the situation in the middle east, including the palestine question
TRANSCRIPT
Bucharest International Student MUN 2013
Security Council Study Guide on Topic Area B
The Situation in the Middle East, Including the Palestine Question
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TABLE OF CONTENT
1. Introduction................................................................................................3
2. The Middle East.........................................................................................4
3. The Palestine Question...............................................................................6
4. Conflicts in the Middle East......................................................................8
5. Syrian uprising...........................................................................................10
6. The UN and the Middle East....................................................................12
7. Palestinian Progress...................................................................................17
8. Conclusion..................................................................................................19
9. Bibliography...............................................................................................20
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Introduction
If nothing else, then recent occurrences in the Middle
East has made it of crucial importance that the issues
and situations surrounding that geographical region
should not only be discussed, analyzed and
deliberated upon, but as quickly and speedily as
possible, should be resolved. However, the resolution
of such a situation, as we might have learnt from the
past, is not all that’s needed. A precise yet flexible,
effective and sustainable framework is also needed to
ensure that situations of this likes become a thing of
the past.
At every point in time in history when chaotic and riotous events daunted and threatened the
security and stability of communities, countries or even regions as in the case of the Middle East,
the Security Council of the United Nations takes it upon itself as its responsibility to ensure that
security and stability are not only upheld, but restored where needed. Numerous resolutions
passed by the Security Council in time past and the effective execution of the clauses of these
resolutions, have gone a long way in ensuring the security, stability and in most cases,
sustainable growth in regions which seemed to have been languished by the bitterness and utter
destructiveness of minor or sometimes major security issues. This in no way means that the
Security Council has been entirely successful as a unit of the United Nations, on the other hand,
it’s a simple affirmation of the fact that, the responsibility of the Security Council, and its ability
to assume the role of Peace maker in today’s conflict ridden world, is extremely important for
the maintenance of not just law and other, but security and stability.
Haven considered all these (the role of the Security Council as a peace, security and stability
promoting institution of the United Nations and the recent occurrences in the Middle East) the
decision of choosing a topic for the Security Council at this year’s BISMUN conference was a
pretty easy one.
The situation in the Middle East could be concluded to be a very broad topic of discussion,
because from it, a million or even more questions could be raised, a few examples are; How can
the situation in Syria be brought to a final halt? What role should the Security Council assume in
this rampant uprising of the Middle East called the Arab Spring? How can the Security Council
help see to it that the Situation in Syria comes to a quick and bloodless end? Nonetheless, asides
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from all these questions, there’s also the Palestine question; out of which a few other questions
could be derived. Thus we have an accumulation of questions, all without any answer, as such,
the purpose of this study guide.
There’s no assurance whatsoever, that this study guide will provide any answers to any of these
questions, however, its aim would be to enlighten you all on the fundamental concept of the
respective topic, while also establishing a pattern or agenda that would and should endeavor
quality and justifiable answers to all the questions raised and those that might be raised.
To do this however, a basic and even more fundamental understanding of the rudiments of this
topic is required, the rudiments being, The Middle East, and The Palestine Question.
The Middle East
The Middle East as a geographic
location on the world atlas is
encompassed by Africa, Europe and
Asia. As a matter of fact, it is said to
be the link between the three
continents. It comprises of 17
countries, predominantly Muslim
countries in which Arabic is the
major language. They include:
Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen,
Syria, United Arab Emirates, Jordan,
Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, and
the Palestinian territories. Others
include the Persian speaking state of
Iran, Turkish and Greek speaking
Cyprus, Turkey, and Bahrain.
The largest ethnic groups in the
Middle East are the Arabs; there are also Turks, Turkomans, Persians, Kurds Azeris, Copts,
Jews, Maronites, Assyro-Chaldeans, Circassians, Armenians, Druze and numerous other ethnic
groups forming other significant populations.
The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, and throughout its history, the Middle
East has been a major center of world affairs. When discussing ancient history, however, the
term Near East is more commonly used. The Middle East is also the historical origin of major
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religions such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam as well as the less common Baha'i
faith, Mandaeism, Druze faith and others. The Middle East generally has an arid and hot climate,
with several major rivers providing for irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas,
especially in Mesopotamia and the rest of the Fertile Crescent. Many countries located around
the Persian Gulf have large quantities of crude oil, which has resulted in much wealth
particularly for nations in the Arabian Peninsula. In modern times the Middle East remains a
strategically, economically, politically, culturally and religiously sensitive region.
Here is a very short overview of the modern history of the Middle East, brought up to date:
19th
century – Jewish Zionists immigrate to Palestine to join Jewish communities
1918 Ottoman Empire collapses, League of Nations puts Palestine under British Mandate, who
gives conflicting promises of independence to Jews & Arabs, who develop nationalistic
ambitions; Balfour Declaration of 1917 said Jewish National Home originally included Jordan,
but in 1922 was divided to only include area west of Jordan River
1948 UN partition plan resulted in Israel declaring independence; rejected by Arabs who
declared war on Israel and were defeated, to their humiliation
1963 PLO, created by Arab League, represents Palestinians to provoke Arab world to
destroy Israel
1967 Six-Day War gives Israel West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, Sinai; creates Palestinian
refugees; UN Resolution 242 called for peace based on return of captured territories—Arabs
have done nothing but still expect Israel to return land
1968 Yasser Arafat, leader of Fatah terrorist group in the PLO, politically perceptive yet ruthless
dictator, becomes chairman; transforms from pure terrorist to a political organization with
perceived legitimate cause.
1979 Camp David accords; Egypt & Israel sign treaty; Israel withdraws from Sinai
1987 PLO starts Intifada terrorist tactics to force Israel to retaliate; ancient Islamic strategy for
dealing with nations too strong to be defeated militarily
1993 Oslo Peace Process signed by Israel and PLO; Palestine National Authority (PA) created as
the legitimate governing entity of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, who
receive autonomy in Jericho, Gaza, much of West Bank; but terrorism continues.
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1994 Arafat becomes president of Palestinian Authority, never renounces terrorist
tactics. Israel & Jordan sign peace treaty.
2000 Intifada resumed after Oslo process fails to produce diplomatic negotiations. Arafat rivals
are religious terrorist groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas, who believe the PA has betrayed the
cause by engaging in a peace process. However, the Israelis believe the PA is a haven for
terrorists and no longer look to Arafat and the PA as peace partners.
2001 9/11 begins attempt by Arab Muslim radicals to force a final confrontation between East
and West, fueled by arms race and weapons of mass destruction
2002 Israel begins building Security Wall approximately along old green line borders established
by the 1949 armistice agreement, before conquering the West Bank and Gaza. Purpose is to stop
terrorist infiltration with a physical barrier. Negative is that it also hinders flow of Palestinian
workers into Israeli territory.
2003 Road Map is US proposed plan for settlement of conflict by 2005 with an independent
Palestinian state and withdrawal from West Bank, Gaza & East Jerusalem; to be monitored by
US, UN, EU & Russia (the international “quartet”); requires PA to stop terrorism & Israel to
withdraw from settlements occupied since 2001. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and PA
Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas shook hands and pledged to fulfill the conditions of the Road
Map. Invasion of Iraq increases tension in the area, although focus is on US as an aggressor
rather than just a supporter of Israel. Quick collapse of Iraqi forces shocked the Arab world and
may have made the PA more open to gestures of democracy.
2004 Yasser Arafat dies, making way for more moderate leadership of the PA. Israeli –
Egyptian relations improve.
2005 Mahmoud Abbas elected president of PA. This longtime henchman of Arafat seems more
moderate and willing to work toward negotiated settlements. Preparations made by Sharon to
disengage from all Gaza settlements and from four West Bank settlements.
The Palestine Question
Is Palestine A State? That is the question-which question many International Law analysts have
christened as "The Palestinian Question".
In one sense, Palestine has been seen to share much in common with other states in the
international scene. However, and as is the case on the opposite arm of the debate, Palestine does
not carry with her all the identity features required by these states to fully form part of the static
community. Debates and historical analysis have thus sought to answer this.
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It is widely argued that a number of factors have weakened the momentum to solve the
Palestinian question: the split between the West Bank and Gaza, the fanaticism of Hamas, the
corruption of some Palestinian politicians. Another way to look at the same evidence is that these
Dangerous phenomena (split, corruption, fanaticism) are produced by the deterioration of the
Palestinian question itself.
If this is the case, the situation cannot be overcome either by denial, by repeating the same old
stories, or by feeding the Palestinians false promises - for all will result only in frustration.
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It is beyond doubt that the Palestinian question belongs to the world’s “national-liberation”
causes. The Palestinian’s aspiration to statehood is rightful and legal. But since the era of
colonialism itself is no more, it also looks like the only remnant of that time. Many claim that
colonialism has renewed itself through imperialism, though this is challenged on two grounds:
the economic success achieved by many Asian nations from within the framework of
“dependency”, and the fact that it is the very “imperial powers” that are always called to take the
lead in intervening to halt massacres or to stop despots in the non-western world. In these
circumstances, the Palestinian question could be said to have fallen into the deep gap between
the demise of national liberation and the failure of all efforts to sort it out in an acceptable way.
It can also be said, however, that the colonization and settlement-building to which the
Palestinians were subjugated took place in the second half of the 20th century - and is still taking
place in the 21st century. The fact that similar projects in North America, Australasia, and South
Africa occurred in earlier centuries makes the Palestinian situation unique. This argument is solid
theoretically, but has suffered from an enduring flaw that has proved an obstacle to the
Palestinians’ fulfillment of their right. This is that over the decades the Palestinians (and the
Arabs generally) viewed the colonization of Palestine in a one-dimensional and confining way,
rooted in the 20th century alone.
The situation now poses two, interrelated, questions. First, can the Palestinian cause, represented
by its forces and symbols, reinvent itself in a way that joins it to the new Arab revolutionary
spirit and aspirations? Second, can the new Arab conditions, to the extent they result in states
able to play a respectful, serious and credible role on the international stage, also activate their
moral responsibility toward the Palestinians and thus produce an acceptable and reasonable
solution to a seemingly intractable problem?
Conflicts in the Middle East
Arab Spring: The Arab Spring is a revolutionary wave of demonstrations, protests,
and wars occurring in the Arab that began on 18 December 2010.
To date, rulers have been forced from power in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen; civil
uprisings have erupted in Bahrain and Syria; major protests have broken out
in Algeria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco and Sudan; and minor protests have occurred
in Lebanon, Mauritania,Oman,Saudi Arabia, Djibouti, and Western Sahara.
There were border clashes in Israel in May 2011, and the protests in Iranian Khuzestan by
the Arab minority erupted in 2011 as well. Weapons and Tuareg fighters returning from
the Libyan civil war stoked a simmering conflict in Mali which has been described as "fallout"
from the Arab Spring in North Africa. The sectarian clashes in Lebanon were described as a
spillover violence of the Syrian uprising and hence the regional Arab Spring. In September 2012,
a wave of social protests by Palestinians demanded lower consumer prices and resignation of the
Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad.
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The protests have shared techniques of mostly civil resistance in sustained campaigns involving
strikes, demonstrations, marches, and rallies, as well as the effective use of social media to
organize, communicate, and raise awareness in the face of state attempts at repression
and Internet censorship.
Many Arab Spring demonstrations have been met with violent responses from authorities, as
well as from pro-government militias and counter-demonstrators. These attacks have been
answered with violence from protestors in some cases. A major slogan of the demonstrators in
the Arab world has been Ash-shabyuridisqat an-nizam ("the people want to bring down the
regime").
Some observers have drawn comparisons between the Arab Spring movements and
the Revolutions of 1989 (also known as the "autumn of Nations") that swept through Eastern
Europe and the Second World, in terms of their scale and significance. Others, however, have
pointed out that there are several key differences between the movements, such as the desired
outcomes and the organizational role of internet technology in the Arab revolutions.
The Arab spring is widely believed to have been instigated by dissatisfaction with the rule of
local governments, though some have speculated that wide gaps in income levels may have had a
hand as well.
Numerous factors have led to the protests, including issues such as dictatorship or absolute
monarchy, human rights violations, political corruption, economic decline, unemployment,
extreme poverty, and a number of demographic structural factors, such as a large percentage of
educated but dissatisfied youth within the population. Also, some, like Slovenian
philosopher SlavojŽižek attribute the 2009–2010 Iranian election protests as one of the reasons
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behind the Arab Spring. The Kyrgyz Revolution of 2010 might also have been one of the factors,
which influenced the beginning of the Arab Spring. The catalysts for the revolts in all Northern
African and countries have been the concentration of wealth in the hands of autocrats in power
for decades, insufficient transparency of its redistribution, corruption, and especially the refusal
of the youth to accept the status quo. Increasing food prices and global famine rates have also
been a significant factor, as they involve threats to food security worldwide and prices that
approach levels of the 2007–2008 world food price crisis.
In recent decades rising living standards and literacy rates, as well as the increased availability of
higher education, have resulted in an improved Human Development Index in the affected
countries. The tension between rising aspirations and a lack of government reform may have
been a contributing factor in all of the protests. Many of the Internet-savvy youth of these
countries have, increasingly over the years, been viewing autocrats and absolute monarchies
as anachronisms. A university professor of Oman, Al-NajmaZidjaly referred to this upheaval
as youth quake.
Tunisia and Egypt, the first to witness major uprisings, differ from other North African and
Middle Eastern nations such as Algeria and Libya in that they lack significant oil revenue, and
were thus unable to make concessions to calm the masses.
The relative success of the democratic Republic of Turkey, with its substantially free and
vigorously contested but peaceful elections, fast-growing but liberal economy, secular
constitution butIslamist government, created a model (the Turkish model) if not a motivation for
protestors in neighboring states.
Syrian Uprising
Protests in Syria started on 26 January 2011, when a
police officer assaulted a man in public at "Al-
Hareeka Street" in old Damascus. The man was
arrested right after the assault. As a result, protesters
called for the freedom of the arrested man. Soon a
"day of rage" was set for 4–5 February, but it was
uneventful. On 6 March, the Syrian security forces
arrested about 15 children in Daraa, in southern
Syria, for writing slogans against the government.
Soon protests erupted over the arrest and abuse of
the children. Daraa was to be the first city to protest against the Baathist regime, which has been
ruling Syria since 1963.
Thousands of protestors gathered in Damascus, Aleppo, al-Hasakah, Daraa, Deirez-Zor,
and Hama on 15 March, with recently released politician SuhairAtassi becoming an unofficial
spokesperson for the "Syrian revolution". The next day there were reports of approximately 3000
arrests and a few martyrs, but there are no official figures on the number of deaths. On 18 April
2011, approximately 100,000 protesters sat in the central Square of Homs calling for the
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resignation of President Bashar al-Assad. Protests continued through July 2011, the government
responding with harsh security clampdowns and military operations in several districts,
especially in the north.
On 31 July, Syrian army tanks stormed several cities, including Hama, DeirEz-Zour, Abu Kamal,
and Herak near Daraa. At least 136 people were killed in the most violent and bloody day since
the uprising started.
On 5 August 2011, an anti-government demonstration took place in Syria called "God is with
us", during which the Syrian security forces shot the protesters from inside the ambulances,
killing 11 people consequently.
By late November – early December, the Baba Amr district of Homs fell under armed Syrian
opposition control. By late December, the battles between the government's security forces and
the rebel Free Syrian Army intensified in Idlib Governorate. Cities in Idlib and neighborhoods in
Homs and Hama began falling into the control of the opposition, during this time military
operations in Homs and Hama ceased and stopped.
By mid-January the FSA gained control over Zabadani and Madaya. By late January, the Free
Syrian Army launched a full-scale attack against the government in Rif Dimashq, where they
took over Saqba, Hamoreya, Harasta and other cities in Damascus's Eastern suburbs. On 29
January, the fourth regiment of the Syrian Army led by the president's brother Maher al-
Assad and the Syrian Army dug in at Damascus, and the fighting continued where the FSA was
8 km away from the Republican palace in Damascus. Fighting broke out near Damascus
international airport, but by the next day the Syrian government deployed the Republican
Guards. The military gained the upper hand and regained all land the opposition gained in Rif
Dimashq by early February. On 4 February, the Syrian Army launched a massive bombardment
on Homs and committed a huge massacre, killing 500 civilians in one night in Homs. By mid-
February, the Syrian army regained control over Zabadani and Madaya. In late February, Army
forces entered Baba Amro after a big military operation and heavy fighting. Following this, the
opposition forces began losing neighborhoods in Homs to the Syrian Army including al-Inshaat,
Jobr, Karm el-Zaytoon and only Homs's old neighborhoods, including Al-Khalidiya, Homs|al-
Khalidiya, remained in opposition hands.
By March 2012, the government began military operations against the opposition in Idlib
Governorate including the city of Idlib, which fell to the Army by mid-
March. Saraqib and Sarmin were also recaptured by the government during the month. Still, at
this time, the opposition managed to capture al-Qusayr and Rastan. Heavy fighting also
continued in several neighborhoods in Homs and in the city of Hama. The FSA also started to
conduct hit-and-run attacks in the pro-Assad Aleppo Governorate, which they were not able to
do before. Heavy-to-sporadic fighting was also continuing in the Daraa and Deirez-
Zor Governorates.
By late April 2012, despite a cease-fire being declared in the whole country, sporadic fighting
continued, with heavy clashes specifically in Al-Qusayr, where rebel forces controlled the
northern part of the city, while the military held the southern part. FSA forces were holding onto
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Al-Qusayr, due to it being the last major transit point toward the Lebanese border. A rebel
commander from the Farouq Brigade in the town reported that 2,000 Farouq fighters had been
killed in Homs province since August 2011. At this point, there were talks among the rebels in
Al-Qusayr, where many of the retreating rebels from Homs city's Baba Amr district had gone, of
Homs being abandoned completely. On 12 June 2012, the UN peacekeeping chief in Syria stated
that, in his view, Syria has entered a period of civil war.
The United Nations and Syria
This news article from New York Times published on the fourth of February gives an in-depth
view to the United Nations effort in Syria.
“A United Nations Security Council effort to end the violence in Syria collapsed in acrimony
with a double veto by Russia and China on Saturday, hours after the Syrian military attacked the
city of Homs in what opposition leaders described as the deadliest government assault in the
nearly 11-month uprising.
The veto and the mounting violence underlined the dynamics shaping what is proving to be the
Arab world’s bloodiest revolt: diplomatic stalemate and failure as Syria plunges deeper into what
many are already calling a civil war. Diplomats have lamented their lack of options in pressuring
the Syrian government, and even some Syrian dissidents worry about what the growing
confrontation will mean for a country reeling from bloodshed and hardship.
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The veto is almost sure to embolden the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which
brazenly carried out the assault on Homs on the day that the Security Council had planned to
vote. It came, too, around the anniversary of its crackdown in 1982 on another Syrian city,
Hama, by Mr. Assad’s father, Hafez, in which at least 10,000 people were killed in one of the
bloodiest episodes in modern Arab history.“It’s quite clear — this is a license to do more of the
same and worse,” said Peter Harling, an expert on Syria at the International Crisis Group. “The
regime will take it for granted that it can escalate further. We’re entering a new phase that will be
far more violent still than what we’ve seen now.”
The Security Council voted 13 to 2 in favor of a resolution backing an Arab League peace plan
for Syria, but passage was blocked by Russia and China, which opposed what they saw as a
potential violation of Syria’s sovereignty. The support of those countries has proved crucial in
bolstering the Syrian government’s confidence, despite an isolation more pronounced than any
time since the Assad family seized power more than four decades ago.After the vote, and the
failure before that of the Arab League peace plan to stem the violence, predictions were grim
about what is ahead in a conflict that the United Nations says has claimed more than 5,000 lives.
To many, two inexorable forces were at work: a government bent on crushing the uprising by
force and an opposition that, if not increasing in numbers, appeared to be growing even more
determined.“What more do we need to know to act decisively in the Security Council?”
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton fumed at a news conference in Munich. “To block
this resolution is to bear responsibility for the horrors that are occurring on the ground in
Syria.”Responding to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, who asked, “What’s the
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endgame?” Mrs. Clinton replied: “The endgame in the absence of us acting together as the
international community, I fear, is civil war.”The attack in Homs, where Syrian opposition
leaders said more than 200 people were killed, drew outrage from around the world and
intensified pressure on the Security Council to act.
President Obama condemned what he called “the Syrian government’s unspeakable assault
against the people of Homs,” saying in a statement that Mr. Assad “has no right to lead Syria,
and has lost all legitimacy with his people and the international community.” He accused Syria
of having “murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens, including women and children.”
The French foreign minister, Alain Juppé, said, “The massacre in Homs is a crime against
humanity, and those responsible will have to answer for it.”
Protests broke out at Syrian Embassies around the world, including in Egypt, Germany, Greece
and Kuwait, and Tunisia expelled Syria’s ambassador.But at the United Nations, Russia, Syria’s
staunch ally, had promised to veto any resolution that could open the way to foreign military
intervention or insist on Mr. Assad’s removal.The resolution on Saturday said the Security
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Council “fully supported” the Arab League plan, which calls for Mr. Assad to cede power to his
vice president and a unity government to lead Syria to democratic elections.
In an effort to placate Russia and other skeptics, Arab and Western ambassadors had dropped
specific references in the resolution to Mr. Assad’s ceding power and for calls of a voluntary
arms embargo and sanctions, and added language barring outside military intervention.Mr.
Lavrov said Saturday that Moscow still had two objections: that the resolution did not place
sufficient blame for the violence on the opposition, and that it unrealistically demanded that the
government withdraw its military forces to their barracks.
He told a security conference in Munich that adopting the current resolution would risk “taking
sides in a civil war.” In a television interview quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency, he said that
ignoring Russia’s objections would result in “another scandal.”But Security Council members,
citing the killings in Homs, pointedly disagreed. “The scandal is not to act,” said Peter Wittig,
the German ambassador to the United Nations. “The scandal would be failure to act.”The
resolution’s Western and Arab sponsors said they had compromised enough, and pushed the
measure to a vote, virtually daring Russia to exercise its veto and risk international
condemnation for failing to stop the killings in Syria.
In the end, both Russia and China said they vetoed the measure because it unfairly blamed only
the Syrian government for the violence. Ambassador VitalyChurkin of Russia called it an
“unbalanced message,” while the Chinese envoy, Li Baodong, said the resolution, in trying to
predetermine the outcome of dialogue between the government and the opposition, “might
further complicate the situation.”The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, who rarely
weighs in on Security Council decisions, called the vote “a great disappointment.”
“It undermines the role of the United Nations and the international community in this period
when the Syrian authorities must hear a unified voice calling for an immediate end to its violence
against the Syrian people,” he said in a statement.He said the vote made it “even more urgent”
for the international community to seek a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic system.
In fact, diplomatic efforts were continuing outside of the Security Council.Mr. Churkin
said Russia would try to solve the problem itself. Mr. Lavrov was expected to go to Damascus
for talks with Mr. Assad on Tuesday.“The Security Council is not the only diplomatic tool on the
planet,” Mr. Churkin said.In Paris, President Nicolas Sarkozy said France was consulting with its
European and Arab partners to create a “group of friends of the Syrian people” to support the
Arab League plan. “France is not giving up,” he said.Susan E. Rice, the American ambassador,
said the United States would explore ways with its allies to continue to “ratchet up the pressure”
on Damascus, including further sanctions.
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The attack in Homs, a city in central Syria that has emerged as the center of the uprising, began
Friday night after Syrian Army defectors attacked two military checkpoints and captured soldiers
there, activists said. One activist put the number of abducted soldiers at 13, another at 19. They
suggested that enraged commanders then ordered the assault, which lasted from about 9 p.m. on
Friday to 1 a.m. on Saturday, focusing on the neighborhood of Khaldiya. Five other
neighborhoods were also assaulted.
There were contradictory reports about casualties. Homs has been largely inaccessible to
journalists and difficult to reach by phone.
The Syrian National Council, which has sought to act as an umbrella group for the opposition,
said that more than 260 people had been killed. The London-based Syrian Observatory for
Human Rights said the toll was 217. Both groups, along with other activists, said hundreds were
wounded.
One opposition activist said the Syrian military suffered casualties, too.
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Videos smuggled out of the city and reports by opposition activists described a harrowing
barrage of mortar shells and gunfire that left hundreds more wounded in the city.
“It’s a real massacre in every sense of the word,” said a resident of Khaldiya who gave his name
as Abu Jihad. “I saw bodies of women and children lying on roads, beheaded. It’s horrible and
inhuman. It was a long night helping people get to hospitals.”
At one point, a resident said, people left the top floors of apartment buildings, fearful that
shelling they described as random would wreck their homes. Another resident, reached by phone
on Saturday, said that people had huddled in the dark, without water and electricity, and that
checkpoints had proliferated around neighborhoods.
“After this, no one in the world can blame us for fighting, even if we have to use kitchen knives,”
said a 40-year-old Homs resident who gave his name as Abu Omar.
The Syrian government accused the news media and activists of exaggerating the toll. A report
by the Syrian state news agency, SANA, complained of “frenetic media campaigns against Syria
disseminating false information about Syria Army shelling of civilians.”The agency declared that
“life is normal in the Damascus countryside, Hama and Homs.”
Syria took a similar view of the attacks on its missions in n the Middle East and Europe. As
many as 100 demonstrators stormed the Syrian Embassy in Cairo at 3 a.m. Saturday, tearing its
iron gate off its hinges, burning parts of the first floor and demolishing much of the
ambassador’s office. By daybreak, the floors were littered with broken glass, furniture that had
been torn apart or burned, and what remained of the office equipment.It was the second time in
two weeks that protesters had breached the embassy
AmmarArsan, the embassy’s media counselor, said he saw no connection between the events in
Homs and what he called “the terrorist attack” on the Cairo mission. “The Syrian Army is
conducting an operation against terrorist groups in Hama and Homs,” he said. “This is a crime.
Nothing in the whole world justifies this.”
The simultaneous attacks on Syrian Embassies in Germany, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and
elsewhere, he said, were evidence of coordination by Syria’s enemies.”
Palestinian Progress
After nearly 18 months of diplomatic drama, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
finally got a victory, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to recognize Palestine as
a "non-member observer state". It is a symbolic victory and a counterpoint to the fiasco last year
when Abbas pursued full membership in the world body, which requires approval of the Security
Council. The Palestinians could not wrangle enough votes to even bring the matter to a vote.
A: Bd. Mihail Kogălniceanu nr. 36-46, Complexul Studenţesc Mihail Kogălniceanu, Cămin B, camera 122B
E: [email protected] W: www.unyouth.ro Tel: 0213104264
So what now? I asked that question - what will you do on November 30? - To a range of
Palestinian officials and analysts over the past few days.
Their unanimous answer was not to answer. "Let's leave that until the day after," said
HusamZumlot, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization. "I don't want to
speculate," said HananAshrawi, another PLO official. And so on, perhaps with good reason: The
diplomatic upgrade carries few tangible benefits.
The most significant is that the Palestinians could ratify the Rome Statute and accede to the
International Criminal Court (ICC), which would allow them to bring cases against Israelis - for
war crimes committed in Gaza, perhaps, or for the ongoing construction of illegal settlements in
the occupied West Bank.Thousands of people, from military leaders to individual settlers, could
be subject to prosecution.The Israeli government has lately tempered its rhetoric about the
Palestinian UN bid, and has toned down the talk of consequences.But sources in Jerusalem say
that, if the Palestinians join the ICC, the Israeli reaction will be harsh, and would include
measures like cutting the flow of taxes and customs duties to the Palestinian Authority.
A symbolic upgrade at the UN is one thing; a wave of indictments that effectively bar Israeli
officials from traveling abroad would be another entirely. And so the Palestinians have been coy
about their intentions: None of the PLO officials I interviewed would talk about their plans vis-a-
vis the court. (Several European countries, most notably the United Kingdom, reportedly offered
to vote "yes" at the UN in exchange for a Palestinian promise not to join the ICC).Admission at
the UN also allows the Palestinians to join dozens of UN organizations, bodies like the World
Health Organization.nBut that, too, has been discouraged, because the US is required by law to
A: Bd. Mihail Kogălniceanu nr. 36-46, Complexul Studenţesc Mihail Kogălniceanu, Cămin B, camera 122B
E: [email protected] W: www.unyouth.ro Tel: 0213104264
cut funding to any UN organization that recognizes a Palestinian state. UNESCO accepted
Palestine as a member last year, and the US cancelled $80m in annual funding, more than one-
fifth of the organization’s budget."It feels good, but it won't end the occupation," was how many
Palestinians summarized their feelings about the UN bid.
Symbolic or not, it is a high-profile diplomatic defeat for an Israeli government that has spent
months aggressively lobbying the world to vote "no."But it is ultimately another piece of paper
from a world body that has often disappointed the Palestinians. "You have more than 200 [or]
300 resolutions in the United Nations without implementation," said Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas
official in Gaza.The most intriguing result of Thursday's vote, perhaps, will be the effect on the
long-delayed reconciliation talks between Fatah and Hamas.
The latter has been remarkably positive about Abbas' bid, even holding a public rally today in
Gaza to show support - a stark contrast to last year, when Hamas officials largely kept quiet and
discouraged any public demonstrations.
Officials in the West Bank have described the UN vote as "their resistance," a victory that Abbas
can hold up alongside what is widely perceived as a win by Hamas in last week's eight-day war
with Israel.Reconciliation talks have collapsed dozens of times before. But perhaps the victory at
A: Bd. Mihail Kogălniceanu nr. 36-46, Complexul Studenţesc Mihail Kogălniceanu, Cămin B, camera 122B
E: [email protected] W: www.unyouth.ro Tel: 0213104264
the UN gives Abbas a bit of momentum to bridge his differences with a newly-empowered
Hamas.
Conclusion
This review of both the general situation in the Middle East and the Palestine Question has been
aimed at serving or better still providing an enlightenment worthy of intense debates and
deliberations. Most importantly however, it has been aimed at ensuring that the basic information
needed to draft out realistic, fact based and quality filled resolutions are at hand.
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