The UN Security Council must do its part to avoid a major crisis in the Middle East by compelling Israel to stop its offensive in Gaza, the Palestinians' UN observer has said.So the Arab League is holding a meeting "behind closed doors." This is a clever move by the bunch of dictators. That way the Israelis have to keep guessing what they are actually saying. That is until one of the Arab reps phones the Israelis and tells them what they were saying. The Arab League has a few options here as we see. They can say but do nothing. They can get the Security Council to say but do nothing. Or they can just do nothing. Israel must be terrified.
Riyad Mansour yesterday called the standoff over a kidnapped Israeli soldier in Gaza "critical," and urged the international community to help keep Israel and the Palestinians - as well as the entire Middle East - from "plunging into an irrevocable cycle of violence."
The council cannot abandon its responsibility "in the face of this rising threat to the already too fragile, tense and instable security situation in the Middle East," Mansour wrote in a letter to France's ambassador, who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for July.
Mansour did not say how he believes the council should act, but there is little it can do besides pass a resolution that would condemn Israel for its offensive.
The letter was delivered as the Arab League, the pan-Arab organisation, held a closed-door meeting at the UN to discuss whether to seek just such a Security Council resolution.
If the crisis becomes urgent enough, the lone Arab nation on the council, Qatar, could demand Security Council consultations immediately - possibly even today when the United Nations will be closed for the US Independence Day holiday.
July 04, 2006
Israel trembles as Arab League holds a meeting
Israel now knows the meaning of the word "terror". Look at this from the Hindu Times:
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