UN Security Council convenes to discuss Jewish homes on barren hilltops

September 28, 2008 
Israel Today 
Original Source: http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=17271 http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=17271
The United Nations Security Council met in a special two-hour session on Friday essentially to condemn a few Jewish homes built atop formerly barren hilltops. 
The problem is that those hilltops, though most of them were never owned by anyone, are claimed by the Palestinian Arabs. As such, the Arab dignitaries leading the Security Council meeting painted the Jewish houses as the sole obstacle to peace in the region. 
While the Security Council's five permanent members kept a low profile at the meeting, they did issue a separate statement under the banner of the Middle East Quartet demanding that Israel dismantle any Jewish communities built since 2001 and stop adding homes to older settlements. 
Israel's new ambassador to the UN, Gabriela Shalev responded to the accusations in the Security Council by insisting that no meaningful dialogue can be had until the Arabs acknowledge that Jewish settlements are not the only issue on the table. 
Among the important issues conveniently ignored by the council, said Shalev, were illegal arms transfers to Hamas and Hizballah, ongoing Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israelis and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls from international podiums for the eradication of the Jewish state.