[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 170 (Friday, November 21, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15475-S15476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS
______
SENATE RESOLUTION 271--URGING THE PRESIDENT AND THE UNITED STATES
DIPLOMATIC CORPS TO DISSUADE MEMBER STATES OF THE UNITED NATIONS FROM
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
Mr. COLEMAN (for himself, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Voinovich, and Mr.
Lautenberg) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to
the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Res. 271
Whereas the United Nations General Assembly and United
Nations Security Council have over a period of many years
engaged in a pattern of introducing and enacting measures and
resolutions unfairly castigating and condemning the state of
Israel;
Whereas despite the myriad of challenges facing the world
community, the United Nations General Assembly has devoted a
disproportionate amount of time and resources to castigating
Israel;
Whereas during the fifty-seventh session of the United
Nations General Assembly, the General Assembly adopted a
total of 69 resolutions by roll call vote, 22 of which
related to Israel;
Whereas many member states of the United Nations General
Assembly continue to engage in a discriminatory campaign
against Israel, including enacting on October 21, 2003 a
resolution that condemns Israeli security measures without
proportional condemnation of terrorist attacks launched
against Israel;
Whereas the discriminatory voting patterns in the United
Nations have historically been driven by voting blocs and
ideological divides originating from Cold War rivalries that
are obsolete in the post-Cold War period; and
Whereas in the post-Cold War geopolitical environment, the
United States has a special responsibility to promote fair
and equitable treatment of all nations in the context of
international institutions, including the United Nations:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate urges the President and all
members of the United States diplomatic corps--
(1) to dissuade member states of the United Nations from
voting in support of General Assembly resolutions that
unfairly castigate Israel; and
(2) to promote within the United Nations General Assembly
more balanced and constructive approaches to resolving
conflict in the Middle East.
Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, today I am proud to submit, along with my
good friend and colleague Senator Corzine, a bipartisan resolution
dealing with the unfair treatment of Israel at the United Nations.
For too long, Israel has been singled out for castigation by the
United Nations General Assembly. Israeli defensive actions are
condemned, while terrorism against Israeli civilians goes largely
unnoticed. There are whole bodies designed to do nothing but produce
anti-Israel materials. There is a Division of Palestinian Rights which
sits at the same level in the U.N. organization as a single division
for the Americas and Europe, a single division for Asia and the
Pacific, and two Africa divisions. Of all the resolutions adopted by
rollcall vote at the last session of the UN General Assembly, one-third
singled out Israel.
Let me be clear on this point: I do think it is appropriate to help
the Palestinian people, and I do share President Bush's vision of two
states living side by side in peace.
But for the United Nations to spend so much of its time on this one
crisis, with an unbalanced approach, ultimately undermines its ability
to contribute constructively to the peace process. To accord the
Palestinian people--however serious their problems are the same level
of attention as entire continents is inappropriate in a world where
there are so many other oppressed groups and nations. Why is there no
Division of Tibetan Rights? Why no Division of Chechen Rights?
If you look at the General Assembly voting records, there are too
many one-sided resolutions dealing with Israel that pass with only a
handful of negative votes--cast by the U.S., Israel, Micronesia, the
Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau. Last Friday, I was pleased to note
Australia joined us as well.
The good news is that we are starting to see some progress. A joint
U.S.-European-Israeli effort to consolidate seven resolutions on UNRWA
into one resolution recently was a good start. The resolution was
passed out of the committee by a vote of 109 to 0, albeit with 54
abstentions. True, several superfluous resolutions on UNRWA were also
approved by the committee. But this year, it was five resolutions
instead of seven.
When the U.S., Europe, and Israel can work together on a resolution
dealing with Palestinian refugees--and one that is passed without any
negative votes--we get a glimpse of the U.N.'s potential for bringing
parties together.
I would be remiss if I did not commend the work of U.S. diplomats,
and applaud their increased attention to this issue. This resolution
gives them a tool to use with their diplomatic counterparts--a strong
statement from the U.S. Senate that we are paying attention to these
votes, and that we support a more balanced approach toward the Middle
East at the United Nations.
It should be a goal we can all agree upon. By reducing the number of
anti-Israel resolutions passed by the General Assembly, the United
Nations can live up to the promise of its charter: ``to practice
tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good
neighbors.''
Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, today, along with Senators Coleman,
Lautenberg and Voinovich, I am submitting a resolution to address a
serious and persistent problem: the unfair and inequitable treatment of
Israel in the United
[[Page S15476]]
Nations. The resolution urges the President and all members of the
United States diplomatic corps to dissuade member states of the United
Nations from voting in support of General Assembly 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.
On October 21, 2003, the United Nations General Assembly ratified a
resolution condemning Israeli security measures. The resolution did not
call on the Palestinian Authority to dismantle terrorist organizations,
nor did it name those organizations. Yet it passed by a vote of 144-4,
with 12 abstentions. Other than the United States, only Micronesia, the
Marshall Islands, and Israel itself voted against the resolution.
This resolution was only the latest in a long line of General
Assembly resolutions castigating Israel with little regard to the
security threats that Israel faces. For decades, the Assembly has
devoted a disproportionate amount of time and resources to resolutions
related to Israel--conducting, for example, 22 rollcall votes on UN
General Assembly resolutions that related to Israel out of the 69 for
all of the 57th Session of the Assembly. Besides distracting the United
Nations from the countless other critical issues the world faces, these
resolutions undermine efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East by
casting blame almost entirely on one party. They are also unfair in
that they subject Israel to discriminatory treatment not accorded to
any other member state of the UN.
It is long past time for the General Assembly to stop ratifying these
biased, unproductive resolutions. Voting patterns that discriminate
against Israel appeared during the Cold War, when conflict in the
Middle East was fueled by the rivalry between the West and the Soviet
bloc. The Cold War has ended. So, too, should the polarization it
engendered. We have also seen new alliances and relationships emerge in
the global war on terrorism, and have witnessed the world come together
in condemning terrorist violence. I refer to UN Security Council
Resolution 1373, passed on September 28, 2001, which reaffirmed that
any act of international terrorism constitutes a threat to
international peace and security and called on states to work together
to prevent and suppress terrorist acts.
Resolution 1373 reminded us of what the United Nations was meant to
be--a forum for the world to come together to identify common threats
and find common ways to address them. It offered the hope of a world
united in its resolve to fight terrorism, with the United States
leading that fight--in Afghanistan and in other parts of the world
where international terrorists operate.
It is therefore with great disappointment that we witness business as
usual at the General Assembly. The spirit of unity that prevailed for a
time after September 11 has not led to a common approach to the
conflict in the Middle East, and the United States has thus far been
unable to enlist its friends and allies in its effort to ensure that
Israel is treated fairly.
Since the inception of the United Nations, the United States has
played a unique and critical role in ensuring that the U.N. lives up to
the promise of its Charter--to maintain peace and security. As the sole
remaining superpower, we have an opportunity to shape a global
consensus on terrorism and security, one that requires new, more
productive approaches to the conflict in the Middle East. This requires
that we recognize the harm that comes from repeated, biased
condemnations of a valuable ally in the United Nations General
Assembly. It also requires sustained efforts, in the United Nations and
within our bilateral and multilateral relationships, to change the
voting patterns of friends, allies, and other member states.
We must bring our own values and our own vision of peace and security
to the United Nations. Voting against resolutions that unfairly
castigate Israel is not enough, particularly when we find ourselves in
a tiny minority. We must seek to ally the world with us on this
critical matter. The resolution we are introducing today thus urges the
President and all members of the United States diplomatic corps to
dissuade member states of the United Nations from voting in support of
General Assembly resolutions that unfairly castigate Israel, and to
promote within the Nations General assembly more balanced and
constructive approaches to resolving conflict in the Middle East.
The United Nations can be--must be--a forum for defending our values.
Through committed leadership, we can begin to change how other
countries approach the General Assembly and how they vote on issues
related to the Middle East. By doing so, we will be taking an important
step toward peace.
____________________