Introduction: The Third Committee of the General Assembly will be dealing with a topic relevant to the current international s c e n e . T H E H U M A N I TA R I A N SITUATION IN GAZA deals with issues that have developed from a problem that have been discussed in the international community for the last few decades. At the conference you, as delegate of the General Assembly, will be challenged to debate and develop solutions to ensure human rights in Gaza.

While most discussions in the United Nations approach this topic from the perspective of solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Committee will concentrate on the issues that involve international law in the sub-fields of human rights and humanitarian treaties, both in terms of assuring basic necessities, reducing harmful situations, and setting a framework for the creation of a situation which can aid the Gazans – who are mostly the refugees from previous conflicts – in order to create a better livelihood for themselves in terms of peace, security and livelihood.

As you see, the topic that we have to deal with is not a simple issue. Its multi-dimensional nature will make committee debates exciting and challenging. In order to ge t t he mos t ou t o f your experience as a delegate in the Third Committee, we encourage

you to read this study guide to familiarize yourself with the topic areas. Then we urge you to conduct research of your own, perhaps with the help of our suggestions for further research, in order to be fu l l y prepared for the conference.

The General Assembly is the main deliberative organ of the UN. Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority. Decisions on other questions are by simple majority.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction:

The Social, Cultural & Humanitarian Committee:

Statement of the problem:

History of the problem:

Current situations:

Relevant actions

Proposed solutions

Questions a resolution must answer

Bloc positions

Further research

SOCIAL, HUMANITARIAN AND CULTURAL COMMITTEE

LI PO CHUN UNITED WORLD COLLEGE MUN COP DAY

THIRD COMMITTEE OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLYTopic: The Humanitarian situation in Gaza

THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL & HUMANITARIAN COMMITTEE:

• • •The United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation. Its powers are to oversee the budget of the United Nations, appoint the non- permanent members to the Security Council, receive reports from other parts of the United Nations and make recommendations in the form of General Assembly Resolutions. It has also established a wide number of subsidiary organs.

The General Assembly includes six main committees:

• First Committee (Disarmament and International Security Committee) is concerned with disarmament and related international security questions;

• Second Committee (Economic and Financial Committee) is concerned with economic issues;

• Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee) deals with social and humanitarian issues;

• Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization Committee) deals with a variety of political subjects not dealt with by the First Committee, as well as with decolonization;

• Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary Committee) deals with the administration and budget of the United Nations; and

• Sixth Committee (Legal Committee) deals with international legal matters.

Every year, the General Assembly allocates to its Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs Committee, commonly referred to as the "Third Committee", agenda items relating to a range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues that affect people all over the world.

The Committee also discusses the advancement of women, the protection of children, indigenous issues, the treatment of refugees, the promotion of fundamental freedoms through the elimination of racism and racial discrimination, and the promotion of the right to self- determination.  The Committee also addresses important social development issues such as issues related to youth, family, aging, persons with disabilities, crime prevention, criminal justice, and drug control.

At the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly, the Third Committee considered 64 draft resolutions, more than half of which were submitted under the human rights agenda item alone.  These included a number of so-called country-specific resolutions on human rights situations.

THE COUNTRIES IN OUR MODEL UNITED NATIONS:

Russian FederationPalestine Liberation Organization South Africa

Venezuela

United KingdomUnited States of America

India

South Korea

Turkey

France

Myanmar

Iran

Israel

Nigeria

People´s Republic of China

After a 22-day offensive in its attack on the Gaza strip in order to retaliate against Hamas, firing of rockets onto Israeli towns, Israel unilaterally declared a ceasefire on January 17th 2009, after Prime Minister Ehumd Olmert stated that Hamas had been “badly beaten” and that the countryʼs goals “have been more than fully achieved”. After this offensive, the UN Security Council is left with innumerable tasks that need to be examined in the aftermath of the conflict. With Israelʼs 19-month blockade of the Gaza strip not fully lifted, which Israel says is to prevent Hamas from re-arming, and about 750,000 people in Gaza dependent on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) must now deal with the humanitarian aspect and impact of the war which include over 1,000 Palestinians dead and devastating structural damage to the strip. With anger mounting in Gaza, threats of a “Third Intifada” were raised, combined with in- fighting within the

Palestinian ranks between Hamas and Fatah. Everything got even worse after the flotilla incident, which was a military attack by Israel against six ships of the "Gaza Freedom Flotilla" on May 31, 2010. The flotilla, organized by the Free Gaza Movement and the Turkish Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief(ĐHH), was carrying humanitarian aid and construction materials, as well as ballistic vests, gas masks, night-vision goggles, and large sums of money intent on breaking Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip. Five of the ships were apprehended without loss of life or severe injuries. Clashes broke out after activists violently resisted the Israeli forces. Nine activists were killed, which shows how unfair and anti humanitarian Israel action is.

Introduction to the Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

Bloc Positions:1 – The United States, IsraelUS – Israeli relations are described as such: “relations have evolved from an initial American policy of sympathy and support for the creation of a Jewish homeland in 1948 to an unusual partnership that links a small but militarily powerful Israel, dependent on the United States for its economic and military strength, with the U.S. superpower trying to balance competing interests in the region. Some in the United States question the levels of aid and general commitment to Israel, and argue that a U.S. bias toward Israel operates at the expense of improved U.S. relations with various Arab States. Others maintain that democratic Israel is a strategic ally, and those U.S. relations with Israel strengthens the U.S. presence in the Middle East.” The US, as a veto power in the UNSC has vetoed a total of 24 resolutions since 1988. Of these 24, 19 of them have been vetoed because of their critical stance of Israel, thus defending the interests of the Jewish state. This number also does not include the “hidden veto”, where possible resolutions are, in essence vetoed before even being proposed, because the US threatens to veto them if They are. Therefore, any positions taken by the delegation representing the United States should carefully consider the trend of the US in the past towards support of the Israeli state, especially in regards to the discussions on how the peace process should move forward.

The current situation:Bloc Positions:2 Turkey, Iran, Palestine.The Middle East have long fought for the independence of Palestine, or, more recently, a two-state solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. On May 15, 1948, the day after the State of Israel came into being, the Arab League made their “Declaration on the Invasion of Palestine” and their views on the injustices that they felt have been committed against their fellow Arabs, the Palestinians, have not changed completely. Egypt is the only other country besides Israel that shares a border with the Gaza Strip. Israel accuses the Egyptian border crossings of being the main path for Hamas to smuggle arms into the Strip, through a serious of underground tunnels. These tunnels were also the target of many of Israelʼs air strike in the strip. It must be taken into account during discussions of how to remedy the current humanitarian situation in Gaza. However, while Egypt supports its fellow Arabs in Palestine and even fought a devastating war against Israel in the 1967 for Six- days, Egypt was the first Arab country to officially recognize Israel through the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejab of Iran called on all Muslim countries to unite in order to bring about an end to as he called the Israelʼs “genocide” of the people of Gaza. Yet, the disunity amongst the Arab nations in the Middle East and other middle eastern countries, as well as their own domestic disorder often prevents them from presenting a strong front for the Palestinian side in negotiations towards and Israeli-Palestinian peace. After what happened to the Turkish ship, turkey relationships with Israel has strained.

According to the Palestinian Centre For Human Rights there were 1,434 Palestinians killed in the combined air and group offensives by the Israeli Armed Forces.

This number includes 960 civilians, 239 police officers and 235 fighters. More than 5,300 Palestinians were injured, 34% of them children. On the other hand, thirteen Israelis died in the war. Three of these were civilians killed by Hamas rockets.

The military offensive has also left some 21,000 homes either destroyed or damaged and has caused, at one point or the another, more than 50,000 people to seek refuge in the facilities of the UN relief and works agency for Palestinian refugees in the near east. This does not include the civilians killed or homes destroyed on Israeli territory by Hamas rockets prior to this current conflict. This conflict has, obviously, had a devastating effect on the Gaza strip.

However, rather than focusing on arguing about the morality of this offensive, the UNHRC should focus on how to deal with the damage caused by the conflict and then, on how to head forward towards building a lasting peace.

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED LINKS:http://www.hrw.org/en/world-report-2011/israel-occupied-palestinian-territorieshttp://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/306466d86a2184e48525779f004e6e14?OpenDocumenthttp://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/newsroom/docs/http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/Reports/English/pdf_annual/Summary-Eng-09.pdfFAO-brief23january.pdf

1. How should the international community deal with the humanitarian effects of the aftermath of the war in Gaza?

2. What actions can be taken to prevent situations like this from occurring in the future?

3. What does this show about the commitment of both sides of the conflict towards the existing roadmap towards peace?

4. What plans should be made for the continuation of the peace process? What plans have been made?

5. How can UN Aid improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza? How can this aid

remain unhindered by the political processes?

Questions to consider: LINKS:

http://www.theworld.org/?q=node/4030

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/19/africa/mideast.php

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7818022.stm

h t t p : / / d a c c e s s d d s . u n . o r g / d o c /UNDOC/GEN/N09/204/32/PDF/N0920432.pdf?OpenElement

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article5913452.ece

h t t p : / / w w w . u n . o r g / a p p s / n e w s /s t o r y . a s p ?NewsID=29751&Cr=gaza&Cr1

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/membship/veto/vetosubj.htm

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/arab_invasion.html

h t t p : / / n e w s . s m h . c o m . a u / w o r l d /venezuela-sends-humanitarian-aid-to-gaza- 20090112-7es2.html

CLOSING REMARKS:We hope that this study guide provides you a strong foundation for further research. If you are unclear about anything, please do not hesitate to contact us. We urge you to conduct your own research so that you will be prepared for the conference. The committee experience will only be as good as its delegates. Good luck!

Esra Al-Shawafi <Esra11@lpcuwc.edu.hk>Luis Morales Navarro <luis12@lpcuwc.edu.hk>Tripti Giri <Tripti11@lpcuwc.edu.hk>