Last week the American delegation to the United Nations sought to have a Security Council endorsement of talks between Israel and the Palestinians. This was not run by the Israelis -- a departure from tradition and diplomatic protocol.

When Israel found this had transpired, objections were raised since Israel looks askance at Security Council pressure and saw no need for UN involvement -- which is usually biased against Israel. The measure was withdrawn after pressure from the White House.

Questions remain about the issue -- how this course of affairs came about, what motivated this departure from custom? As Rod Serling from the Twilight Zone used to intone (and the UN is the Twilight Zone) "...consider this if you will." Our Ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilizad, lionized by the New York Times[1] treasures his friendship with Lakhdar Brahimi -- a former Algerian Foreign Minister and UN employee (this friendship is highlighted in the Times article).

Brahimi has boasted he is "proud never to have shaken the hand of a Jew"[*] Sound familiar? This is how one earns respect in the Arab world. He has written and spoken against Israel repeatedly.

For example, in an interview for Belgian radio[2] he faulted the Europeans for their pro-Israel bias:

You must condemn Mr. Sharon when he assassinates people, but you keep quiet just like you keep quiet when he uproots more than a million trees in the orchards of Palestine."

He urged European listeners to be much more aggressive in pressuring Israel. "A return of peace will not happen all by itself," he said. "It will happen only with a totally different European attitude."

A day earlier, Mr. Brahimi addressed the Belgian senate, where he said that the root of international terrorism is related mostly to the Arab-Israeli conflict, according to AFP.

"What is being done to solve this problem? Not enough," he said.

The international community has too easily accepted the cynical and ridiculous viewpoint of the Israeli prime minister, who considered the late president Yasser Arafat the only person responsible for insecurity in Israel and for the plight of his own people," Mr. Brahimi told legislators.

"In fact, the Arab states have essentially abandoned the Palestinians in recent years and Europe has not yet used the considerable political influence it enjoys to advance peace," he added. "European states and public opinion do not condemn loudly enough the grave violations of the most elementary human rights in Palestine."

He also wrote this anti-Israel screed in the New York Times[3] that advocates negotiations with Hezbollah:

Israel's need for security is real and legitimate, but it will not be secured in any sustainable way at the expense of the equally real and legitimate needs and aspirations of its neighbors.

He wrote endlessly about Lebanese suffering in this op-ed (screed) without one mention of a Katushya rocket-filled with ball bearings-and aimed at civilians.

Now we find that our Ambassador to the United Nations -- who has a friendship with the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic Brahimi had been lunching[4] with anti-Israel activist George Soros as this Resolution was being introduced at the Security Council. Soros has used his wealth, in part, to fund anti-Israel groups (Human Rights Watch is just one of them). Soros is very influential in the Democratic Party and it is speculated that Khalilizad, may be angling for a continued role in the next Administration-which may be led by a Democrat.

Meeting with the eminence grise of the party, who is a fierce opponent of Israel on the verge of an act at the United Nations that was perceived to be harmful to Israel -- well, is not a very diplomatic act. We know that Soros -- deep as his tentacles are in the Democratic Party (he supports Obama and took advanatge of a loophole in Federal camapign finance law to give him outsized donations) also has a history of making friends in high places at the United Nations.

Mark Malloch Brown was the deputy to former Secretary General Kofi Annan-who tried to whitewash the UN oil-for food scandal and who derailed reform[5] at the United Nations lived in a home in suburban New York owned by Soros -- reportedly[6] at a below-market rent.

After leaving the United Nations, Brown -- with no previous noticeable history involving investing -- landed a sinecure (Vice President) at the Quantum Fund, the hedge fund run by Soros.

George Soros continues his nefarious ways.....this time with one of our highest State Department officials.

[*] From the Jerusalem Post:
"The protest comes amid revelations by UN sources that Brahimi, a UN undersecretary-general and former Foreign Minister of Algeria, has boasted that he has never knowingly shaken hands with an Israeli or a Jew. Israel's ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman said that the boast, reported Tuesday in the New York Sun, proves Brahimi's "prejudice, bigotry and anti-Semitism."

End Notes

1.  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/06/world/06khalilzad.html?_r=
2&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/People/K/Khalilzad,%20Zalmay&oref=
slogin%20,&oref=slogin

2.  http://www.nysun.com/article/6940

3.  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/opinion/18brahimi.html

4.  http://www.nysun.com/article/67392:
"Mr. Khalilzad sold to the 15 members of the Security Council a resolution in support of the Palestinian Arab-Israeli negotiations at Annapolis. But he acted like a star quarterback who botched the signals, ran ahead with the football, got the backs and coaches all confused, and ended up with a big fat fumble for American diplomacy."

[...]

"Similarly, as someone at the State Department decided to add yet another coda to the Annapolis pomp by getting the Security Council to approve agreements achieved there, Mr. Khalilzad saw an easy opening. He quickly sold a half-baked resolution proposal to all 15 members of the council, including the Arab member, Qatar, hoping the resolution would pass during the council's presidency of the largest Muslim country, Indonesia, which ended November 30. On Thursday, Mr. Khalilzad told reporters he had gained the council's support for the proposed resolution. On Friday, as Mr. Khalilzad went to Washington for so-called prescheduled consultations (his name was included in a guest list at a White House holiday-related event), his deputy, Alejandro Wolff, was left to clean up the mess, leaving council members to marvel at America's ineptitude. Oops, Mr. Wolff told them, after consulting with the Palestinian Arabs and the Israelis, we decided to withdraw our own resolution proposal."

5.  http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010050

6.  http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010050

 
Ed Lasky is news editor of American Thinker.

This article was published December 3, 2007 on the American Thinker website
(http://americanthinker.com/blog/2007/12/un_machinations_against_israel.html).

_________________________End of Story___________________________

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