On 3/28, during its 25th session in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Council passed 5 resolutions pertaining to Israeli conduct. Four resolutions condemned Israeli treatment of Palestinians, including a wide range of issues such as settlements, discrimination, and house demolitions, and were passed 46–1 (the single nay cast by the U.S.). One res. condemned abuses against residents of the occupied Golan Heights. The 46 “yes” votes for the resolutions pertaining to the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip included 9 EU mbr. states.
Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip were also heavily criticized by senior UN officials this quarter. On 3/21, Prof. Richard Falk, Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian territories, told a news conference that Israel was pursuing the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, and that settlement expansion and home demolitions were “reducing what prospects [the Palestinians] might have as the outcome of supposed peace negotiations.” On 4/8, the UN’s Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian Territories James Rowley called for Israel to lift the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip and to reopen closed crossings. In a press conference in Gaza, Rowley noted that although 2013 was a quiet year in terms of military confrontations, Palestinians in the Strip have seen their quality of life only deteriorate. Rowley also urged Egypt to open the Rafah crossing for passengers, goods, and medical supplies. On 4/29, coordinator for the Middle East peace process Robert Serry told the UN Security Council that Secy.-Gen. Ban Ki-moon still believed a 2-state solution was possible, but that the opportunity would slip away if both sides did nothing to find a way out of the current “1-state reality.” During the meeting, Israel’s UN Amb. Ron Prosor and Palestinian UN Observer Riyad Mansour both expressed a commitment to peace and blamed the other side for the failure of negotiations to date.