the illegal settlements, establish the Two-States structure… not even wanting Israel to be wiped off or destroyed!

    I am personally considered a “religious man” in any sense but never will I subject myself to totally illogical religious fanaticism. Anything I believe, must make HUMAN logical sense, though it is about Buddha, Gods and Goddess, it must still make HUMAN sense to me. And it must be just, fair and peaceful to all.

    In all honesty, I feel strange for anyone to support a group of people who basically rob land and declare nationhood. Yes, they bought the land initially, but no, buying the land is not equal to buying sovereignty. Else, Singapore will be in great trouble because lots of foreigners on our land bought land and properties! Will we agree to them declaring Nationhood just because they paid for the land?

    Israel, to me, is built upon less than honorable and legitimate way. But that could be excused because I empathize with their plight from WWII Holocaust and they will need a permanent land and country of their own. In all pragmatic terms, the situation is set. Israel is set to be here on Earth.

    But instead of being grateful and empathetic to the Palestinians’ emotional backlash, they became aggressive, greedy and inhumane. As the Chinese saying goes, giving them an inch, they want the whole foot. That’s the Zionist style. It is totally unacceptable and immoral to me.

    The emotional backlash by the Palestinians may or may not be invoked by religious differences because any human being, would be disgusted and felt repulsive if foreign migrants just came in and declare the land belongs to them and they will become the ruler of the land! That’s totally human nature and you do not need any religious spikes to ignite that knee jerk reactions.

    The sad part is, many religiously zealous people, failed to see the human side of things but overly engrossed in their religious belief.

    I guess most residents of this World, just want peace and sick of all silly atrocities and politics of hatred. There are 140 countries which supported the Two-States resolution and UN has passed the resolution in condemning Israel’s continual oppression and land grab in Palestine. This is not some “fake news” or anything, but pure facts of the day. Wake up, my friends. Wake up. Supporting Israel’s Nationhood should not be translated into the support of its continual oppression of the Palestinians, apartheid rule and illegal land grab!

     

    Source: Goh Meng Seng

  • Mohamed Jufrie Mahmood: Singapore Must Walk The Talk, Insist Israel Respect International Law

    Mohamed Jufrie Mahmood: Singapore Must Walk The Talk, Insist Israel Respect International Law

    LHL DOES NOT CARE AND IS NOT SENSITIVE TO THE FEELINGS OF A SIZEABLE SECTION OF OUR POPULATION.
    THIS IS HOW POTENT THE ISRAELI POISON HAS BEEN. THERE IS A WIDE AND DISTINCT DIVIDE BETWEEN MALAY MUSLIMS AND OTHER SINGAPOREANS ON HOW THE ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN CONFLICT IS LOOKED AT.

    TO MANY IT IS PERFECTLY ALRIGHT TO CLOSE BOTH THEIR EYES TO THE LAND GRABS AND ATROCITIES PERPETRATED BY ISRAEL FOR THE PAST FIVE DECADES JUST BECAUSE THEY HAD SUPPOSEDLY HELPED US BUILD UP OUR ARMED FORCES.

    PAP LEADERS HAVE ALWAYS SAID THAT AS A SMALL STATE SINGAPORE MUST ALWAYS INSIST THAT COUNTRIES ALWAYS ABIDE BY THE RULE OF LAW.

    ISRAEL HAS DEFIED THIS PRINCIPLE ALL THE WAY. AND THE PAP IS OK WITH THAT. DOUBLE STANDARDS, NO?
    THEY TALK ABOUT BEING UNITED, THE IMPORTANCE OF UNITY AMONG THE RACES. HOW CAN THERE BE UNITY IF THEIR ATTITUDE IS SO MANIFESTLY DIVISIVE?

     

    Source: Mohamed Jufrie Mahmood

  • 3 Myanmar Police Officers Found Guilty Of Abusing Rohingya Civilians, Sentenced To 2 Months Detention

    3 Myanmar Police Officers Found Guilty Of Abusing Rohingya Civilians, Sentenced To 2 Months Detention

    YANGON —  Three police officers have been sentenced to two months detention over a video showing them abusing Rohingya civilians, security sources told AFP on Wednesday (Feb 8), saying those involved had “no intention” to cause harm.

    Authorities detained several officers last month for beating Rohingya villagers during operations in the north of Rakhine state, where security forces are hunting militants behind raids on border posts.

    Nearly 70,000 Rohingya have fled to camps in southern Bangladesh since the lockdown started four months ago, bringing horrific stories of mass rape, murder, torture and arson.

    A UN report released on Friday based on interviews with escapees said hundreds of people have likely been killed in a “calculated policy of terror” that may amount to ethnic cleansing.

    Despite the mounting evidence, Myanmar’s government has largely dismissed allegations of widespread abuses against the Muslim minority, who most in the country consider a group of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.

    The beating video, which appeared online in Dec, was a rare exception where authorities have taken action.

    The footage showed police hitting a young boy around the head as he walked to where dozens of villagers were lined up in rows seated on the ground, hands behind their heads.

    Several officers in uniform then start attacking one of the sitting men, beating him with a stick and kicking him repeatedly in the face.

    Three junior police were handed down two month sentences over the video, police sources told AFP, including the officer who filmed it previously named as Zaw Myo Htike by state media.

    However the officers are not serving their time in a civilian prison, but instead in a jail for police.

    Three senior police including a major were also demoted and their service terms were reduced for failing to enforce discipline.

    “They didn’t have any intention to hurt them,” a senior police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the treatment of the Rohingya villagers.

    “During the operation, villagers said abusive words to security forces… such action was taken because they failed to follow police procedure.”

    A local police officer in Maungdaw also confirmed the officers were sentenced last month, blaming the events on the stress of working in northern Rakhine.

    “Police are dealing with many pressures on the ground and we have to risk our lives dealing with terrorists,” he said.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Benjamin Netanyahu ‘Told New Zealand Backing UN Vote Would Be Declaration Of War’

    Benjamin Netanyahu ‘Told New Zealand Backing UN Vote Would Be Declaration Of War’

    Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told New Zealand’s foreign minister that support for a UN resolution condemning Israeli settlement-building in the occupied territories would be viewed as a “declaration of war”.

    According to reports in Israeli media, the Israeli PM called Murray McCully, the foreign minister of New Zealand, before Friday’s resolution, which was co-sponsored by Wellington. Netanyahu told him: “This is a scandalous decision. I’m asking that you not support it and not promote it.

    “If you continue to promote this resolution, from our point of view it will be a declaration of war. It will rupture the relations and there will be consequences. We’ll recall our ambassador [from New Zealand] to Jerusalem.”

    McCully, however, refused to back down, telling Netanyahu: “This resolution conforms to our policy and we will move it forward.”

    A western diplomat confirmed that the call took place and described the conversation as “harsh”.

    The details of the call – disclosed in Haaretz – suggest a mounting sense of panic on the part of Netanyahu in the run-up to the UN security council resolution that passed on Friday demanding an end to settlement building.

    As well as the Netanyahu call, a senior official in Israel’s foreign ministry called New Zealand’s ambassador to Israel, Jonathan Curr, and warned that if the resolution came to a vote, Israel might close its embassy in Wellington in protest.

    Israel responded furiously to the vote, threatening diplomatic reprisals against the countries that voted in favour. Diplomatic ties with New Zealand were temporarily severed and ambassador Itzhak Gerberg was recalled.

    But in a sign that the international pressure may be being felt by the Netanyahu administration, scheduled plans to consider for approval 600 new settlement houses in occupied east Jerusalem were abruptly removed from the agenda of the city’s municipality on Wednesday.

    Netanyahu’s language and behaviour – which has resulted in ambassadors being reprimanded and consultations with foreign leaders, including the UK’s Theresa May, cancelled – has raised eyebrows among foreign diplomats, who point out that the UN resolution does no more than confirm the longstanding view of the international community on Jewish settlements.

    Later on Wednesday the US secretary of state, John Kerry, will make a speech outlining the parameters for how the Obama administration sees a settlement of the Middle East peace process.

    Kerry’s speech, less than a month before Barack Obama leaves office, is expected to be the current administration’s last word on a decades-old dispute that Kerry had hoped to resolve during his four years as America’s top diplomat.

    It could also be seen in Israel as another parting shot at Netanyahu, who has had an acrimonious relationship with Obama since they both took office in 2009. Israel’s public security minister, Gilad Erdan, told Israel Army Radio that the planned speech was a “pathetic move” and “anti-democratic”.

    The US on Friday broke with a longstanding approach of diplomatically shielding Israel and abstained on a United Nations security council resolution that passed with 14 countries in favour and none against.

    An Egyptian paper supportive of the country’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, reported what it said was a leaked memo allegedly confirming Israel’s allegations that the Obama administration and Palestinian officials had coordinated positions over the wording of the resolution to allow the US to abstain in the vote. The state department denied the report.

     

    Source: www.theguardian.com

  • New Zealand Defends UN Resolution Critical Of Israeli Settlements

    New Zealand Defends UN Resolution Critical Of Israeli Settlements

    WELLINGTON (AFP) – New Zealand said on Saturday (Dec 24) the United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements should have come as no surprise to the Jewish State, after Israel retaliated by recalling its ambassador to Wellington.

    New Zealand co-sponsored the resolution which described the settlements in the occupied territories as a major stumbling block to Middle East peace efforts, as they are built on land the Palestinians consider part of their future state.

    There was applause in the UN chamber when the first resolution by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in more than 38 years to condemn Israel over its settlement policy was passed 14-0, with the country’s key ally the United States abstaining.

    Israel refused to recognise the resolution with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman Ofir Gendelman tweeting that their ambassadors to New Zealand and Senegal, who co-sponsored the resolution, were to return to Israel immediately.

    “These steps are taken against countries that have tabled the draft resolution to the UNSC and have diplomatic relations with Israel,” he said.

    New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the decision should have been no surprise to Israel which knew Wellington’s position long before the UN vote.

    “Israel has informed us of their decision to recall their ambassador to New Zealand for consultations,” McCully told AFP in a statement.

    “We have been very open about our view that the (Security Council) should be doing more to support the Middle East peace process and the position we adopted today is totally in line with our long established policy on the Palestinian question.

    “The vote today should not come as a surprise to anyone and we look forward to continuing to engage constructively with all parties on this issue.”

    The resolution demands that “Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.” It states that Israeli settlements have “no legal validity” and are “dangerously imperilling the viability of the two-state solution”.

    Netanyahu’s office described the UN move as a “shameful anti-Israel resolution”.

    Malaysia and Venezuela also sponsored the UN resolution but do not have diplomatic relations with Israel.

    New Zealand is one of 10 non-permanent members of the UNSC, whose two-year term ends this month.

     

    Source: www.straitstimes.com