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UN Security Council (Reuters)
Last update - 22:41 24/04/2008
Libyan UN envoy: Gaza situation worse than Nazi camps
By Reuters
Tags: Libya, Gaza Strip 

A Libyan envoy to the UN, whose colleague compared the situation in Gaza to the Holocaust, said on Thursday it was even worse than in Nazi concentration camps because of regular Israeli bomb attacks.

"It is more than what happened in the concentration camps," Libya's deputy permanent UN representative, Ibrahim Dabbashi, told reporters. "There is the bombing, daily bombing [by Israel] ... in Gaza. It was not in the concentration camps."

"It is worse than that," said Dabbashi, who holds the rank of ambassador.
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U.S. envoy Alejandro Wolff rejected the Libyan statement. He was one of several Western envoys who walked out of a UN Security Council discussion on Gaza on Wednesday after Dabbashi compared the situation in the Gaza Strip to the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were systematically murdered by Nazi Germany.

Wolff told reporters the remarks "reflect a degree of historical ignorance and moral insensitivity that is one of the large reasons this council has been unable to act on Middle East issues and why peace in the Middle East is so difficult."

The French, British, Belgian and Costa Rican envoys also left the council on Wednesday after Dabbashi made his remarks. Such protests against fellow Security Council members are rare, diplomats said.

On Wednesday, Western envoys to the United Nations walked out of a Security Council discussion after Libya's ambassador likened the plight of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to Nazi concentration camps.

"The Libyan ambassador [Giadalla Ettalhi] compared the situation in Gaza to the Nazi Holocaust," said a Western diplomat who was present at a council discussion on the Middle East. "Afterwards, the Western envoys stood up and left the room in protest."

Among the chief diplomats who left the council chamber were the U.S., French, British, Belgian and Costa Rican envoys, diplomats said. Some others remained.

Ettalhi made the remark during a discussion on a draft statement proposed by Libya and some other countries that would have expressed serious concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

South Africa's Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, currently president of the 15-nation council, closed the meeting after the walkout. He told reporters the council had again failed to reach an agreement and would return to the issue later.

Israel's UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman on Thursday called Libya's statement
comparing Gaza to the Nazi camps an outrage and a disgrace. He told a luncheon briefing sponsored by The Israel Project it was a "shame that a terrorist state sits on the Security Council."

"Libya's presence on the council will paralyze any peace efforts in Gaza and the West Bank," Gillerman added.

British official Karen Pierce said: "A number of Council members were dismayed by the approach taken by Libya and do not believe that such language helps advance the peace process."

Israel, which withdrew troops and settlers from Gaza in 2005 but still controls its airspace, coastal waters and main goods crossings, regularly launches incursions and air strikes that it says target militants responsible for cross-border rocket fire and other attacks.

Israel has repeatedly suggested that Libya should never have been elected to a seat on the Security Council.

After decades of isolation as a pariah of the West, Libya was elected to the council last year after the United States dropped its opposition. It is the only Arab state on the council and will have its seat until the end of 2009.

In January, Israel sealed border crossings with the Gaza Strip in response to Palestinian rocket attacks against southern Israel.

The United Nations has warned that closing Gaza's borders has resulted in a humanitarian crisis for the territory's 1.5 million people, most of whom depend on foreign aid.

Libya and other council members have been pushing for the Security Council to condemn the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which the United Nations says has made it very difficult to deliver food and medicine and has severely damaged the economy.

The United States insists any council action would also have to include a condemnation of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in June 2007, and the rocket attacks against Israel. Libya opposes this.


Related articles:
  • Israel says Libya unworthy of seat on UN Security Council
  • Libya thwarts Security Council censure of Shlomi missile strike
  • Former pariah Libya becomes UN Security Council President
  • Libya rescinds bid for UN condemnation of Israeli blockade on Gaza
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      1.   Time to talk about the hatred and appartheid in the Arab/Muslim 05:15  |  Jabadini 24/04/08
      2.   When Israel takes the Security Council presidency 05:58  |  B 24/04/08
      3.   Haaretz is an honest news media,Israel has to change 06:05  |  Zaki 24/04/08
      4.   Gaza reminds me of the Warsaw Ghetto 06:16  |  * BEN JABO 24/04/08
      5.   On Account Of The Resemblance Between... 06:30  |  Yosemite 24/04/08
      6.   So Libya Did Take Down That Passenger Jet After All... 06:34  |  Yosemite 24/04/08
      7.   Arabs and Nazis 06:55  |  Shtarka 24/04/08
      8.   Right of what? 07:16  |  Jack Smith 24/04/08
      9.   Proud of Europe...for once 08:03  |  Peter 24/04/08
      10.   Zaki -- your wrong many times over 08:07  |  bbl 24/04/08
      11.   Ben Jabo -- Apparently... 08:13  |  bbl 24/04/08
      12.   to #7 Shtarka, this is the sad story 08:18  |  Zaki 24/04/08
      13.   and * BEN JABO reminds me of... 08:19  |  Peter 24/04/08
      14.   Zaki, keep on propagating your MYTH. 08:27  |  Peter 24/04/08
      15.   Zaki, Zaki, Zaki.... 08:59  |  Shtarka 24/04/08
      16.   If UN reps refuse to hear nonsense, then why have a UN? 09:51  |  Natallie Durson 24/04/08
      17.   to #15 Shtarka, what hurts the most is 09:56  |  Zaki 24/04/08
      18.   to #10 bbl, I meant outside pals and Arabs 10:04  |  Zaki 24/04/08
      19.   Arab Lies, distortion is Antisemitism 10:11  |  EgyptJewRefugee 24/04/08
      20.   "Bolt"? 10:11  |  Clickfool 24/04/08
      21.   Arabs Supported Hitler and the Nazis 10:13  |  Elly 24/04/08
      22.   #12 Can Jews of Arab lands Return? 10:17  |  Laila 24/04/08
      23.   What about the human rights of passengers of Pan Am 103? 10:41  |  Salem 24/04/08
      24.   Zaki - A good example of ignorance 10:41  |  dovvod 24/04/08
      25.   Very nice story 10:41  |  Stephen of New York 24/04/08
      26.   to #21 yes the jews can return 10:44  |  Zaki 24/04/08
      27.   to #18 Egyptian jew,I agree with you 10:52  |  David 24/04/08
      28.   Zaki - stupendous bias 10:59  |  dovvod 24/04/08
      29.   to #20 Elly, Wow, you are very well Educated 11:02  |  Zaki 24/04/08
      30.   Western UN envoys bolt meet... 11:05  |  Warren J. 24/04/08
      31.   Zaki hits the nail on the head. 11:23  |  Rick 24/04/08
      32.   OF COURSE! What does UN EXPECT after 11:41  |  The Archives 24/04/08
      33.   Appalled at UK action 11:45  |  Keith T. 24/04/08
      34.   US, FRENCH, BRITISH, NOBODY SURPRISED 11:47  |  indrajaya 24/04/08
      35.   haaretz ! look like you dont need me, today :) 11:52  |  be honest and direct 24/04/08
      36.   Gaza is like the Warsaw Ghetto 12:16  |  Stephen Murray 24/04/08
      37.   #21 Elly 12:21  |  Said 24/04/08
      38.   THIS looks like the intellectual level of upcoming Durban conf. 12:38  |  PETER SM 24/04/08
      39.   #3 ZAKI, replies 12:39  |  AliciaYasmeen 24/04/08
      40.   But of Course! 12:39  |  Hussein 24/04/08
      41.   #34 indrajaya 12:50  |  Dirk 24/04/08
      42.   Zaki you need to read up a bit 13:06  |  ChanahS 24/04/08
      43.   MURRAY, read the Hamas-Charter and the Nazi-laws for parallel! 13:10  |  AliciaYasmeen 24/04/08
      44.   STILL... LIBYA USED AN APPROPRIATE LANGUAGE 13:48  |  TripleJump 24/04/08
      45.   Gaza 14:04  |  Poppy 24/04/08
      46.   Zaki 14:08  |  Buying an apartment 24/04/08
      47.   Stupid Arab provocations, and of course Israel and the West...... 14:17  |  Swiss (Dino) 24/04/08
      48.   # 41, DIRK 14:18  |  indrajaya 24/04/08
      49.   But ! MANY HUMANITIRIAN TRUCKS BRING FOOD TO GAZA 14:23  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 24/04/08
      50.   And by the way, the Gaza-concentration camp comparison...... 14:29  |  Swiss (Dino) 24/04/08
      51.   #47 indrajaya 14:35  |  Dirk 24/04/08
      52.   #4 BEN JABO:YOU`LD PREFER GAZA 14:48  |  Ian 24/04/08
      53.   NDURSOJN.Why UN indeed? It has become a Moslem dominated circus 15:03  |  PETER SM 24/04/08
      54.   It is about time! 15:06  |  Lynn 24/04/08
      55.   # 33 Keith of UK ...there is no "talking" 15:07  |  Lynn 24/04/08
      56.   Why not grant the `others` the same rights? 15:12  |  Edith 24/04/08
      57.   Swiss....Ziegler would have agreed with 15:13  |  Lynn 24/04/08
      58.   Swiss Dino 47 15:13  |  ChanahS 24/04/08
      59.   Funny how Haaretz censors 15:14  |  Ofer Maimon 24/04/08
      60.   # 51, DIRK 16:09  |  indrajaya 24/04/08
      61.   True and labeling all resistnece movements as terrorists 16:14  |  Tupac 24/04/08
      62.   Zaki, please read more 16:16  |  Ralph 24/04/08
      63.   Zaki 16:19  |  Joe W 24/04/08
      64.   The UN has become a hotbed of anti-semitism 16:51  |  Nechama 24/04/08
      65.   STEPHEN OF NEW YORK #25 16:55  |  Nechama 24/04/08
      66.   Tupac you are wrong 16:57  |  ChanahS 24/04/08
      67.   Here`s my insight 17:13  |  Mikey 24/04/08
      68.   NAZIS WERE OUT OF CONTROL, ISRAEL HAS HER CONTROL 17:58  |  WHICH MEANS MUCH BAD 24/04/08
      69.   # 52 Ian of the UK....not BEN JABO 17:59  |