Illustration How UN Security Council Statements Are NOT A Basis For International Law

From DG:

After Mavi Marmara, Deadly Israeli Raid Draws Condemnation  

The flotilla of cargo ships and passenger boats was carrying 10,000 tons of aid for Gaza, where the Islamic militant group Hamas holds sway, in an attempt to challenge Israel’s military blockade of Gaza.

The raid and its deadly consequences have thrown Israel’s policy of blockading Gaza into the international limelight; at the Security Council on Monday voices were raised against the blockade, and the pressure to abandon it is bound to intensify. 

And the Security Council condemned Israel calling the blockade of Gaza illegal.

Several envoys said Israel was in violation of international law, not least because Security Council resolution 1860 passed in the midst of the Gaza war in January 2009 had called for ending the blockade and opening unfettered access to humanitarian assistance throughout the strip. The diplomats also demanded immediate access to their citizens, with some 32 different nationalities among the estimated 600 to 700 people on the flotilla. Israel seized all six ships and forced them into port. 

The United States, which habitually defends Israel in the council, said that the attempt to run the blockade by sea was ill advised. “Direct delivery by sea is neither appropriate nor responsible, and certainly not effective, under the circumstances,” said Alejandro Wolff, the deputy permanent representative of the United States. But he also described the situation in Gaza as “unsustainable” and called on Israel to undertake a credible investigation. Daniel Carmon, the deputy Israeli ambassador, scoffed at the idea that the ships were a humanitarian convoy — Israel had offered to bring the goods into Gaza over land — and said Israeli commandos acted in self-defense after being attacked with “life threatening means; live ammunition, knives, clubs, deck furniture and others types of weaponry.” 

But now the UN commissioned Palmer report conludes Israel's blockade of Gaza is legal.

A long-awaited United Nations review of Israel’s 2010 raid on a Turkish-based flotilla in which nine passengers were killed has found that Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza is both legal and appropriate. But it said that the way Israeli forces boarded the vessels trying to break that blockade 15 months ago was excessive and unreasonable. [emphasis added]

So when the condemnations were reported, the condemnations were baseless.

A reminder again that the UN is not per se a legal body.

But then again, anyone paying attention to the UN Human Rights Council or listening to Ahmadinejad speaking to the General Assembly already knew that.

Technorati Tag: Israel and UN and Mavi Marmara and International Law.