Fuck what's on my feet this time!!

[phreddd]

If this is for real, we're in trouble (Thanks to kevynjacobs for bringing this to my attention.)...

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/06/07/us-reportedly-pulls.html

Comments

[kauko.livejournal.com]

From my understanding the US refused a seat on that council when it was formed in 2006 largely due to the UN's record of focusing all its human rights criticisms on Israel while completely ignoring the gross violations in places like China, North Korea, many Middle Eastern countries, etc. I can't say as I blame the US for not taking a seat. I mean China is on the Human Rights Council and it has one of the worst human rights records in the world, so can it really be a fair council?

[phreddd.livejournal.com]

Good, strong point... but if you're not in a position to even be yelled at for it, then how does anyone know there's a serious issue to fix sometimes?

As always, the choice seems to be between two fair-sized evils...

[kevynjacobs.livejournal.com]

Does the organization need reform? Sure.

But the U.S.'s refusal to participate -- even though it is a massive human rights violator itself -- sends a message to the world: "We don't care about human rights."

That scares me, in light of Iraq, Guantanamo, the recent boycott of the cluster bomb summit, and the general political trend of the U.S. government.

And Israel deserves most of the criticism levelled at it. That isn't to say China doesn't, of course. But Israel's not a victim, here... humanity is.

[kauko.livejournal.com]

Israel is a victim when it receives ALL of the Human Rights Council's attention and the world's other violators get none, even Kofi Annan criticised the Human Rights Council for "disproportionate focus on violations by Israel" while neglecting other parts of the world such as Darfur, which had what he termed "graver" crises. In another speech he noted the Commission's "disproportionate focus on violations by Israel. Not that Israel should be given a free pass. Absolutely not. But the Council should give the same attention to grave violations committed by other states as well."

So if the council makes the conscious decision to focus ONLY on Israel, how is that fair, how is Israel not a victim when neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia are on that council and driving it to focus only on Israel to cover up their own human right's violation.

Israel is a victim not because it shouldn't be held to the same standards as every other country but because its being singled out as the only reciepient of the council's condemnations for purely political reasons.

[kevynjacobs.livejournal.com]

So, the council (fairly or unfairly) focuses too much attention on Israel.

How does the U.S. throwing a Cartman and saying "screw you guys, I'm going home" help the situation?

And I am not holding my breath for the United States to hold Israel to account for its misdeeds, since it won't even take responsibility for its own.

Just for the record: I do not believe peace is possible in Palestine/Israel until a secular one-state solution is achieved.