The UN Resolution.

Sunday 6th August 2006 -- UN Resolution - a way to peace?

full text of resolution included - and also an editorial in a Beirut newspaper - and appeal in Washington Post by Lebanon

Today I managed to get hold of the proposed UN resolution. The text is below. My initial reaction was at first of great pleasure that the UN is finally doing something; but then when I read it, I was astonished that France has apparently agreed to it, given its robust condemnation of the Israeli invasion. I can only presume that this was in face of a very robust US defence of the Israeli invasion. (Post Script. I aso append to the end of this article the Editorial on this draft Resolution that appears on the 7th August in The Daily Star, a leading Lebanese newspaper.)

Haaretz, a mayor Israeli newspaper, reports that the Israeli government is so happy with it, that it has ordered its Ministers not to comment, lest their evident pleasure leads to Arab pressure to have the resolution redrafted. For basically the same reasons that give Israel pleasure, the Lebanese government has rejected major elements of the draft resolution. The Lebanese disquiet arises from:-

1. Israel does not have to stop "defensive military action" - despite it calling its entire action against Lebanon "defensive" including its invasion itself. There is no UN definition of "defensive". This could be used by Israel to 'legitimise' its occupation of further parts of Lebanon in the immediate future, on the basis that it needs to do so to protect its troop positions.

2. Israel does not have to leave immediately the parts of Lebanon it has occupied. This is like giving a burgler legal rights to stay on for a while. It has only to leave after an international force is in place - which could take weeks or more. There is no timetable for withdrawal.

3. For Hezbollah the rules in this resolution are astonishingly different. It is ordered to cease "all attacks" - whether "defensive" or "offensive." This obliges it to stop trying to defend Lebanon from invasion, effectively leaving Lebanon unable to defend itself.

4. Hezbollah, despite it now being widely credited in Lebanon, including by the Government, for its valiant defence of national territory, is to be disarmed. This reinforces the effects of point 3 above - and effectively gives Israel a victory it could not win on the battle field.

5. Hezbollah is ordered to release unconditionally the two Israeli soldiers - but the release is not to be accompanied by the simultaneous release of the many Lebanese prisoners long held illegally by Israel, despite the linking of prisoner release having ample precedent. The Security Council simply says it is "mindful" of the prisoners held by Israel - with this issue left to later bargaining.

6. The Lebanese Airports and Seaports closed by Israel are only to be re-opened to "verifiable" civilian use, without any similar restriction on Israeli Airports and Seaports.

7. Only the invaded party, Lebanon, has to provide parts of its territory as a buffer zone policed by the UN forces. Israel does not have to give up any of its territory for this purpose.

8. No provision for any consideration of war reparations - or of war crimes.

BUT THE GOOD POINTS

1. It orders stopped the rocketing of Israel.

2. It calls for the "full" end to hostilities, and gives Israel so much that in practice it may stop much of its bombing of Lebanon. (But Israel says its bombing of roads and bridges is "defensive" - to cut off supplies to Hezbollah - so this could well continue - especially if Hezbullah continues to defend Lebanon militarily).

3. Israel is supposed to withdraw from Lebanon at some point - to be covered in a further UN Resolution.

4.The outstanding Shebaa Farms issue - of lands that Israel has never returned, is now to be considered over the next months by the Security Council - as is also the issue of prisoners held by Israel.

5. Good for the two soldiers that Hezbollah captured

6. Good - that at last Israel will have to provide maps of the minefields it layed inside Lebanon prior to 2001 - during its previous occupation. It has long refused to give these to Lebanon.

67 Finally - and this genuinely is very good. It ensures that Lebanese survives as an independent country under its 1949 boundaries.

But overall, this is a pathetic effort by the Security Council, especially given how long it has all taken. We will see if it now is amended to try to gain Lebanese government agreement. It would be interesting if this government negotiated a deal with Hezbullah by which its armed forces become an integrated part of the national army - as ideally it should have done earlier. I wonder what then would Israel do?

It also seems to me it is not just Israel that needs to be protected from air attack. A robust anti-aircraft defence force should in future be provided for Lebanon through international funding. Lebanon needs to feel secure. Currently Israel overfliews its towns and villages at will.

Here is the text as is - so you can judge it for yourself

Draft UN Security Council resolution on 'cessation of violence'.

From Reuters

UNITED NATIONS - Following is the text of a draft UN resolution on the Middle East conflict negotiated by the United States and France and presented to the full 15-nation Security Council Saturday.

The Security Council,

PP1. Recalling all its previous resolutions on Lebanon, in particular resolutions 425 (1978), 426 (1978), 520 (1982), 1559 (2004), 1655 (2006) and 1680 (2006), as well as the statements of its President on the situation in Lebanon, in particular the statements of 18 June 2000(S/PRST/2000/21), of 19 October 2004 (S/PRST/2004/36), of 4 May 2005 (S/PRST/2005/17) of 23 January 2006 (S/PRST/2006/3) and of 30 July 2006(S/PRST/2006/35),

FIRST PART

PP2. Expressing its utmost concern at the continuing escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and in Israel since Hezbollah's attack on Israel on 12 July 2006, which has already caused hundreds of deaths and injuries on both sides, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons,

PP3. Emphasizing the need for an end of violence, but at the same time emphasizing the need to address urgently the causes that have given rise to the current crisis, including by the unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers,

PP4: Mindful of the sensitivity of the issue of prisoners and encouraging the efforts aimed at settling the issue of the Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel,

SECOND PART

OP1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;

OP2. Reiterates its strong support for full respect for the Blue Line;

OP3. Also reiterates its strong support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon within its internationally recognized borders, as contemplated by the Israeli-Lebanese General Armistice Agreement of 23 March 1949;

OP4. Calls on the international community to take immediate steps to extend its financial and humanitarian assistance to the Lebanese people, including through facilitating the safe return of displaced persons and, under the authority of the Government of Lebanon, reopening airports and harbours for verifiably and purely civilian purposes, and calls on it also to consider further assistance in the future to contribute to the reconstruction and development of Lebanon;

OP5. Emphasizes the importance of the extension of the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory in accordance with the provisions of resolution 1559 (2004) and resolution 1680 (2006), and of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, for it to exercise its full sovereignty and authority;

OP6. Calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution based on the following principles and elements:

- strict respect by all parties for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Israel and Lebanon;

- full respect for the Blue Line by both parties;

- delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including in the Shebaa farms area;

- security arrangements to prevent the resumption of hostilities, including the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Lebanese armed and security forces and of UN mandated international forces deployed in this area;

- full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006) that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state;

- deployment of an international force in Lebanon, consistent with paragraph 10 below;

- establishment of an international embargo on the sale or supply of arms and related material to Lebanon except as authorized by its government;

- elimination of foreign forces in Lebanon without the consent of its government;

- provision to the United Nations of remaining maps of land mines in Lebanon in Israel's possession;

OP7: Invites the Secretary General to support efforts to secure agreements in principle from the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Israel to the principles and elements for a long-term solution as set forth in paragraph 6 above;

OP8: Requests the Secretary General to develop, in liaison with key international actors and the concerned parties, proposals to implement the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), including disarmament, and for delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including by dealing with the Shebaa farms, and to present those proposals to the Security Council within thirty days;

OP9. Calls on all parties to cooperate during this period with the Security Council and to refrain from any action contrary to paragraph 1 above that might adversely affect the search for a long-term solution, humanitarian access to civilian populations, or the safe return of displaced persons, and requests the Secretary General to keep the Council informed in this regard;

OP10. Expresses its intention, upon confirmation to the Security Council that the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Israel have agreed in principle to the principles and elements for a long-term solution as set forth in paragraph 6 above, and subject to their approval, to authorize in a further resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter the deployment of a UN mandated international force to support the Lebanese
armed forces and government in providing a secure environment and contribute to the implementation of a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution;

OP11. Requests UNIFIL, upon cessation of hostilities, to monitor its implementation and to extend its assistance to help ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations and the safe return of displaced persons;

OP12. Calls upon the Government of Lebanon to ensure arms or related materiel are not imported into Lebanon without its consent and requests UNIFIL, conditions permitting, to assist the Government of Lebanon at its request;

OP13. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council within one week on the implementation of this resolution and to provide any relevant information in light of the Council's intention to adopt, consistent with paragraph 10 above, a further resolution;

OP14. Decides to remain actively seized of the matter.

END

Comment on this draft by the Editor of The Daily Star - Lebanon's leading English-language Daily Newspaper

Editorial

Monday, August 07, 2006
The Security Council's 'solution' can only create more problems

Editorial

The draft UN resolution put forth by the United States and France to end the war in Lebanon is so open-ended and so inequitable that even the top diplomat of one of its sponsors, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, has freely acknowledged that after it is passed, violence in the Middle East will continue "for some time to come." Rice naively insists that the resolution provides a way forward. But in reality, the resolution creates conditions that resemble those of a troubled past in which Hizbullah originated.

We must not forget that Hizbullah's armed resistance was spawned by Israel's invasion and occupation of Lebanon in 1982. During 18 years of Israeli occupation, Hizbullah grew under the very noses of its occupiers into a formidable force that now poses a serious challenge to its oppressors. Any UN resolution that fails to demand the withdrawal of Israel's 10,000 troops from South Lebanon will invite further armed resistance. Sanctioning Israel's occupation of South Lebanon also ensures that thousands of refugees, whose humanitarian plight ought to be an utmost concern in any UN resolution, will not be able to return to their homes in the South.

Furthermore, instead of calling for a cease-fire, the resolution calls upon Hizbullah to cease all of its attacks, while implicitly giving Israel the right to continue its "defensive" operations. Where does that leave Lebanese civilians? Israel has argued that all of its military activities in Lebanon since July 12, including the killing of over 900 civilians, have been justified in the name of self-defense. Are the Lebanese now expected to freely allow themselves to be slaughtered in their hundreds by an occupying army?

This is hardly the kind of freedom that the Lebanese people had in mind last year when US President George W. Bush held up their newly sovereign democracy as a bright and shining example in the Arab world. The US administration welcomed the credit for Lebanon's "Cedar Revolution," which occurred after Bush rescinded the diplomatic cover given to Syria's occupation by his father, George H.W. Bush. Since Syria's withdrawal in 2005, Bush has vowed many times to protect Lebanon's fledgling sovereignty and assist the efforts of the Lebanese to strengthen and consolidate their state.

But now the Lebanese state is likely to soon become a casualty of the war. Through its draft resolution, which ignores all Lebanese concerns, the UN will be saying to the Lebanese people that their government is irrelevant. Lebanese officials are united around a seven-point plan put forth by Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora at a crisis meeting in Rome. Siniora's plan has the full support of Speaker Nabih Berri, who has mobilized the Parliament and all political parties, including Hizbullah, to approve it. But the plan has been completely ignored by the international community in favor of imposing an unrealistic resolution that will only prolong suffering and violence.

The components of Siniora's plan, which even has the backing of certain political forces that were allies of Israel during its last invasion, deserve a second look. The plan takes into account the urgent need to address the humanitarian concerns of refugees. It also seeks to maintain and strengthen the Lebanese state, which is the only force that will be able to play a stabilizing role in Lebanon in the wake of this war. The plan satisfies Lebanese fears, which are born out of seven Israeli invasions and 22 years of occupation; and it simultaneously addresses the valid concerns of Israelis by disbanding militias and imposing the Lebanese state's authority in its territories. It also provides guarantees to both sides by allowing the deployment of international forces to play a robust role in preventing future confrontations along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

The aim of the Lebanese government is to reach a point of closure in the decades-long Lebanese-Israeli conflict and to create the required conditions for a lasting armistice. Siniora's plan ties up all loose ends, including the issues of the Shebaa Farms, Israeli incursions, and Hizbullah's weapons. But the UN's draft resolution leaves these issues open and sanctions new conditions that will prolong conflict. Instead of closing the door on the current war and on future conflicts, the resolution will open a pandora's box.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Lebanese premier calls on UN to impose ceasefire
By Agence France Presse (AFP)

WASHINGTON, Aug 9, 2006 (AFP) - Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, in a letter published Wednesday in the Washington Post, called on the UN to end the fighting in his country, which he implicitly blamed on Israel without mentioning its enemy, Hezbollah.
On possibly the eve of a UN Security Council vote on a resolution on Lebanon, Siniora pushed his seven-point plan to end the war presented July 25, to which he added his latest proposal to deploy the Lebanese military in southern Lebanon.

"I believe that a political resolution rooted in international law and based on these seven points will lead to long-term stability," said the prime minister.

He called a military solution to "Israel's savage war on Lebanon ... morally unacceptable and totally unrealistic," and called on the international community to "end this folly now." After listing the death and destruction wreaked by Israel over the past four weeks in his country, estimating it in the billions of dollars, he demanded "an international inquiry into Israel's criminal actions ... and insist that Israel pay compensation for its wanton destruction." Without mentioning even indirectly the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah militia which Israel engaged in battle after a cross-border attack on its soldiers, Siniora said Lebanon "will remain steadfast and united in the face of this latest Israeli aggression ..." "The people's will to resist grows ever stronger with each village demolished and each massacre committed," he added.

"If Israel would realize that the peoples of the Middle East cannot be cowed into submission, that they aspire only to live in freedom and dignity, it could also be a stepping stone to a final solution of the wider Arab-Israeli conflict, which has plagued our region for 60 years," the prime minister said.

A political solution, however, was unattainable, he added, "as long as Israel continues to occupy Arab land in Lebanon, Gaza, the West Bank and the Syrian Golan Heights and as long as it wages war on innocent people in Lebanon and Palestine." Lebanon is hoping to amend a draft UN Security Council resolution agreed by the United States and France in an effort to secure an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the south of the country.

Siniora has expressed grave reservations with the draft resolution calling for a "full cessation" of fighting -- but not for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.-AFP