Friday, December 06, 2013

  • Friday, December 06, 2013
  • Elder of Ziyon
From Jordan's Petra news agency:
The Arab Group at the United Nations abstained from voting on an Israeli draft resolution aimed at ostensibly improving the development of sustainable agriculture technologies.

The General Assembly approved by a recorded vote of 138 in favor to one against (Bolivia) and 34 abstentions, among which were the Arab states at the UN.

The representative of Saudi Arabia, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, said there was no reason to present the draft resolution as its content had been covered by a resolution previously submitted by the G77 and China. The resolution did not take into account the needs of the developing countries, including technology transfer requirements, financing and the elimination of obstacles created by agricultural commodities. There were many resolutions that requested Israel to refrain from its practice of occupation which were ignored by the occupying power.
Normally resolutions like  these are adopted by consensus. The Arab bloc requested the vote even though there was an automatic majority just from the cosponsors.

113 countries co-sponsored the resolution, the most that ever co-sponsored an Israeli draft resolution:



1 Albania
2 Andorra
3 Angola
4 Antigua and Barbuda
5 Argentina
6 Armenia
7 Australia
8 Austria
9 Azerbaijan
10 Belarus
11 Belgium
12 Belize
13 Benin
14 Bosnia and Herzegovina
15 Brazil
16 Bulgaria
17 Burkina Faso
18 Burundi
19 Cameroon
20 Canada
21 Chad
22 Chile
23 Colombia
24 Costa Rica
25 Cote D'Ivoire
26 Croatia
27 Cyprus
28 Czech Republic
29 Denmark
30 Dominican Republic

31 El Salvador
32 Equatorial Guinea
33 Eritrea
34 Estonia
35 Ethiopia
36 Finland
37 France
38 Georgia
39 Germany
40 Ghana
41 Greece
42 Grenada
43 Guatemala
44 Guinea
45 Guinea-Bissau
46 Guyana
47 Haiti
48 Honduras
49 Hungary
50 Iceland
51 India
52 Ireland
53 Israel
54 Italy
55 Jamaica
56 Japan
57 Kazakhstan
58 Kenya
59 Latvia
60 Liechtenstein
61 Lithuania

62 Luxembourg
63 Madagascar
64 Malta
65 Marshall Islands
66 Mexico
67 Micronesia
68 Monaco
69 Mongolia
70 Montenegro
71 Mozambique
72 Nauru
73 Nepal
74 Netherlands
75 New Zealand
76 Nigeria
77 Norway
78 Palau
79 Panama
80 Papua New Guinea
81 Paraguay
82 Peru
83 Poland
84 Portugal
85 Republic of Korea
86 Republic of Moldova
87 Romania
88 Rwanda
89 Saint Kitts and Nevis
90 Saint-Lucia
91 Samoa

92 San Marino
93 Serbia
94 Seychelles
95 Sierra Leone
96 Slovakia
97 Slovenia
98 South Sudan
99 Spain
100 Sri Lanka
101 Suriname
102 Sweden
103 Switzerland
104 Tajikistan
105 The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
106 Togo
107 Uganda
108 Ukraine
109 United Kingdom
110 United Republic of Tanzania
111 United States
112 Uruguay
113 Zambia



As far as the supposed Arab objections to the resolution, I asked Simonne Levavi, an expert on the topic and member of Israel’s mission to the U.N., whether they made any sense:
The representative of Saudi Arabia, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, said there was no reason to present the draft resolution because they claim agricultural technology is covered by another resolution submitted by the G77 and China, entitled 'Agriculture development and food security".

The truth is, that resolution was initiated after 2007, in an attempt to undermine the Israeli resolution. It is very general about agricultural technology and does not go into specifics.

The Arab Group also claimed that the resolution did not take into account the needs of developing countries, including technology transfer requirements. This claim is preposterous. The resolution clearly touches on the importance of supporting national efforts to foster utilization of local know-how and agricultural technologies in developing countries. It encourages international efforts to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to enhance the productivity and nutritional quality of food crops and animal products, to promote sustainable practices in pre-harvest and post-harvest agricultural activities and to enhance food security and nutrition-related programmes and policies that take into consideration the specific needs of women, young children and youth.

It was very clear that the Arab group was once again using this opportunity as a platform to demonize and delegitimize Israel.
Demanding a vote is unusual. Levavi told me that in the UN's economic and financial committee about 60 resolutions pass by consensus each year, with only about 4 that are submitted to a vote.

I also asked Levavi how this resolution could help Arab countries specifically:

The resolution on Agricultural Technology for Development focuses on capacity building, education and skills transfer – the essential building blocks of development. The vast potential of agricultural technology is proven through global initiatives already in place.

In recent years the people in the Arab World have been very vocal with their strong discontent with their social condition; people are hungry for change and thirsty for progress. Natural resources in most of these countries are abundant and highly unutilized; the possibilities are endless.
Last year Israel sponsored a resolution on entrepreneurship that had 97 co-sponsors and passed 131-31-11.

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