Israel Wants Seat on U.N. Security Council

[King_David]

Israel said on Thursday it plans to run for a rotating seat on the U.N. Security Council for the time ever for 2019-2020, although U.N. diplomats said it will not be easy for the Jewish state to win.

“We’re going all out to win,” Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Ron Prosor told Reuters. “It’s about time.”

Winning a Security Council seat requires a two-thirds majority in the 193-nation General Assembly. Candidates are proposed by the five regional groups but election to the council is done by the full assembly.

Prosor said Israel will be vying against Germany and Belgium for two seats allotted to the “Western European and Others Group.” Technically Israel should be a member of the Asia-Pacific Group along with the other states in the Middle East. But predominantly Muslim states blocked its admission to that group.

In 2000 Israel was admitted to the Western European and Others Group, which includes the United States, on a temporary basis. In 2004 its membership in that group was permanently renewed.


Read more: http://forward.com/articles/185012/israel-wants-seat-on-un-security-council/#ixzz2gpOMXdSz

[King_David]

1. a few past members

1985 {name change:
Burkina [Faso]} Madagascar Egypt India Thailand Trinidad & Tobago Peru the Ukraine Denmark Australia
1986 Ghana Madagascar Congo the United Arab Emirates Thailand Trinidad & Tobago Venezuela Bulgaria Denmark Australia
1987 Ghana Zambia Congo the United Arab Emirates Japan Argentina Venezuela Bulgaria Italy West Germany
1988 Senegal Zambia Algeria Nepal Japan Argentina Brazil Yugoslavia Italy West Germany
1989 Senegal Ethiopia Algeria Nepal Malaysia Colombia Brazil Yugoslavia Finland Canada
1990 the Côte d'Ivoire Ethiopia Zaïre Southern Yemen Malaysia Colombia Cuba Romania Finland Canada
1991 the Côte d'Ivoire Zimbabwe Zaïre {name change:
Yemen} India Ecuador Cuba Romania Belgium Austria
1992 Cape Verde Zimbabwe Morocco Japan India Ecuador Venezuela Hungary Belgium Austria
1993 Cape Verde Djibouti Morocco Japan Pakistan Brazil Venezuela Hungary Spain New Zealand
1994 Nigeria Djibouti Rwanda Oman Pakistan Brazil Argentina the Czech Republic Spain New Zealand
1995 Nigeria Botswana Rwanda Oman Indonesia Honduras Argentina the Czech Republic Italy Germany
1996 Guinea-Bissau Botswana Egypt South Korea Indonesia Honduras Chile Poland Italy Germany
1997 Guinea-Bissau Kenya Egypt South Korea Japan Costa Rica Chile Poland Portugal Sweden
1998 the Gambia Kenya Gabon Bahrain Japan Costa Rica Brazil Slovenia Portugal Sweden
1999 the Gambia Namibia Gabon Bahrain Malaysia Argentina Brazil Slovenia the Netherlands Canada
2000 Mali Namibia Tunisia Bangladesh Malaysia Argentina Jamaica Ukraine the Netherlands Canada
2001 Mali Mauritius Tunisia Bangladesh Singapore Colombia Jamaica Ukraine Ireland Norway
2002 Cameroon Mauritius Guinea Syria Singapore Colombia Mexico Bulgaria Ireland Norway
2003 Cameroon Angola Guinea Syria Pakistan Chile Mexico Bulgaria Spain Germany
2004 Benin Angola Algeria the Philippines Pakistan Chile Brazil Romania Spain Germany
2005 Benin Tanzania Algeria the Philippines Japan Argentina Brazil Romania Denmark Greece
2006 Congo Tanzania Ghana Qatar Japan Argentina Peru Slovakia Denmark Greece
2007 Congo South Africa Ghana Qatar Indonesia Panama Peru Slovakia Belgium Italy
2008 Burkina Faso South Africa Libya Vietnam Indonesia Panama Costa Rica Croatia Belgium Italy
2009 Burkina Faso Uganda Libya Vietnam Japan Mexico Costa Rica Croatia Austria Turkey
2010 Gabon Uganda Nigeria Lebanon Japan Mexico Brazil Bosnia & Herzegovina Austria Turkey
2011 Gabon South Africa Nigeria Lebanon India Colombia Brazil Bosnia & Herzegovina Germany Portugal
2012 Togo South Africa Morocco Pakistan India Colombia Guatemala Azerbaijan Germany Portugal
2013 Togo Rwanda Morocco Pakistan South Korea Argentina Guatemala Azerbaijan Luxembourg Australia

[Downwinder]

2. Shouldn't they be compliant with Security Council Resolutions

to hold a seat?

[BlueMTexpat]

3. I don't believe that they are asking

not to be compliant. They will just do more campaigning for a seat than they have done in the past.

It's just that Israel will likely not win one of the rotating seats, considering the other nations in their region that are already part of the Perm 5 and who are considered more friendly than not towards Israel (the US, the UK & France). Other non-Perm 5 members in their region also have more political and economic clout and - especially - have more advocates among UN member nations generally for the rotating seats.

The US (a Perm 5 member) is seen by much of the globe as already representing/advocating Israel's interests. Until there is actually a visible "decoupling" of US and Israeli policy as regards the Palestinians in particular or until Israel's policies towards its Israeli Arab minority (a definite subclass of citizen) and towards Palestine change, Israel will continue to have few friends in the developing world. That is a fact.

[Downwinder]

4. Would you appoint a felon to a Judicial position?

[BlueMTexpat]

6. I don't believe that is quite the issue here.

The rotating seats are elective positions.

There are quite a few felons worldwide - unfortunately.

[Shaktimaan]

22. No.

But I would not take away his right to vote either.

This isn't a judicial chair. It's a seat at a UN institution where member states are supposedly treated equally. For decades Israel has been disallowed entry to its regional group from which all potential SC seats are chosen, effectively making it the sole UN member state with fewer rights than any of the others.

The UN's purpose is to foment peace through use of a forum for everyone. It's not a court to award power as a gift for the most popular or the most law-abiding state. And even if it was, Israel's biggest crime is being unpopular, respective to the horrors perpetrated weekly by other states who are welcomed to serve at the UN in any capacity.

[shira]

5. China, Russia, and Pakistan are currently on. How are they compliant with UNSCR's?

Beacons of light like Syria, Libya, and Mauritania have also served.

[BlueMTexpat]

7. China and Russia are part of the Perm 5.

Their seats are never up for election.

As for the other nations that you mention, they were elected from the regions to which they are assigned. They do not belong to the European region. Israel does.

Israel should by rights have belonged to a different region, but that region refused. It's explained in the article.

[shira]

8. The poster I'm responding to has different standards for different nations....

Israel is non-compliant in his view, as opposed to serial human rights abusers like Pakistan, Mauritania, Libya, Sudan, and Syria. I highly doubt our friend has a problem with any of those countries.

[BlueMTexpat]

9. Sorry if I misunderstood.

I was thinking of non-compliance meaning that Israel was angling for some waiver that would allow it a better chance of being elected to a UNSC seat. That is clearly not the case.

If the poster's meaning was for non-compliance with UNSC resolutions, yes, I agree that there are indeed other nations that are considered to be non-compliant with various UNSCRs and that are still elected to UNSC seats. Most other such cases, however, do not involve functioning democracies.

Nations can - and do - hold those nations that pride themselves on being functioning democracies to higher standards. Whether that is fair or not, it is also a fact.

I have problems with any and all countries - including the US - where human rights abuses are concerned.

[Scootaloo]

10. And you responded with something almost as silly as the "flotilla to Tibet" thing

Sticking with Pakistan, you could have made the point clear enough. Throwing in Russia or China (or for that matter, the US, UK, or France, being 'western' is surely no mark of the angels!) actually just engenders eye-rolling.

And just to pre-empt your finger-pointing - I don't care if Israel has a seat as an elected member of the Security Council. First off, it's actually rather meaningless, since any of the Permanant Five can just shoot down anything anyway. In Israel's case, it's even redundant, since the US' veto on the permanent seats means Israel is at liberty to basically do whatever the fuck it wants anyway.

[shira]

15. It's posts like these from you that make me call bullshit on your activism

Israel is clearly discriminated against at the UN and you'd have us believe that one nation for all its people is what you want most from I/P. When you couldn't care less about Israel's status at the UN it just goes to show you're all bullshit. The UN should be an institution for all its nations. It's clearly not. I call bullshit on you once again. Your hatred is palpable. This isn't about being fair, just, or humane. How many different ways does this have to be proven to you?

[Scootaloo]

16. I think you misunderstood

What I said is that I don't care if Israel has a seat on the Security Council. I'm not opposed to it, but nor do I see it as an imperative. This is because the elected members of the council are essentially just for show, a facade used by the five unelected nations whose votes are the only ones that count, to claim the council remains democratic, when it very certainly isn't at all democratic.

Basically, it's like this.

If Israel gets elected onto the Security council: Okay.
If Israel does not get elected onto the Security council: Okay.

I just don't see it as a big deal either way. If Israel is elected, good for it, it has a prestigious, if relatively meaningless position for two years. if it doesn't get elected, then it will be among the 178 electable states that did not get elected.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

11. Perhaps if they want to sit at the table then they should act

less like prison guards over a captive population.

[King_David]

12. No one would ever allow a Jewish State a seat at the table,

Ever....no matter what.

You are correct, it is pointless.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

13. Cry me a river. Until Israel stops acting like a prison state they will continue to be in the pickle

That they are in.

And there will continue to be hasbara propaganda to paint Israel as the victims while they continue to victimize.

[King_David]

14. The Jewish state was never ever

Acceptable pre post and intermediate to 1967,1948,1930,2020,1800

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

18. Do you ever stop with the excuses? Nobody that is credible believes it.

Israeli apologists should stop with the lousy excuses for apartheid and take fekking responsibility for once.

[shira]

17. Syria, Libya, Sudan, Mauritania, & Pakistan have served on the UNSC....

They're about a million times worse than Israel could ever be, but they're allowed. Unlike every other nation on the planet, Israel wasn't allowed on UN committees pre- 1967 either. So this has nothing to do with the occupation or settlements. Look it up if you don't believe me. It's always been like this with discrimination and apartheid vs. Israel at the UN but you don't care.

So you support apartheid at the UN vs. Israel while pretending to selectively and hypocritically condemn it when it suits you in your demonization efforts.

I'm sure you also support a future Palestine that will be Jew-free, just as Mahmoud Abbas and his US Ambassador have stated.

You support these things, don't you?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

19. If Israel ended apartheid then I bet they would get what they ask for.

As long as they keep the practices of brute-force colonialism going they won't. As long as their cheer leaders and apologistas keep the distraction cycle going then they get what they deserve as well.

[shira]

20. So you support the UN's bigoted discrimination & apartheid policy vs. Israel....

Last edited Sun Oct 6, 2013, 03:17 PM - Edit history (1)

...while you cry and scream about apartheid vs. Palestinians.....but only when Israel can be blamed, not Hamas or Lebanon's racist/apartheid policies vs. Palestinians.



It's stupid shit like this that explains why you have more in common on I/P with racists like Pat Buchanan and David Duke than any current Dems in congress or the senate.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

21. Everybody seems to be a racist, bigot or anti-Semite to some...

Now lets get back to Israeli brute-force colonialism and how it hurts its reputation at the UN.


That's the real issue, Shira, and not your made-up phantoms and imaginations.


Deal. With. It.

[shira]

24. It's hypocrisy to the max for you to cry apartheid when you're a cheerleader for it....

....against Israel at the UN.

No other nation is discriminated (kept out of committees, attacked more than the worst nations combined) like Israel at the UN.

It's bigotry, and you're all in favor of it.

I call bullshit on your anti-apartheid advocacy here...

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

25. ...

[shira]

26. That's a fitting response to remember next time u bring up apartheid.

What's sauce for the goose...

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

33. ....

I don't really care about your rants, smokescreens, or runarounds Shira.

Go cry in a corner.

[shira]

34. Why do u think anyone cares about your fraudulent anti-apartheid advocacy....

...when u r such an avid supporter of apartheid policy?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

35. Becasue watching you type "word salad" leaves much to be desired.

[shira]

36. Okay, then... Great talk. n/t

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

37. Yes, my talk can be that at times.

Yours? Not so much.

Thanks for your usual smoke and BS. I'm sure the DU readers cherish it so.

It shows them the difference between substance and sub par.

[shira]

38. Yes, you're a legend in your own mind. I'm in total awe of the superior intellect. n/t

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

39. "I'm in total awe of the superior intellect."

You're welcome.

[shira]

23. Saudi Arabia Wins Security Council Seat for First Time

At least 11 EU states voted for Wahabi regime



http://www.unwatch.org/cms.asp?id=4720424&campaign_id=63111

One of the very worst hell holes in the world for human rights, now on the Security Council.

And Chad, not too much better, is also on the Council as well.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Israel-Brigade cheers on discriminatory, antisemitic UN apartheid measures making it impossible for Israel to ever serve on the UNSC.

[azurnoir]

27. Saudi Arabia declines Security Council seat, citing failure to tackle conflict

U.S.-allied Saudi Arabia has been angry over what it says is the failure of the international community to help either Syrian rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad or Palestinians seeking an end to more than four decades of Israeli occupation.

The Security Council has been split on how to handle the civil war in Syria, with Western powers pushing for stronger sanctions against Assad and Russia vetoing resolutions to that end. Saudi Arabia has backed the rebels in that conflict.

The Saudis, along with other Arab states, have also often criticised the United States for blocking international action to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands seized in the 1967 Middle East war.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/18/uk-saudi-securitycouncil-idUKBRE99H06Q20131018

hat tip here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014624471

[oberliner]

28. Thoughts?

Valid points?

[azurnoir]

29. to take a word from you - irony

actually when I read the headline my first reaction was to sort laugh, or come again !???!!!? or I was surprised

[oberliner]

30. Has this ever happened before?

A country refusing a seat on the UN Security Council? I've done a little digging online but haven't found any.

[azurnoir]

31. I don't know but it sort of seems SA doesn't like the way

the big kids play or something and ya know perhaps the veto power should be discontinued because the it renders the UNSC rather useless on important issues not just I/P

[oberliner]

32. US, Japan, Germany, UK, France

Without those countries, there would be no UN. They fund about 70 percent of the budget (US bearing a significant higher percentage than the others).