America’s seamless support for Israel’s pitiless onslaught on Gaza has both astounded and angered the world. War crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide have accumulated as the destruction and death have continued. The hypocrisy of the West as a whole is publicly on display on a daily basis. The Western media has performed as poorly as governments and has lost the respect of the world. Once gone it may never be recovered. How can Australia, for instance, expect to be taken seriously when we go forth in our customary manner chiding other countries for their human rights record?

It was a vote in the UN General Assembly which passed without notice in Australia despite the recent attention given to meetings in both the Assembly and the Security Council as a consequence of the disastrous events in Gaza. It was held on the 28th of November and related to the Israel’s illegal occupation of Syria’s Golan Heights in place since 1967. The legal situation was quite clear despite Israel’s assertion in 1981 that it had annexed what was a crucial strategic location. Two earlier General Assembly resolutions passed unanimously in 1967 and 1981 had reasserted that ‘the acquisition of territory by force is inadmissible ‘ and that Israel’s assertion of control over the area was ‘null and void and without international legal effect.’

The situation changed dramatically in March 2019 when the Trump government formally recognised Israel’s sovereignty over the Heights a decision which, in turn, was challenged in the General Assembly which demanded that Israel cease its control over the Heights and return them to Syria. The vote on the motion was 91 in favour, 62 abstentions and 8 against. Three of the no votes came from the America’s Micronesian dependencies and four from the Anglo Five........

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