Quarterly Updates for (16 May 2011 — 15 Aug 2011)

Though the upcoming 9/2011 UNGA session was of major interest this quarter because of the Palestinian statehood initiative, few actions affecting the peace process took place in UN bodies.

The UN issued (7/6) a report on the Nakba Day bloodshed on the Israel-Lebanon border on 5/15, concluding that Israeli troops “used direct live fire against unarmed demonstrators” and that “other than firing initial warning shots, the [IDF] did not use conventional crowd control methods or any other method than lethal weapons against the demonstrators,” calling Israel’s actions disproportionate and in violation of UN Res. 1701, ending the 2006 Lebanon war. The report, based on UNIFIL reports, dealt only with the marches on the Lebanon border, where the IDF killed 7 protesters and wounded 111 (see QU in JPS 160 for details).

For the first time since its creation in 12/1968, the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices in Occupied Territories gained entry (mid-7/2011) to Gaza, facilitated by the new Egyptian government via the Rafah crossing. Previously, the committee had been barred by Israel from entering any of the occupied territories—a restriction Egypt had observed, forcing the committee to interview West Bank and Gaza Palestinians twice a year in Cairo, Amman, or Damascus. On 7/29, the committee released a report expressing dismay at Israel’s “continuing disregard of its obligations under international law” and condemning Israel’s “oppressive restrictions imposed on Gaza” as having “the effect of collectively punishing the population.”

The Obama admin. formally confirmed (6/1) that the U.S. would not participate in the international gathering marking the 10th anniversary of the 2001 World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in Durban to be held at the UN in 9/2011, as the meeting was expected to reinforce the original WCAR summit’s “ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Semitism” toward Israel. Senior U.S. officials had suggested for months that the U.S. would boycott the conference but had not officially informed organizers (see QU in JPS 159).

In late-6/2011, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee condemned Israel over planned renovations at the Mughrabi Gate in East Jerusalem based on a complaint filed by Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, the UAE, and others. Israel expressed particular anger at Jordan, saying the kingdom signed an agreement with Israel endorsing the construction.