U.S. to join Israel in boycotting UN meeting

Malaysia Sun Wednesday 23rd January, 2008

The U.S. and Israel will boycott a special United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva on Wednesday.

The meeting has been set down to discuss the Israeli blockade of Gaza, and military action.

A draft resolution which addresses the closure of crossings into Gaza, Israeli army actions, and air raids, which have claimed the lives of forty Palestinians, mostly militants, in the past week, is believed to be unacceptable to the Jewish state because it doesn't mention Qassam rocket attacks on Sderot.

In boycotting the meeting it asked other countries to join it. The U.S. quickly fell into line, but no other countries followed suit.

The UN Security Council meanwhile is considering a non-binding presidential statement on the Gaza situation, after the U.S. said it would not agree to a formal resolution that denounced the Israeli actions.