Hypocrisy: Syria & UN Health Assembly Slam Israel

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unwatch

- at May 22, 2013 in Syria and WHO. Closed

GENEVA, May 23 – The annual assembly of the UN’s World Health Organization adopted its only country-specific  resolution yesterday by condemning Israel, and ordering “health-related technical assistance” to “the Syrian population in the occupied Syrian Golan” — yet said nothing about the Syrian population being slaughtered in Syria. See the vote count at bottom.

In a written statement featured on yesterday’s WHO agenda, Syria demanded urgent action on “inhuman Israeli practices” that target “the health of Syrian citizens.” Click here for documents.
Observers of the world body in Geneva said the annual hypocrisy reached a new low this year.
“To see the Assad regime point the finger at Israel out of professed concern for the health of Syrians is, frankly, a sick joke,” said Hillel Neuer, exectuive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, a non-governmental monitoring group accredited to the UN.

“They’ve slaughtered 80,000 of their own people, and are now busy destroying the lives of millions more. The real question is this: Why is the UN allowing mass murderers to deflect attention from their crimes by scapegoating democracies?”

“A world health assembly should be about Hippocrates, not hypocrisy,” said Neuer.

Syria’s report expressed concern that “the health conditions of the Syrian population in the occupied Golan continue to deteriorate, as a result of the suppressive practices of the Israeli occupation.”
Neuer noted that “out of 25 agenda items on the WHO’s conference agenda, all but one address global themes.”

“The exception, today’s Item No. 20, turned a spotlight on one specific country: Israel. No other country in the world — not Mexico, Russia, Syria, or anywhere else — is treated this way.”

“Despite what’s being said at the UN, the Palestinians’ own health minister recently acknowledged Israel’s extensive medical care for Palestinian children and its training of Palestinians doctors.”

“The UN debate also failed to mention that only last week, an Israeli hospital saved the life of a four-year-old Syrian girl, in a successful operation for a deadly heart condition. What we heard at the UN today was pure political fiction, and contrary to the simple facts.”
Click here for links to relevant WHO documents.

Vote Count:
Votes in favour: Algeria; Angola; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Belarus; Bhutan; Bolivia (Plurinational State of); Brazil; Cambodia; Chile; China; Costa Rica; Cuba; Djibouti; Ecuador; Egypt; Guinea; India; Indonesia; Iran (Islamic Republic of); Iraq; Jordan; Kuwait; Lebanon; Libya; Malaysia; Maldives; Mauritania; Mexico; Morocco; Namibia; Nicaragua; Oman; Pakistan; Peru; Philippines; Qatar; Russian Federation; Saudi Arabia; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Sudan; Syrian Arab Republic; Tajikistan; Thailand; Tunisia; Turkey; United Arab Emirates; Uruguay; Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of); Yemen; Zimbabwe.

Votes against: Australia; Canada; Israel; United States of America.

Abstentions: Andorra; Armenia; Austria; Bahamas; Belgium; Bulgaria; Cameroon; Colombia; Congo; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Honduras; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Japan; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Monaco; Netherlands; New Zealand; Nigeria; Norway; Papua New Guinea; Poland; Portugal; Republic of Korea; Republic of Moldova; Romania; Senegal; Singapore; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Ukraine; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Uzbekistan.

Absent: Afghanistan; Albania; Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Barbados; Benin; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brunei Darussalam; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cape Verde; Chad; Cook Islands; Côte d’Ivoire; Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Dominican Republic; El Salvador; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Fiji; Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Ghana; Guatemala; Guyana; Haiti; Jamaica; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Kiribati; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Lesotho; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritius; Micronesia (Federated States of); Mongolia; Montenegro; Mozambique; Myanmar; Nepal; Niger; Panama; Paraguay; Rwanda; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Samoa; San Marino; Sao Tome and Principe; Serbia; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Solomon Islands; South Sudan; Suriname; Swaziland; Timor-Leste; Togo; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Turkmenistan; Tuvalu; Uganda; United Republic of Tanzania; Vanuatu; Viet Nam; Zambia