the un - pathetic

Note there is a debate on whether or not to condemn Israel....


....not even a mention of one to castigate the Palestinians!!!

There's balance for you.

Ya rekon they're even-handed?

Ya rekon Israel will ever get a fair deal from them?

Not in this world

Bunch of f#ckwits.....

UN Security Council vote condemning Israeli air raid delayed

United Nations Security Council members agreed to
delay a vote on a proposed Syrian resolution
condemning an Israeli air raid on a purported
Palestinian training base nowthwest of Damascus,
until Monday afternoon at the earliest.

The Security Council met in an
emergency session Sunday after
Syria complained that the air
raid threatened regional peace
and stability.

U.S. diplomats said the
resolution text, which made no
reference to attacks on Israel,
would not be adopted in its

current form.

Israel continues "to flout the Charter of the
United Nations to the point that Arabs and many
people across the globe feel that Israel is
above the law," Syrian UN Ambassador Fayssal
Mekdad said at the meeting and called for an
immediate vote on the resolution.

Syria, the only Arab country on the council, was
seeking a resolution from the 15-member council
condemning the Israeli air strike and calling
on Israel to halt actions that could result in
"uncalculated consequences that would endanger
the peace in the region."

Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman, speaking after
Mekdad, accused Syria of
providing "safe harbor, training facilities,
funding, logistical support" to terrorist
organizations.

He said it was ironic that Syria which Israel
accuses of harboring terrorists, should call
for a meeting to condemn the attack and
compared it to Osama bin Laden demanding a
Security Council meeting after the Sept. 11
attacks.

Gillerman also expressed anger that the meeting
was called just before the holiest Jewish
holiday, Yom Kippur.

U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte did not directly
condemn the Israel airstrike, but instead
called on "all sides to avoid heightening
tensions and to think carefully about the
consequences of their actions."

He blamed Syria for harboring terrorists.

"The United States believes that Syria is on the
wrong of the side of the war on terrorism," he
said. "We believe it is in Syria's interest,
and in the broader interest of Middle East
peace, for Syria to stop harboring and
supporting the groups that perpetrate acts such
as the one that occurred yesterday."

Other council diplomats condemned both Israel's
airstrike in Syria as well as the bombing in
Haifa, although they said Israel's retaliation
action was not justified.

"We think this attack is an unacceptable
violation of the international law," said
France's Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere.

Britain's Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said,
"Israel's action today is unacceptable and
represents an escalation."

"Israel should not allow its justified anger at
continuing terrorism to lead to actions that
undermine both the peace process and we believe
Israel's own interests," he added.

Jones Parry, however, also sounded a sympathetic
note for Israel.

"We have to recognize that terrorists are
continuing to attack Israel and are being
permitted to do so," he said. "Allowing
impunity to those committed to using terrorism
as a political instrument serves only to
undermine peace and prevent progress in the
Middle East progress."

Pakistan's Ambassador Munir Akram also called
Israel's attack "a violation of international
law."

"We urge the council to speedily adopt the
decision to condemn this military aggression
and to uphold the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic," he
said.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the
air strike, and a statement from his office
said the UN chief was concerned that the
"escalation of an already tense and difficult
situation has the potential to broaden the
scope of current conflicts in the Middle
East."

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa lodged
his country's complaint to Annan and the
president of the Security Council, which is the
United States during the month of October.

In a letter, al-Sharaa urged the Security
Council to "immediately hold a session to
discuss the Israeli aggression against Syrian
territories and the measures the council ought
to take to deter the Israeli government from
following a provocative, aggressive policy
against Syria."

"Syria is not incapable of creating a resisting
and deterring balance that forces Israel to
review its" actions, the letter said.

Al-Sharaa urged the Security Council to
"condemn, deter and prevent the repetition of
this dangerous development that threatens
regional and international security and
stability."

Israeli warplanes hit terrorist camp in Syria
Israeli warplanes attacked an alleged training
camp used by a number of anti-Israeli and
Islamic militant groups on the Syria-Lebanon
border on Sunday, in retaliation for a suicide
bombing that killed 19 people in Israel.

It was the first time in decades that Israel has
carried out strikes inside Syria.

The U.S. called for restraint on all sides on
Sunday. "We urge all sides to exercise
restraint and to keep in mind the consequences
of their actions," the State Department said in
a statement.

The State Department added that extremist
groups, including Islamic Jihad, were present
in Syria and it described Syria as a state
sponsor of terror.

Meanwhile, a senior aide to Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon said that Israel could launch new
attacks on Syria if Damascus continues to
shelter terrorist organizations.

In a statement reporting the raid, the Israel
Defense Forces said air forces carried out the
attack "deep inside Syrian territory."

The IDF statement said "the army has started
operating against those behind the attack,
those who support (terror) and those who use
the strategy of terror in order to harm
citizens of Israel."

Syria said on Sunday the Israeli airstrike had
targeted a civilian site near Damascus in a
"grave escalation" of tensions in the Middle
East.

In a letter to the United Nations seen by
Reuters, Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara said
Syria was capable of deterring Israel but would
exercise restraint over the raid. He also
called for an immediate Security Council
session to discuss the Israeli action.

But UN sources said that it had yet to receive
the letter.

A diplomatic source said that Syria plans to ask
the United Nations Security Council to hold a
special session to discuss the attack. "I
think
they will make an official complaint," the
source said.

A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said the
"urgent complaint ... will clarify (Syria's)
position" to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
and the UN Security Council.

George Jabbour, a member of Syria's parliament,
ruled out a military response, saying Syria
will have to deal rationally with the attack.
"The military option has conditions, among them
that it be beneficial" to Syria, said Jabbour.

Military responses have not always proved to be
of benefit to Syria, he said. Israel has
military might, and Syria has a strong legal
position, said Jabbour.

Palestinian sources in Beirut said Israeli
warplanes raided a facility belonging to Ahmed
Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP), injuring one man. In addition
to PFLP members, terrorists from Islamic Jihad,
Hamas and al Qaeda also utilized the camp for
training. Among the buildings hit in the raid
was a weapons workshop used by Islamic Jihad.

Military sources said that the base was selected
as a target because of the central role that
Islamic Jihad played in the Haifa bombing. The
decision to carry out the raid was made in
response to the bombing 12 hours earlier in
Haifa.

"The Islamic Jihad, like other terror
organisations ... enjoys the support and
backing of countries in the region - foremost
Iran and Syria," the army statemebnt said.

"Syria is a country that sponsors terror and
constantly tries to sabotage any attempt to
achieve quiet and stability in the region.
Israel will not accept the rules of the game
that the terrorists are trying to dictate, and
will act with determination against all who
harm its citizens, in accordance with the right
to self defense and defense of the state."

Undated footage of the camp released by the IDF
and taken from Iranian television shows a
military officer conducting a tour of the camp.
In one room were displayed hundreds of weapons,
including grenades with Hebrew markings and
other weapons apparently captured from Israel.
Another scene showed a series of underground
tunnels packed with arms and ammunition.

Syrian surprise
Syrian commentators expressed surprise at the
Israeli strike, since Damascus has repeatedly
claimed that it does not have any Islamic Jihad
training bases on it soil. Syrian sources say
that Israel is ‘playing with fire,; and
that the situation could rapidly deteriorate
into regional conflict. There has been no
official Syrian reaction to the attack.

Speaking on the al-Jazeera television network,
Abu Emad El-Refaei, an Islamic Jihad spokesman
in Beirut, Lebanon, denied that there were any
Islamic Jihad bases in Syria.

"We do not have any training camps or bases in
Syria or any other country," he said. "All our
bases are inside the Palestinian occupied
territories."

A senior commander for the radical
Damascus-based Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine-General Command told The
Associated Press in Damascus that the camp was
one of their deserted bases, not on an Islamic
Jihad camp. A civilian guard was injured in the
attack, the commander said.

Syrian sources believe that the attack was
carried out by IAF warplanes flying low over
Lebanese territory and then crossing into
Syria.

According to the Syrians, the camp was populated
by civilians unconnected to any terror group.
Damascus will now turn to diplomatic channel in
response to the raid, including a request for
the UN Security Council to condemn Israel.

'Axis of terror between Tehran, Damascus and
Gaza'
"We will not tolerate the continuation of this
axis of terror between Tehran, Damascus and
Gaza to continue to operate and kill innocent
men, women and children," Raanan Gissin, a
spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told
CNN.

Israel could launch new attacks on Syria if the
country continues to shelter "terrorist
organisations who are preparing anti-Israeli
attacks," he added. "The operation that took
place early morning today was intended to send
that message off to Syria as well to the
leaders of the Islamic Jihad and Hamas."

Israel had not yet determined if any people were
killed, Gissin said. "This was a measured
response," he said. "We did not attack Syrian
targets, but very specific camps used to train
the terrorists."

The last similar raid was on April 16, 2001,
when IAF warplanes blasted a Syrian radar
station in Lebanon, where Syria is the main
power broker, killing three Syrian soldiers.
That strike was the first in five years against
the Syrian military and came in retaliation for
an attack by Syrian-backed guerrillas in which
an Israeli soldier was killed.

Syria closed the offices of both Hamas and
Islamic Jihad after the U.S. invasion of Iraq
out of fear it could be the next nation
targeted by the United States.

The U.S. had been pushing Syria to act further
and expell Hamas and Islamic Jihad leader, but
Syria has refused.

Western diplomats say Syria is loathe to be seen
as betraying the Palestinian cause, and it also
does not want to give up one of the few
bargaining chips it still has in negotiations
with Israel.

Despite Syrian denials, the diplomats say Hamas
and Islamic Jihad leaders in Syria give
directions to the groups' members in the West
Bank and Gaza.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak condemned the
strike on Sunday, and visiting German
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said it was "not
acceptable."

"We condemn what happened today concerning the
aggression against a brotherly state under the
pretext that some organisations exist there,"
Mubarak said in a joint news conference with
Schroeder.

Bomber's home razed
Before dawn on Sunday, IDF troops demolished the
Jenin home of 29-year-old Hanadi Jaradat, the
Jenin woman who carried out the deadly attack
in a crowded beachfront restauramt in Haifa.

In a statement confirming the demolition, an IDF
spokesman said that the demolition of
terrorists' homes sends out a message to
militants and those who assist them that their
actions carry a price that will be paid by all
those who collaborate in such activities. The
IDF will continue to use all legal measures at
its disposal in order to target terrorists, the
statement read.

Earlier, IAF helicopters attacked two targets in
the Gaza Strip and Israel Defense Forces troops
returned to the West Bank city of Jenin late
Saturday night after 19 people were killed when
a suicide bomber blew herself up in a Haifa
restaurant earlier in the day.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz conferred Saturday
night with Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon and
other security officials, and subsequently
ordered the IDF to undertake a number of steps.


These responses, security sources said, will
involve stepped up IDF activity in seam areas
and their aim will be to stop terrorists from
crossing in border areas where there are no
fences. Selective assassinations of top Hamas
and Islamic Jihad men in the Gaza Strip could
also be resumed after a hiatus of a few weeks,
the security sources added.

Israeli helicopters fired two missiles at a
small, empty house near the beach in Gaza City
early Sunday, and helicopters also fired
missiles in a Gaza refugee camp, witnesses
said.

The house is near the Gaza beach and Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat's residence, the witnesses
said. Arafat has not been in Gaza for nearly
two years.

The house belonged to the Kanita family, one of
Gaza's largest, but it was empty at the time of
the attack. Mohammed Kanita, a member of the
family, said it had been uninhabited for a long
time. There was no furniture in the house.

Ambulances arrived at the scene, but there were
no casualties. Large crowds of people gathered
at the scene, witnesses said.

The large family has representation in all of
the main Palestinian groups, including the
violent Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Palestinians
said.

A few minutes later, Israeli helicopters fired
three missiles at militants near a house in the
Boureij refugee camp in central Gaza, residents
said. The house belonged to an Islamic Jihad
leader, Morshet Shahin, but residents said he
escaped the attack. No casualties were
reported, but some damage was caused.

The Gaza missile strike followed a meeting
between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and top
military and security officers, discussing a
response to the suicide bombing. No decisions
were announced.

The witnesses said one missile sent smoke rising
above the city, the biggest in the Gaza Strip,
but could not immediately say what the targets
were and had no word of any casualties or
damage.

Late Saturday night, IDF troops returned to
Jenin and imposed a curfew, only days after
Golani troops stationed in the West Bank city
had left. Palestinian sources said Saturday
that the IDF imposed a curfew on Jenin and its
refugee camp, and beefed up forces around the
city.