Double Standards in a Triple Kidnapping

As the search continues for the three kidnapped Israeli teens, five days later, the international community has been slow to respond. So slow, in fact, that even when statements are released, they are done so with the appearance of hesitance and lack of choice for not wanting Bibi and Prosor to make them all look like boneheaded cretins.

Why so?

Well, quite simply, this is the international community that were so quick, a few weeks ago, to welcome a Fatah – Hamas government with open arms and are now beginning to look a little embarrassed.

As Ron Prosor put it, ”The international community bought into a bad deal and Israel is now paying for it”.

So let’s uncover some of these statements, filled with double standards, confusion and hesitancy;

USA:

At the onset of the recent kidnapping of Nigerian girls, Michelle Obama, immediately came out with the following statement:

”My husband and I are outraged and heartbroken over the kidnapping of Nigerian girls from their school dormitory in the middle of the night.

This unconscionable act was committed by a terrorist group determined to keep these girls from getting an education – grown men snuffing out the aspirations of young girls. …Barack has directed our government to do everything possible to support the Nigerian government’s efforts to find these girls and bring them home.

In these girls, we see our own daughters – and we can only imagine the anguish their parents are feeling right now… And what happened in Nigeria was not an isolated incident…it’s a story we see every day as girls around the world risk their lives to pursue their ambitions”

Switch girls for boys, Nigeria for Israel, and all the Obama’s had to do was literally copy it word for word.

What did we get from the Obama? A tweet 5 days later sending ”thoughts and prayers to the families”

As for Kerry, it appears the White House have gotten themselves in a very confusing mess.

Less than a month ago they were blaming the settlements for the failed peace talks.

Then, they all agreed to be prepared to ”work with” a Fatah-Hamas government.

Now, he’s issued a statement condemning the kidnapping of ‘settlers’ and that ”We reiterate our position that Hamas is a terrorist organization known for its attacks on innocent civilians and which has used kidnapping in the past,” ….That you were prepared to work with, who kidnapped settlers, who you said were to blame anyway… Mindblowing.

EU:

It took five days for the European Union to issue a statement condemning the kidnapping of three Israeli teens. EU Foreign Policy Chief, Catherine Ashton, condemned the kidnapping on Tuesday as well as one from the EU Ambassador to Israel Lars Faaborg-Andersen.

Why did it take so long?

Well, the ambassador reportedly explained that it took time for the EU to release a statement because it was the weekend.

Ah the weekend, fair enough. Family time eh?

Not quite.

Israel’s foreign ministry’s deputy director-general for Western Europe, Rafi Schutz, was quick to point out that over the same weekend the EU released a statement against Israel relating to Palestinian prisoners.

Ashton, Faaborg-Andersen together with Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby and other colleagues, published a joint 10 page statement after meeting in Athens last week

Well that’s a lot of work for people who don’t have time to make statements at the weekend isn’t it?

Their weekend off was spent writing a document that devoted two pages to Israel, only one page to Syria, a few lines to Ukraine and was completely silent on Iran.

It expressed concern over the “grave humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip largely caused by the closure imposed by the Occupying Power.” and “stressed that Israeli settlements, the separation barrier, home demolitions and evictions are illegal under international law and constitute obstacles for peace and a two-state solution.”

Faaborg – Andersons eventual condemnation of the kidnapping isn’t even an official statement yet.

UN:

Ban Ki Moon announced on Saturday that he ”condemned the abduction of three Israeli students in the West Bank, urging everyone to exercise restraint and to support efforts for the release and safe return of the young people, who include two minors.” He also expressed his solidarity with the families of the abducted and called for the immediate release of the students.

Wait, did the UN just support Israel??! Not so fast.

His spokesman was quick to follow up on Tuesday with a statement that said the following;

”the U.N. has “no concrete evidence” that boys were “actually” kidnapped by terrorists last Thursday”,  Farhan Haq, the spokesperson, said ”the United Nations also does not have an independent investigative unit that could even confirm the incident.”

Why the change of heart? I’ll tell you.

What Ban Ki Moon said in his statement was essentially an acknowledgment that A) There were Israelis abducted and B) that they were teens, minors.

The Palestinians, in their attempt for International recognition, recently signed, as the Palestinian Authority unity government, to be a member of the U.N. International Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC), which states “member states shall take all appropriate measures at the national level … in order to prevent the abduction, sale or trafficking of children for any purpose or in any form,”

“The CRC provides that ‘member states must undertake to respect and to ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian law relating to the child, applying them in situations of armed conflict,”

This puts the U.N. in a position where it would need to address this record breaking, speedy violation and, of course, Ban Ki Moon would rather retract his statement and pretend it’s not happening than do that.

Otherwise, embarrassingly, having the Palestinian Government as a member of the CRC is rather like having Syria on the UN committees for Human Rights. Oh wait, that happened.