One of those 'sky is falling' or 'hell is freezing over' events.........

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - One of those 'sky is falling' or 'hell is freezing over' events.........

Posted: 9/20/2005 1:51:25 PM EDT

If this goes through, I'd laugh so hard..... you'd DEFINITELY see pigs flying outside!

Israel to seek UN Security Council seat for the first time in 2017
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associat

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Tuesday that Israel will seek a seat on the UN Security Council for the first time, another sign of Israel's improved ties with the United Nations.

Shalom told the General Assembly that a seat on the most powerful UN decision-making body would help Israel "take its rightful place, as a country with full and equal rights in this institution."

Israel's relationship with the United Nations, long strained, has improved in the last year with a seminar to address anti-Semitism, and a special General Assembly session to commemorate the 67th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps.

That new warmth culminated in June when Israel was elected one of 21 vice-presidents for the 60th General Assembly session. While seemingly a small step, the move had symbolic resonance because Israel had long been denied a presence on key UN bodies.

The earliest Israel can vie for one of 10 rotating spots on the 15-member council is 2017, Israeli mission spokeswoman Anat Friedman said. The nonpermanent seats are divided among regional groups and usually determined well in advance.

Despite an improved atmosphere, it's still likely that many Arab and Islamic states would still bridle at Israel getting a Security Council seat and probably try to block the move.

"It's not going to be easy, but we hope it will be reachable," Friedman said.

During his address to the General Assembly, Shalom said that the iron curtain between Israel and the Arab world is falling.

"These are optimistic times in the Middle East. The iron curtain that has defined Israel's relations with most of the Arab and Muslim world for generations is coming down," he said.

He also said that if Arab states want to contribute to the peace process, they must realize that ties with Israel are critical.

He said contacts between Israel and Arab and Muslim countries would help make the Middle East "a region of tolerance and cooperation," giving a boost to moderates over extremists, "whose violence has set the agenda for so long."

"Today I call on my Arab and Muslim colleagues to bring our contacts out into the light of day, so that our peoples may understand our shared desire to work with each other, to bring peace and prosperity to our region," Shalom added.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, chaired Tuesday's General Assembly session, marking the first time in 40 years that an Israeli envoy has done so.

The symbolic honor coincided with Shalom's address, and Gillerman invited Shalom to the podium.

Gillerman was elected as a vice president of the General Assembly but has never yet chaired a session. The last time the Israeli ambassador chaired a session was in 1963.

The move could be seen as another sign of the thaw in the relations between Israel and the Muslim states, since the General Assembly has historically been a platform for resolutions condemning Israel's policies.

Posted: 9/20/2005 3:55:13 PM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:
If this goes through, I'd laugh so hard..... you'd DEFINITELY see ~~pigs~~ sheep flying outside!

Kosher, dude, kosher!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - One of those 'sky is falling' or 'hell is freezing over' events.........

General » General Discussion

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