Sources: Obama Administration to Support Anti-Israel Resolution at UN Next Week

[Soul Crusher]

Sources: Obama Administration to Support Anti-Israel Resolution at UN Next Week
BY William Kristol
June 11, 2010 10:41 AM

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THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that senior Obama administration officials have been telling foreign governments that the administration intends to support an effort next week at the United Nations to set up an independent commission, under UN auspices, to investigate Israel's behavior in the Gaza flotilla incident. The White House has apparently shrugged off concerns from elsewhere in the U.S. government that a) this is an extraordinary singling out of Israel, since all kinds of much worse incidents happen around the world without spurring UN investigations; b) that the investigation will be one-sided, focusing entirely on Israeli behavior and not on Turkey or on Hamas; and c) that this sets a terrible precedent for outside investigations of incidents involving U.S. troops or intelligence operatives as we conduct our own war on terror.

While UN Ambassador Susan Rice is reported to have played an important role in pushing for U.S. support of a UN investigation, the decision is, one official stressed, of course the president's. The government of Israel has been consulting with the U.S. government on its own Israeli investigative panel, to be led by a retired supreme court justice, that would include respected international participants, including one from the U.S. But the Obama administration is reportedly saying that such a “kosher panel” is not good enough to satisfy the international community, or the Obama White House. 

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[Soul Crusher]

While UN Ambassador Susan Rice is reported to have played an important role in pushing for U.S. support of a UN investigation, the decision is, one official stressed, of course the president's.

________________________ _______________

and so was the $400 Million.   

[Colossus_500]

Yes, while we blast Israel for defending itself, President Obama is going to provide $400 million to Palestine:

Obama unveils 400 million dollar Palestinian aid package
france24.com

AFP - President Barack Obama said Wednesday he believed "significant progress" was possible in the Middle East peace process this year, adding the US was to unveil a huge aid package for the Palestinians.

Now is the time to move forward from the current "dead end," Obama said as he welcomed Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to the White House for talks.

He vowed the "full weight" of US involvement in the stalemated peace process, predicting "significant progress" by the end of the year.

Abbas arrived for the Oval Office talks with already volatile Middle East politics roiled by the aftermath of the deadly May 31 Israeli commando raid on a flotilla of boats seeking to beat the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.

He is calling on Obama to make "bold" decisions to jump-start peace moves in the Middle East, but prospects for progress in US-brokered Israeli-Palestinian indirect "proximity" talks are threatened by regional fury over the raid.

Calling the situation in the impoverished Gaza Strip "unsustainable," Obama urged Israel to meet the demands of the UN Security Council in the probe into the deadly incidence in which nine activists were killed by Israeli commandos.

Obama also said the United States was to unveil a 400-million-dollar civilian aid package for the Palestinians, with the money to be used for projects such as housing and schools.

Abbas said there was a need to lift the "siege" of the Palestinian people.

The two leaders were to discuss alleviating the plight of Gaza, which is run by Hamas militants, and the prospects for direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.

The United States has joined other foreign governments and the United Nations in calling for an inquiry into the flotilla raid with an international component, saying it is key to any investigation's credibility.

But Israel has rejected any international inquiry into the affair, amid calls for an easing of the three-year blockade of Gaza.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was in talks with "several members of the international community" but said a probe should not focus on the role of Israeli soldiers in the raid.

At the White House, Obama and Abbas will "discuss steps to improve life for the people of Gaza, including US support for specific projects to promote economic development and greater quality of life," a US official said.

Obama also wants to discuss a "long-term strategy for progress that we will advance through consultations" with the Palestinians, Israelis, Egyptians and other partners, the official added on condition of anonymity.

Despite the fallout from the Gaza raid, the pair will consider how to forge progress in proximity talks between Israel and the Palestinians mediated by US envoy George Mitchell.

"We look forward to engaging with president Abbas to move the process forward so that we can get to direct talks to address all the final status issues," the official said.

Obama will also renew his call on Israelis and Palestinians to "ensure that neither side take provocative steps that could stand in the way of progress," according to the official.

Abbas met Obama a week after Netanyahu canceled his own White House trip to deal with the fallout from the Gaza crisis.

An Israeli official said earlier Netanyahu was working to reschedule the visit, which could take place before the end of June.

Abbas has set a rhetorical framework for his long-awaited summit with the US president.

"My message to Obama during our meeting in Washington next week will be that we need bold decisions to change the face of the region," he told an investment conference in the West Bank last week.

The Palestinian leader is also scheduled to meet with US lawmakers and National Security Adviser James Jones.

[Soul Crusher]

At a minimum Obama should have conditioned the money upon the release of that soldier Gilad Shalit that is being held. 

[Fury]

http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/hamas_e112.htm

Video Recordings of Statements from Mavi Marmara Crew Members about Preparations Made by IHH Operatives for the Violent Confrontation with IDF Soldiers 1

Overview

1. The videotaped statements of two Mavi Marmara crew members show that preparations for a violent confrontation with IDF forces were put in motion about two hours before the boarding began, when the Israeli Navy hailed the ship and told it to halt.

2. According to the statements, the atmosphere aboard the Mavi Marmara was tense and the crew noticed a gathering on the main deck. When they checked the upper deck they discovered that IHH operatives were cutting the ship’s railings with metal disks they had brought with them into lengths suitable to be used as clubs. The crew members said the activities worried them and that they tried to stop the operatives but were unsuccessful.

3. The following are the statements of the one of the ship’s captains and an officer. This bulletin contains the text of the statements and the videotaped interviews.

The Statements

Mehmut Tuval, Captain, Mavi Marmara
Chief Officer Gokkiran Gokhan

Statement: I was on the bridge after dark, before anything happened, the third captain and I were sent in the direction of the life boats, where there were a lot of people and a lot of noise. The captain told me something was happening down there, there are noises, go see what’s going on. There were a lot of people. I told the third captain, you are more senior than I, come with me.”
Q: When did that happen?
A: Around eight o’clock, I don’t know exactly when, but around eight. I went down the stairs with the third captain. We saw a senior person [from IHH].
Q: Who?
A: That guy.
Q: What guy?
A: That guy. Maybe the third captain knows his name.
Q: The guy from IHH?
A: Yes, from IHH.
Q: Whose name does he know? The name of the guy from IHH who cut the railings?
A: No, the third captain knows him from IHH. We [the third captain and I] went together, we saw a lot of people milling around and we asked what was going on.
Q: Did you see them cutting [the railings]?
A: They [the iron rods] were already cut. It was all over.
Q: Who did the cutting?
A: I didn’t see.
Q: Who was holding the disk?
A: The disks were lying in a corner of the stairs and the senior guy [apparently a reference to Bülent Yildirim] was next to them.
Q: The senior guy from IHH?
A: Yes.
Q: Who did the disks belong to?
A: I don’t know, they didn’t belong to the ship. We don’t have equipment like that on board. On deck there were metal poles with clips for cables, when I got there they had been cut.
Q: When did this happen?
A: When it was getting dark. I asked one of them who cut the poles, and he said he didn’t know.
Q: Was the man you asked a crew member?
A: No.
Q: Did he belong to IHH?
A: Of course.
Q: You seem to be saying that the people from IHH were in control of the ship. Did the crew need their permission to move around the ship?
A: Definitely, they [i.e. IHH operatives] didn’t let people they didn’t know move around.
Q: Did they prevent anyone they didn’t know from moving freely around the ship?
A: Yes, definitely.
Q: And was that from the first moment they went up on deck?
A: Yes, definitely.
Q: How did the IHH operatives communicate with one another?
A: When they [the IHH operatives] got on board in Istanbul they brought walkie-talkies with them. They were handed out to the IHH operatives and the crew.
Q: Did you [the crew] get them as well?
A: Yes, each one worked on a different frequency.
Q: I don’t understand, they didn’t let the passengers and crew go from one deck to another?
A: They could go anywhere except to the control center they set up on the bridge.
Q: How many IHH operatives were there on the upper deck.
A: Forty.
Q: The same forty all the time or did they change?
A: More of less the same forty.
Q: You’re referring to the group that joined the ship in Istanbul?
A: yes.

Peaceful activists indeed.

I assume they'll be launching an investigation into Turkey's ongoing genocide of the Kurds or their illegal invasion and continuing occupation of the island nation of Cyprus.

Then again, this is the same UN that just put Libya and Iran on its Human Rights Council. 

[Soul Crusher]

BF - notice how thw other thread stopped dead cold when I put those videos of Hitler and the muslims up? 

As for this, is anyone surprised? 

Jews may be smart in their chosen professions, but when it comes to politics, they are often dumber than dirt. 

[Fury]

BF - notice how thw other thread stopped dead cold when I put those videos of Hitler and the muslims up? 

As for this, is anyone surprised? 

Jews may be smart in their chosen professions, but when it comes to politics, they are often dumber than dirt. 

Yeah, I figured that other thread will die. Jag will run from any thread she gets proven wrong in. If you bring it up, you will be ignored. She does it anytime she gets owned or embarrassed.

[Dos Equis]

This administration is an embarrassment.