UN endorses Goldstone Report

The United Nations General Assembly voted Thursday in favor of endorsing the Goldstone Report on the Gaza war in full – 114 states voted in favor of the report, while 18 objected and 44 abstained.

Discussions of the report, which accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes in the course of Operation Cast Lead, got underway Wednesday, with 15 envoys delivering speeches ahead of the vote.

During the past 24 hours, Arab states attempted to reach a compromise with European and other countries that were unwilling to endorse the proposal.

Western states attempted to moderate the Arab proposal but failed to do so, as the Arab bloc decided to submit the proposal for a vote as is, while taking advantage of the automatic majority possessed by Muslim and non-aligned states at the UN.

The text voted on call "requests the Secretary-General to transmit the report of the 'United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict' to the Security Council, while granting Israel and the Palestinians three months in order to launch an internal inquiry into its charges.

America's UN Envoy Susan Rice shunned the session and the United States is expected to veto the report in the Security Council later on. Israel's UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev also stayed away from the vote.

Source: YNet

PM to UN: World must rally against Iran

During General Assembly address, Netanyahu slams Ahmadinejad's Holocaust denial; 'Is this a lie?' he says while brandishing Auschwitz death camp plans. PM also criticizes UN for failing to condemn Hamas fire on Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he wants to make peace with the Palestinians and hopes the world will rally against the Iranian nuclear threat.

Speaking before the UN General Assembly in New York, Netanyahu said that "the most urgent challenge facing this body today is to prevent the tyrant of Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons."

The Iranian regime, he said, "Is motivated by fanaticism… They want to see us go back to medieval times. Perhaps some of you think that this man and his odious regime, perhaps they threaten only the Jews. Well, if you think that, you're wrong. You're dead wrong," he said.

"The struggle against Iran pits civilization against barbarism," Netanyahu told the UN. "This Iranian regime is fueled by extreme fundamentalism."

Netanyahu also addressed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust. During the speech, he waved the minutes of the Wansee Conference, in which Nazi officials planned the Final Solution. "Is this a lie? he said.

The PM also held up the architectural blueprints of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps that bear the signature of Hitler's deputy, Heinrich Himmler, which he received during a recent trip to Germany.

Source: INN

Ahmadinejad calls for 'referendum' in 'Palestine'

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday called for a "free referendum" in "Palestine," during his address to the United Nations General Assembly.

He said that such a move would allow "all Palestinians - including Christians, Muslims and Jews" to live together in peace.

The Iranian president also claimed that the "brutalities in Gaza have not all been published."

"The international community is impatiently waiting for the murderers of the defenseless people of Gaza," he said, in reference to alleged war crimes by the IDF during Operation Cast Lead.

Ahmadinejad went on to say that his country was ready to shake all hands "that are honestly extended to us."

He announced Iran's commitment to participate in building durable peace and security worldwide for all nations while defending the country's legitimate and legal rights, in an apparent reference to Iran's nuclear program, which was not mentioned in his speech.

Ahmadinejad portrayed Iran as a defender of poor developing countries, lashing out at unbridled capitalism which he said has reached the end of the road and will suffer the same fate as Marxism.

The US delegation walked out, and most of the hall was empty for the speech.

Source: JPost

Russia rejects Iran 'nuclear arms'

The Russian president has said that Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, and that the world should offer incentives to help Tehran make the "right decision".

"Our task is to maintain a system of incentives allowing Iran to use peaceful nuclear energy but [we] will not allow the creation of nuclear weapons," Dmitry Medvedev said after talks on Wednesday with his American counterpart Barack Obama.

"We believe it is necessary to help Iran make the right decision," he added after the talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

The US and Europe has long accused Tehran of using its uranium enrichment programme for the eventual production of a nuclear weapon. Iran says its programme is aimed solely towards the peaceful generation of electricity.

Medvedev appeared to suggest that Moscow was moving closer to backing fresh sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, saying that while such tactics were rarely productive they were sometimes "inevitable".

The apparent concord between Washington and Moscow on how best to address Iran's nuclear question comes days after the Obama administration announced that it would cancel plans to station missile interceptors and radar bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Russia had criticised that missile defence plan, saying that Washington was threatening its national security.

Obama said on Wednesday that Iran was running short of time in which to be open to the world on its sensitive nuclear work.

"Serious additional sanctions remain a possibility," he said, urging Tehran to "seize the opportunity" at the talks with the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany.

Obama said the extra sanctions could come into force if Iran did not respond to serious negotiations.

The US president also said he and Medvedev shared the view that the Iran nuclear issue "should be resolved diplomatically."

Moscow and Washington are considering the scope of a new treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), which expires in December.

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Source: Al Jazeera (English)

His Own Worst Enemy

BY DAVID SCHENKER

Libya’s Muammar al-Qaddafi, once a terrorism-sponsoring pariah, is on the brink of rehabilitation. Can he hold his tongue long enough to pull it off?

Today, Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi arrives in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly. Although he hasn't touched down yet, the colonel is already fraying nerves.

In the spring, with the Obama administration in the White House, the old tensions between Washington and Tripoli had started to ease. At the July summit of the G-8 in Italy, President Barack Obama and Qaddafi had one of those handshakes often described as "historic."

But, last month, Libya affronted many by giving the Lockerbie bomber a hero's welcome. (A Scottish court had convicted Abdelbaset al-Megrahi of killing 270, including 189 Americans, by blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988.

In August, a judge granted the bomber compassionate release as he is terminally ill.) More recently, the State Department has had to scramble to find appropriate accommodations for Libya's quixotic leader after New York City and New Jersey said they wouldn't allow him to pitch his tent. Most of all, workers in Foggy Bottom are wringing their hands because Qaddafi has a long history of making humiliating statements when he has an international stage.

Thus, as he arrives for a week in the Big Apple, one question looms large: Will Qaddafi restrain himself, helping foster the quiet U.S.-Libya diplomatic rapprochement, or will he let loose, shoot from the hip, and foment outrage?

European leaders have been the most recent victims of the Qaddafi treatment.

In the past two years alone, the Libyan leader has managed to embarrass French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and, most recently, Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz.

In the last case, Qaddafi upbraided Merz after Swiss authorities arrested his son, Hannibal Qaddafi, for assaulting two maids at a Geneva hotel. The Libyan colonel managed to shame Merz into traveling to Tripoli to issue a public apology -- after, allegedly, threatening to cut Libya's bank deposits and oil exports to Switzerland. With the Swiss public far from amused, Merz's humiliating actions might cost him his job.

Read more here,,,,

Source: Foreign Policy

Protest Ahmadinejad & the Killer Regime at the “Stand for Freedom in Iran Rally”

Join thousands of Americans who stand for human rights and freedom at the “Stand for Freedom in Iran Rally” as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the UN General Assembly.

Organized by the Stand for Freedom in Iran Coalition


Thursday, September 24th, 2009 12:00 noon

Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, 47th Street and 2nd Avenue
New York, New York

Source, and with thanks to Gateway Pundit

Germany Will Walk Out of U.N. if Ahmadinejad Denies Holocaust

Germany's foreign ministry is sending a clear message to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ahead of his Wednesday speech to the United Nations — don't deny the Holocaust.

If the rogue Iranian leaders does in fact make such a statement before the General Assembly, German diplomats will walk out. And Germany wants other European Union countries to follow, the foreign ministry was quoted by Reuters.

"We will leave the hall if President Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust or makes anti-Semitic statements ... we are making efforts towards a unified European position," a spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday.

As recently as last week, Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust a lie, repeating the inflammatory statement as world powers weigh how to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Stating that the Holocaust did not occur during World War Two is a crime in Germany. Last week Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier condemned Ahmadinejad's most recent denial and called him a disgrace to his country, Reuters reported.

Source: FoxNews