Canada voted against a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution Thursday that condemns Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip and dispatches a fact-finding team to the region.
The resolution, which passed by a 29-11 vote, condemns Israel's military attacks against Palestinian ministries, power plants and bridges.
The resolution, put forward to the council by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, demands that Israel end its military operations in Gaza.
Israel entered Gaza late last month after Palestinian militants attacked an army post in southern Israel, killing two soldiers and abducting a third.
The army says it will leave Gaza when Cpl. Gilad Shalit, 19, is released.
Terry Cormier, Canada's representative on the 47-member council, said Canada voted against the resolution because it did not provide a balanced perspective on events in Gaza.
"This draft resolution focuses almost entirely on Israel while ignoring that party's legitimate security concerns," Cormier said.
"It also fails to acknowledge that the Palestinian Authority has a responsibility to prevent the constant firing of rockets into Israel, to resolve the present hostage-taking crisis and to prevent the recurrence of such criminal acts."
Five abstentions
Cameroon, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea, and Switzerland abstained from the vote.
John Dugard, the special UN investigator who will head the fact-finding team, criticized what he called Israel's use of collective punishment and intimidation in Gaza.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Itzhak Levanon, accused the council of having a double standard and of vilifying his country.
"Obviously this resolution isn't even-handed. It's not equitable and it's not balanced. Everybody knows that. Even those that voted in favour, they did this for political reasons," Levanon said.
Canada was one of 170 nations that voted to create the new human rights body to replace the 60-year-old UN Human Rights Commission.
The 47 members of the council were elected by the UN General Assembly. The United States declined to stand for membership, while others including Sudan, Venezuela and Iran failed to win a seat.
Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Pakistan and China were elected to the council despite objections.
Arab states present resolution to Security Council
Also Thursday, Arab states presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council demanding Israel "immediately cease its aggression against the Palestinian civilian population."
The draft also condemns the military operation and demands Israel release members of the Hamas-led government who were detained last week.
The United States and France said the resolution was not balanced and would not be voted on any time soon.
The five permanent members of the 15-member Security Council —the U.S., China, Russia, France and Britain — all have veto power over any resolution.
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