Thursday, January 22, 2009

Taking a Stand at the UN

This is old news now that the latest round of fighting in Gaza has ended, but I still want to say that Canada should be commended for taking a stand against lunacy at the UN. Almost two weeks ago, the Globe and Mail Reported:

Canada was the sole member of the UN Human Rights Council to vote against a resolution, which passed in a 33-1 vote, condemning Israel over its actions in Gaza.

The vote crystallized Canada’s emergence under Stephen Harper’s government as one of Israel’s firmest supporters. At a meeting in Geneva, Canada asked for a recorded vote to emphasize its complaint that the resolution drafted by Arab, Asian and African countries did not recognize that Israel acted to stop Hamas rocket attacks.

European countries abstained, along with Japan and South Korea, because they felt the resolution lacked balance - it gave only brief mention to rocket attacks. Neither Israel nor the United States are in the 47-member council.

That's leadership. Not only was Canada the only country to take a forceful stand against a flawed resolution, we forced the recorded vote to make other countries take a position. Well done, and even though it's an old story. I still feel proud to be Canadian.

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