Israeli Ambassador Roet: Why No UN Security Council Emergency Session When Jews are Killed?

"As we sit here today, Israel is facing an onslaught of terrorism; men, women and children are being stabbed to death on the streets on a daily basis. Yet for them there has been no demand for an emergency session at the Security Council; no calls for the Palestinian leadership to stop their incitement; and not even a whisper of condemnation of these acts in this hall.

Eitam and Naama Henkin were shot to death while driving in their car. Their 4 children were in the vehicle and watched their parents die in front of their eyes.

These are just a few of the silent victims of Palestinian terror. Apparently, this Council has not seen fit to honor their memories with even the slightest recognition.

Mr. President, Over the course of the last month, 24 terror attacks have claimed the lives of 8 Israelis, and injured 70. 15 of them are still hospitalized. This tide of terror has washed over the entire nation and it spares no one: Young and old are being targeted every day.

Israelis do not feel safe walking down the street, they avoid taking the bus to work, and they fear for the lives of their children every time they walk out the door. The root cause of this wave of terror is clear. It is inflammatory rhetoric and lies lit the fuse, and incitement that keeps feeding the flames...

The Palestinians and the representatives of the Arab countries speak of the sacredness of their holy sites. When the Islamist militants desecrated Al-Aqsa by using it as a weapons depot, did any of them speak out? Of course not. Instead, Mahmoud Abbas defended these rioters, and lit the spark which set our region ablaze. He declared, and I quote: "We welcome every drop of blood spilled in Jerusalem... With the help of Allah, every shaheed will be in heaven, and every wounded will get his reward ... Al-Aqsa is ours, and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is ours, everything is ours, all ours. They have no right to desecrate them with their filthy feet." I repeat, their filthy feet.

Can you imagine the reaction if an Israeli leader, any leader, would have uttered such a hateful statement? The Security Council would have wasted no time in convening to condemn it. Yet, when the President of the Palestinian Authority makes such a blatantly prejudiced statement, the reaction of this Council is complete silence...

Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu stood here in the UN and declared that he is ready for direct negotiations with the Palestinians without any preconditions.

If this Council is serious about promoting peace, it must join in Prime Minister Netanyahu's call, and insist that President Abbas comes to the negotiating table..."