BLAGAROON

 
IAEA WILL DEBATE
ISRAELI NUCLEAR
WEAPONS:
                                                                                                                                                                     

 The 2010 General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which opens in Vienna, Austria, this coming weekend, will discuss a report from the Director General on the implementation of a resolution passed at last year’s meeting urging the placement of all nuclear facilities in the Middle East region under the supervision of IAEA. The Resolution, proposed by the Arab States, was passed by 49 votes to 45,with 16 abstentions, much to the chagrin of the USA and its EU/NATO allies who tried to block its passing as they had done in previous years (click on map to enlarge) .              

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The text of the resolution is as follows;

Israeli nuclear capabilities:

Resolution adopted on 18 September 2009 during the tenth plenary meeting of the

IAEA:The General Conference

1(a) Recalling the relevant resolutions of the General Conference and the PresidentialStatements endorsed by the General Conference on this issue;                                                      

(b) Recalling also UN Security Council Resolution 487 (1981), which, inter alia, requestedIsrael to submit all its nuclear facilities to the Agency’s safeguards system,

(c) Bearing in mind the resolution on the Middle East adopted by the 1995 Review andExtension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), in which the Conference noted with concern the continued existence of unsafeguarded nuclear facilities in the Middle East,

d) Recalling the 2000 NPT Review Conference, which welcomed the fact that all States inthe Middle East, with the exception of Israel, are States parties to the NPT and reaffirmed the importance of Israel’s accession to the NPT and the placement of all its nuclear facilities undercomprehensive IAEA safeguards for realizing the universality of the NPT in the Middle East,

(e) Recognizing that joining the NPT and submitting all nuclear facilities in the region tocomprehensive IAEA safeguards is a prerequisite for establishing a nuclear–weapon-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East, and

f) Welcoming the recent international initiatives calling for a “nuclear weapons-free world”,

1. Expresses concern about the threat posed by the proliferation of nuclear weapons to the security and stability of the Middle East;

2. Expresses concern about the Israeli nuclear capabilities, and calls upon Israel to accede to the NPT and place all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards;

3. Urges the Director General to work with the concerned States towards achieving that end; and

4. Decides to remain seized of this matter and requests the Director General to report on theimplementation of this resolution to the Board of Governors and the General Conference at its fifty-fourth regular session under an agenda item entitled “Israeli nuclear capabilities”.

The Director General, H.E. Mr.Yukiya Amano, wrote to all member states and asked for their views on the matter. In typical fashion, the USA/EU/NATO bloc rejected any inquiry into Israeli nuclear capabilities and tried to divert attention from the Zionist regime’s actual possession of nuclear weapons, which is a known fact to themselves and their military planners and, no doubt, a major factor in their strategic outlook, by attacking alleged violations of the NPT by Iran and Syria.

The responses from Hilary Clinton, US Secretary of State, and Catherine Ashton, EU High representative on Foreign Affairs, are so similar they might have been written by the same spin-doctor!

Hilary Clinton:

“The United States remains committed to universal adherence to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons(NPT) and encourages all states that have not yet done so to join the Treaty and accept the full scope IAEA safeguards on all of their nuclear facilities....”

Catherine Ashton:

“The European Union fully supports the universalisation of the Nuclear of the Nuclear non-Proliferation treaty...we reiterate our call for for all states in the region to adopt IAEA comprehensive safeguards.....”

Now, the fact is that all states in the region, except ONE, are members of the NPT and accept IAEA regulations and that ONE state is, of course, Zionist Israel. The staggering hypocrisy of these declarations is not lost on thinking people the world over who can see through this blustering attempt to provide cover for the Zionist regime’s continued defiance of International Law, UN Security Resolutions, the Geneva Conventions and Human Rights in respect of nuclear non-proliferation, of the illegal occupation of Palestine and the continued activity in murder and assassinations of its opponents whenever it feels like it.

No surprise, then, that the Zionist regime’s response, through its Foreign Minister, Avigdor Liberman, was equally hypocritical and disingenuous:

“Israel values the non-proliferation regime, acknowledges its importance and has, over the years, demonstrated a responsible policy of restraint in the nuclear domain...”

This “restraint”, apparently, did not include helping Apartheid South Africa to create its own nuclear weapons in the 1970’s!

Liberman also relies on International Law to justify Israel’s negative response to the IAEA resolution:

“The resolution entitled “Israel’s Nuclear Capabilities” is clearly incompatible with basic principles and norms of international law. It is the sovereign right of any state to decide whether it consents to be bound by any particular treaty. This is clearly manifested in the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties and Article III(D) of the IAEA statute which requires the Agency to carry out its activities “with due observance of the sovereign rights of states”.....”

This from a state which violates International Law on a daily basis and has done since its inception in 1948.

The diplomatic offensive of covering for Israel has already begun to roll. Despite criticism by Washington and Brussels of the Arab States for “using the IAEA for political purposes” the "Washington Post” this week reported that “U.S. and European officials said they plan on using the IAEA meetings to intensify pressure on Iran and Syria “.

It has been practice for a number of years at IAEA meetings for Canada to propose “no action” to be taken on any demand for inspection of Israel’s nuclear weapons but, this time it seems the USA is determined to take the lead, along with its EU poodle, Catherine Ashton, in trying to divert attention from their Zionist ally’s misdeeds by mounting a diplomatic attack on Iran and Syria at this week’s meeting of the IAEA.

The Director General’s report to be presented at the conference has little to show because of the non-cooperation stance of the Zionist regime backed by the USA and EU in complete solidarity.  

Mr Amano states in his report:

“The discussions with representatives of the States of the Middle East region have shown that there still continues to be a long-standing and fundamental difference of views between Israel, on the one hand, and the other States of the Middle East region, on the other hand, with regard to the application of comprehensive Agency safeguards to all nuclear activities in the region. Israel has taken the view that Agency safeguards, as well as all other regional security issues, cannot be addressed in isolation from the regional peace process and that these issues should be addressed in the framework of a regional security and arms control dialogue that could be resumed in the context of a multilateral peace process, and when phase II of the “road map” is reached. The other States of the region emphasize that they are all parties to the NPT and maintain that there is no automatic sequence which links the application of comprehensive safeguards to all nuclear activities in the Middle East, or the establishment of an NWFZ, to the prior conclusion of a peace settlement, and that the former would contribute to the latter. Thus, the Director General has not been able to make further progress in fulfilling his mandate pursuant to resolution GC(53)/RES/16 regarding the application of comprehensive Agency safeguards covering all nuclear activities in the region of the Middle East . The Director General will continue with his consultations in accordance with his mandate regarding the early application of comprehensive Agency safeguards on all nuclear activities in the Middle East region.”

The re-started “peace talks” in Washington between Netanyahu and P.A. President Abbas are being used as an excuse by US/EU diplomats for the IAEA not to pursue the current resolution for fear of “antagonising” Israel and threatening the 2012 conference on the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone for the Middle East. Since these talks have little chance of succeeding unless Netanyahu agrees to extend his moratorium on building settlements on Palestinian land, an unlikely event, all this amounts to is just one more delaying tactic by the US/EU/NATO in order to once again let Israel off the hook in regard to acknowledgement of its possession of nuclear weapons which are the main threat to peace in the region and the rest of the world.

FearFeasaMacLéinn

Átha Cliath/Dublin

Mean Fómhair/September 15 2010.