Promotion within UNGA of more balanced and constructive approaches to resolving Middle East conflict – US House of Representatives resolution/Non-UN document

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Whereas the 60th General Assembly of the United Nations will be held in New York City from September through December 2005; (Introduced in House)]

HRES 438 IH

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. RES. 438

Urging member states of the United Nations to stop supporting resolutions that unfairly castigate Israel and to promote within the United Nations General Assembly more balanced and constructive approaches to resolving conflict in the Middle East.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 14, 2005

Mr. ROTHMAN (for himself and Mr. KIRK) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on International Relations

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RESOLUTION

Urging member states of the United Nations to stop supporting resolutions that unfairly castigate Israel and to promote within the United Nations General Assembly more balanced and constructive approaches to resolving conflict in the Middle East.

Whereas the 60th General Assembly of the United Nations will be held in New York City from September through December 2005;

Whereas the State of Israel is the number one strategic ally of the United States and the only true democracy in the Middle East;

Whereas 60 years ago the United Nations was founded to prevent another Holocaust from ever happening again;

Whereas 3 years after its founding, the United Nations passed General Assembly Resolution 181, which established the State of Israel as a homeland and refuge for Jews around the world;

Whereas in recent years, the United Nations General Assembly and United Nations Security Council have engaged in a pattern of introducing and approving hundreds of measures and resolutions that unfairly criticize and condemn Israel;

Whereas despite the myriad of challenges facing the world community, the United Nations General Assembly has devoted a vastly disproportionate amount of time and resources to castigating Israel;

Whereas for the past 30 years, the United Nations has funded 3 entities that support anti-Israel propaganda, including the Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR), the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), and the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Human Rights Practices Affecting the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (SCIIHRP);

Whereas the double standard against the State of Israel that is perpetrated at the United Nations is pervasive: of 10 emergency special sessions called by the United Nations General Assembly, 6 have been about Israel, and since 1997, at the annual meetings of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, only Israel has had its own agenda item (Item 8) dealing with its alleged human rights violations, whereas all other countries are dealt with in a separate agenda item (Item 9);

Whereas the State of Israel is the only member nation of the United Nations that has consistently been denied full admission into its regional group, the Asian Regional Group, which is Israel's natural geopolitical grouping;

Whereas as a result of this denial, Israel sought entry into the United Nations' Western and Others Group (WEOG) and was only granted limited admission to that regional group in May 2000 for activities or meetings held in New York, but was not granted admission in any form to the activities or meetings of the WEOG held in Geneva, Nairobi, or Vienna;

Whereas during the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the General Assembly adopted a total of 71 resolutions by roll call vote, 21 of which criticized Israel;

Whereas despite the fact that there are 191 member states in the United Nations–many of which have abhorrent human rights records, approximately 30 percent of the resolutions voted on annually by the United Nations General Assembly address the actions of one country, the State of Israel;

Whereas many member states of the United Nations General Assembly continue to engage in a discriminatory campaign against Israel, including adopting a resolution on December 1, 2004, that condemned Israeli security measures without proportional condemnation of Palestinian terrorist attacks launched against Israel;

Whereas as a founding member of the United Nations and as a constant and true partner for peace to both entities involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the United States has a special responsibility to promote fair and equitable treatment of all nations in the context of international institutions and to stop what it views to be counter-productive efforts that undermine the role of the United Nations as an honest broker for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and

Whereas the State of Israel's election to the Vice Presidency of the United Nations General Assembly presents member nations with an opportunity to reverse the body's pattern of unfairly castigating Israel: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives urges member states of the United Nations to–

(1) stop supporting resolutions that unfairly castigate Israel; and

(2) promote within the United Nations General Assembly more balanced and constructive approaches to resolving conflict in the Middle East.

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Title: Urging member states of the United Nations to stop supporting resolutions that unfairly castigate Israel and to promote within the United Nations a more balanced and constructive approach to resolving conflict in the Middle East.
Sponsor: Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] (introduced 9/14/2005)      Cosponsors (64)
Latest Major Action: 12/6/2005 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution, as amended Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 400 – 1 (Roll no. 609).