A United Nations abstention to be noted
AUSTRALIA decided to abstain from a crucial vote regarding Israel in the United Nations just days after launching an investigation into the passport affair.
NAOMI LEVIN
WHILE abstaining from a vote is often not perceived as a noteworthy action, last week, two days after launching an investigation into the alleged fraudulent use of Australian passports by the Mossad, Australia was noted as abstaining from a crucial vote regarding Israel in the United Nations (UN).
The vote in the UN’s General Assembly reiterated a call for both the government of Israel and the Palestinians to conduct independent and credible investigations into “the serious violations of international humanitarian and international human rights law reported by the [Goldstone Commission’s] Fact-Finding Mission”.
Australia had previously voted against the resolution, but changed its vote this time around — a move that was heavily criticised by Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) president Philip Chester.
When it comes to General Assembly votes, the practice is for Australia to decide its position as close as possible to the actual vote.
However, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith emphasised that the abstention was not “payback” for allegations that Israel forged Australian passports.
“The reason we abstained was because it doesn’t endorse the so-called Goldstone report, it encourages both Israel and the Palestinian authorities to undertake objective, exhaustive investigations about any of the human rights breaches that occurred in the terrible conflict in the Gaza [Strip],” Smith said.
“We always do these General Assembly resolutions objectively, case by case, on their merits. And if you look at who voted where, a number of the countries that we have been with, in terms of the so-called Goldstone report, also changed their position.”
Other countries that abstained included the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Russia. Israel, the United States and Canada continued to vote against the resolution.
Australia’s Ambassador to the UN, Gary Quinlan, elaborated further.
“Our vote on today’s resolution … does not change the continuing concerns we hold about the lack of balance in, the scope of, and the recommendations of the Goldstone report, nor our strong preference that the parties be allowed sufficient time to pursue their own investigations.”
The ZFA’s Chester said he noted Australia’s decision to abstain with “concern”.
“In view of Australia having voted against the original UN resolution on the Goldstone report and Ambassador Quinlan’s statement that Australia was still concerned about the flawed nature of the Goldstone report, we do not understand why it seems as though Australia has changed its stance since last November’s UN vote,” Chester asked.
But Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Robert Goot said he accepted the reasoning behind the vote change and the explanation that it was not related to the passport affair.
The Rudd government has previously changed Australia’s vote three times in the UN on other Israel-related resolutions.
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