An Updated List of Vetoes Cast by the US
By Donald Neff
Washington Report, May/June 2005, page 14 Special Report
http://www.wrmea.com/archives/May-June_2005/0505014.html
Prior to the Nixon administration, the United States had never
employed its veto power in the U.N. Security Council. It was
first used March 17, 1970 over Southern Rhodesia. The second
U.S. veto came two years later, when Washington sought to
protect Israel from a resolution condemning Israel for one of
its attacks on its neighbors. Since then, the United States has
cast its veto a total of 39 times to shield Israel from Security
Council draft resolutions that condemned, deplored,
denounced, demanded, affirmed, endorsed, called on and
urged Israel to obey the world body.
1.
Sept 10, 1972
to Shield Israel from Criticism by the
UN Security Council
- Condemned Israel’s attacks against
Southern Lebanon and Syria; vote: 13 to 1, with 1
abstention.
2.
July 26, 1973
- Affirmed the rights of the Palestinian
people to self-determination, statehood and equal
protections; vote: 13 to 1, with China absent.
3.
Dec 8, 1975
- Condemned Israel’s air strikes and
attacks in Southern Lebanon and its murder of
innocent civilians; vote: 13 to 1, with 1 abstention.
4.
Jan 26, 1976
- Called for self-determination of
Palestinian people; vote:9 to 1, with 3 abstentions.
5.
March 25, 1976
- Deplored Israel’s altering of the
status of Jerusalem, which is recognized as an
international city, by most world nations and the
United Nation’s; vote: 14 to 1.
6.
June 29, 1976
- Affirmed the inalienable rights of the
Palestinian people; vote: 10 to 1, with 4 abstentions.
7.
April 30, 1980
- Endorsed self-determination for the
Palestinian people vote: 10 to 1, with 4 abstentions.
8.
Jan. 20, 1982
- Demanded Israel’s withdrawal from
the Golan Heights; vote: 9 to 1, with 4 abstentions.
9.
April 2, 1982
- Condemned Israel’s mistreatment of
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza
Strip and its refusal to abide by the Geneva
Convention protocols of civilized nations; vote: 14 to 1.
10.
April 20, 1982
- Condemned an Israeli soldier who
shot 11 Muslim worshippers on the Temple Mount of
the Haram al-Sharaf near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the
Old City of Jerusalem; vote: 14 to 1.
11.
June 8, 1982
- Urged sanctions against Israel if it did
not withdraw from its invasion of Lebanon; vote: 14 to 1.
12.
June 26, 1982
- Urged sanctions against Israel if it did
not withdraw from its invasion of Beirut, Lebanon;
vote: 14 to 1.
13. A
ug 6, 1982
- Urged cut-off of economic aid to Israel
if it refused to withdraw from its occupation of
Lebanon; vote: 11 to 1, with 3 abstentions.
14.
Aug 2, 1983
- Condemned continued Israeli
settlements in occupied Palestine territories of West
Bank and Gaza Strip, denouncing them as an
obstacle to peace; vote: 13 to 1, with 1 abstention.
15.
Sept 6, 1984
- Deplored Israel’s brutal massacre of
Arabs in Lebanon and urged its withdrawal; vote: 14 to 1.
16.
March 12, 1985
- Condemned Israeli brutality in
Southern Lebanon and denounced Israel’s “Iron Fist”
policy of repression; vote: 11 to 1, with 3 abstentions.
17.
Sept 13, 1985
- Denounced Israel’s violation of human rights in the occupied territories;
vote: 10 to 1, with 4 abstentions.
18.
Jan 17, 1986
- Deplored Israel’s violence in Southern Lebanon;
vote: 11 to 1, with 3 abstentions.
19.
Jan 30, 1986
- Deplored Israel’s activities in occupied
Arab East Jerusalem which threaten the sanctity of
Muslim holy sites; vote: 13 to 1, with 1 abstention.
20.
Feb 6, 1986
- Condemned Israel’s hijacking of a Libyan passenger airplane on Feb. 4;
vote: 10 to 1, with 1 abstention.
21.
Jan 18, 1988
- Deplored Israeli attacks against
Lebanon and its measures and practices against the
civilian population of Lebanon;
vote: 13 to 1, with Britain abstaining.
22.
Feb 1, 1988
- Called on Israel to abandon its policies
against the Palestinian uprising that violate the rights
of occupied Palestinians, abide by the Fourth
Geneva Convention and formalize a leading role for
the United Nations in future peace negotiations;
vote: 14 to 1.
23.
April 15, 1988
- Urged Israel to accept back deported
Palestinians, condemned Israel’s shooting of civilians,
called on Israel to uphold the Fourth Geneva
Convention and called for a peace settlement
under U.N. auspices; vote: 14 to 1.
24.
May 10, 1988
- Condemned Israel’s May 2 incursion
into Lebanon; vote: 14to 1.
25.
Dec 14, 1988
- Deplored Israel’s Dec. 9 commando
raids on Lebanon; vote: 14 to 1.
26.
Feb. 17, 1989
- Deplored Israel’s repression of the
Palestinian uprising and called on Israel to respect
the human rights of the Palestinians; vote: 14 to 1.
27.
June 9, 1989
- Deplored Israel’s violation of the human
rights of the Palestinians; vote: 14 to 1.
28.
Nov 7, 1989
- Demanded Israel return property
confiscated from Palestinians during a tax protest
and allow a fact-finding mission to observe Israel’s
crackdown on the Palestinian uprising; vote: 14 to 1.
29.
May 31, 1990
- Called for a fact-finding mission on
abuses against Palestinians in Israeli-occupied lands;
vote: 14 to 1.
30.
May 17, 1995
- Declared invalid Israel’s expropriation
of land in East Jerusalem and in violation of Security
Council resolutions and the Fourth Geneva
convention; vote: 14 to 1.
31.
March 7, 1997
- Called on Israel to refrain from
settlement activity and all other actions in the
occupied territories; vote:14 to 1.
32.
March 21, 1997
- Demanded Israel cease
construction of the settlement Har Homa (called
Jabal Abu Ghneim by the Palestinians) in East
Jerusalem and cease all other settlement activity in
the occupied territories; vote: 13 to 1, with one
abstention.
33.
March 26, 2001
- Called for the deployment of a U.N.
observer force in the West Bank and Gaza;
vote: 9 to 1, with 4 abstentions.
34.
Dec 14, 2001
- Condemned all acts of terror, the use of excessive force and destruction of properties and
encouraged establishment of a monitoring apparatus;
vote: 12-1, with 2 abstentions.
35.
Dec 19, 2002
- Expressed deep concern over Israel’s
killing of U.N. employees and Israel’s destruction of
the U.N. World Food Program warehouse in Beit
Lahiya and demanded that Israel refrain from the
excessive and disproportionate use of force in the
occupied territories;
vote: 12 to 1, with 2 abstentions.
36.
Sept 16, 2003
- Reaffirmed the illegality of deportation of any Palestinian and expressed
concern about the possible deportation of Yasser Arafat;
vote: 11 to 1, with 3 abstentions.
37.
Oct 14, 2003
- Raised concerns about Israel’s building of a security fence through the occupied West Bank;
vote 10 to 1, with 4 abstentions.
38.
March 25, 2004
- Condemned Israel for killing Palestinian spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin
in a missile attack in Gaza;
vote: 11 to 1, with 3 abstentions.
39.
Oct 5, 2004
- Condemned Israel’s military incursion in Gaza, causing any civilian deaths and extensive
damage to property;
vote: 11 to 1, with 3 abstentions.
none