Reply #41: About 111

[eyl]

UNSCR 111 was a condemnation of an attack on Syrian military posts (Operation Kinneret), which was a response to a series of repeated Syrian attacks on Israeli communities near and fishermen on the Sea of Galilee (hence the name). How many people died in the attacks up to the point I don't know (several hundred Israelis were killed by Syrian fire during the 50's), but it's instructive that while the killing of Syrian troops by Israel merited a condemnation, the killing of Israeli civilians by Syrian troops which led to that merited only oblique mention.

As for Qibya - I don't intend to defend the operation - in the most generous interpretation, it was a colossal screwup. But again - the continued killing of Israeli civilians because of which the raid was mounted was only elliptically mentioned ("there is substantial evidence of crossing of the demarcation line by unauthorized persons, often resulting in acts of violence" - UNSCR 101, section B1)

Regarding your last post - it's true that Israel was recently admitted to membership in the WEOG group (on a temporary basis, though the term was extended indefinitely in 2004). However, it did so under limitations. Israel is only considered a part of the WEOG group in New York; it cannot participate in the UN as part of a group in Geneva, for example, where several important UN councils are based. Also, to avoid messing up existing rotation schemes, Israel's acceptance into WEOG was contingent on not running for various bodies for a certain number of years - for example, Israel will not be eligible to run a candidate for the UNESC until 2021.