US Democrat Member of Congress Telephones Somali FM after Somali Amb Abstains from UNHRC Vote Against Israel on the Golan

(guess who)

Envoy recalled, official fired as Somalia uniquely abstains on anti-Israel vote [on the Golan]

Almost unnoticed, Arab League state made history in Geneva 10 days ago by choosing not to vote against Israel at major global forum. No explanation was given; now heads are rolling

On March 22, Somalia abstained on a UN Human Rights Council vote condemning Israel. Though it passed mostly unnoticed, the Muslim nation’s abstention on a resolution about Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights made history: It is believed to have been the first time a member state of the Arab League missed an opportunity to condemn the Jewish state in a major international forum.

Somalia’s unprecedented abstention on draft resolution A/HRC/40/L.4, entitled “Human rights in the occupied Syrian Golan,” was clearly an anomaly, because Mogadishu on the same day voted in favor of three other anti-Israel resolutions, and later reiterated its rejection of Israeli claims over the strategic high plateau.

But the move brought into the open an ongoing debate that has been playing out in the East African country over the question of potential future ties with the Jewish state.

Further highlighting what had been a secret tug of war within the government, a senior Somali diplomat who has publicly called for warming relations with Jerusalem was fired on Sunday. Unfazed, this official, Abdullahi Dool, told The Times of Israel on Monday that he still strongly favors Somalia-Israel ties.

Somalia, which has been a member of the Arab League since 1974, has never had formal relations with Israel.

The Israellycool blog cited an “anonymous foreign government source” as saying that Somali Foreign Minister Ahmed Isse Awad recalled his ambassador “only after receiving a call from [US] congresswoman Ilhan Omar.”

• These countries that opposed the vote were: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Slovakia, Togo, Spain, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
• The five countries that abstained were: Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Rwanda and Somalia.
• Bahrain told the council it had voted to support the resolution by mistake and wanted the record to reflect the fact that it had abstained.
• Besides Bahrain saying it had meant to abstain(!), notice how Somalia actually abstained.

IS THIS INTERFERENCE OF AN US ELECTED CONGRESS MEMBER IN THE ELECTIONS OF A FOREIGN BODY? [Now that couldn't possibly be a case of 'dual loyalty' could it? Nah - that would imply that she actually has any loyalty to America and that has been proven to be false]

On Friday, Dool, who has served in Somalia’s foreign service since 1983, took to Twitter to call for the establishment of diplomatic ties between Mogadishu and Jerusalem. “It is long overdue. Establishing diplomatic relations does not harm anyone but promote peace and cooperation,” he wrote.

“The Palestinians are their worst enemies,” he wrote in a second tweet. “They never miss an opportunity to miss a chance. They are idiots and losers in Gaza. They should be condemned each time they attack civilians. It is in our interest to welcome Israel.”

Dool has since deleted the tweets, saying he was expressing his personal opinion only. But that didn’t prevent his bosses from firing him on Sunday, a move that was lauded by “Somalis at home and abroad,” according to Mogadishu-based Radio Dalsan. “Over 80% of those who reacted on the station’s twitter handle said the government had done the right thing,” according to a report on its website.

Apparently undeterred, Dool on Monday morning reaffirmed his position vis-a-vis the Jewish state in an email to The Times of Israel. timesofisrael