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The following meme claims:

Israel broke UN resolution

Israel has broken 65 UN resolutions with no consequences. Iraq broke two, got invaded, bombed and destroyed.

Has Israel broken over 60 UN resolutions?

Martin Smith
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Sakib Arifin
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    Given what [UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called](http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Ban-Ki-Moon-says-UN-has-disproportionate-focus-on-Israel-475622) a "disproportionate volume of resolutions, reports and conferences criticizing Israel", it would hardly be surprising if this was true. – ff524 Jan 02 '17 at 08:55
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    Nonsensical comparison... 1) Iraq gave aid, harbour and comfort to internationally wanted terrorists 2) Iraq broke the non-proliferation treaty repeatedly 3) Iraq committed genocide 4) Iraq repeatedly and aggressively attacked other countries and tried to annex them. These are the violations that makes a country lose its sovereignty... not what your scorecard of violated UN resolutions is. –  Jan 02 '17 at 13:45
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    What is *breaking a resolution* actually? Does it have a definition? –  Jan 02 '17 at 15:23
  • @Michael Karnerfors: Exactly. Breaking UN resolutions (especially when those amount to "go commit suicide") seldom has any great consequence. Helping attack the US does. – jamesqf Jan 03 '17 at 04:32

1 Answers1

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haaretz said this based on a study by Steven Zunes (in 2002):

Since 1968, Israel has violated 32 resolutions that included condemnation or criticism of the governments' policies and actions. Turkey is in second place, with 24 violations since 1974, and Morocco is third with 17 resolutions it ignored.
[...]
Zunes specifically avoided counting resolutions that are vague or unclear so that governments could claim different interpretations to the meaning of the resolutions. Thus, the famous UN Security Council resolutions 242 and 338 are not included in his study. He also did not count resolutions that only included condemnations. Instead, he focused on those that included specific calls for changes in the subject governments' policies.
[...]
The resolutions Israel violated were either about its annexation of East Jerusalem or settlements in the territories. Israel also ignored UN Security Council resolutions that called for Israel to cease using harsh measures against the Palestinian population and to cease expelling Palestinians.

The Foreign Policy Journal - not authoritative and quite anti-Israel - has a list with 79 resolutions, but it includes resolutions Zunes excluded for good reasons.

Following is a list of United Nations Security Council resolutions directly critical of Israel for violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions, the U.N. Charter, the Geneva Conventions, international terrorism, or other violations of international law.

It should be noted that Iraq could have violated more than just two resolutions in its history, especially as there does not seem to be a time restriction on the claim. Here are the 31 security council resolutions concerning Iraq.

It should be noted that there is a known focus in the UN on Israel, resulting in a disproportionate amount of resolutions.

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-Moon on Friday said that the UN has a "disproportionate volume of resolutions, reports and conferences criticizing Israel" while delivering a statement marking his ten-years in office.

Ban continued by remarking that "in many cases, rather than helping the Palestinian cause, this reality has hampered the ability of the UN to fulfill its role effectively."

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tim
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    It might also be noted that the US-led invasion of Iraq was [not UN-sanctioned](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3661134.stm), so the meme's argument is a non-sequitur. – Oddthinking Jan 02 '17 at 12:12
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    @Oddthinking - Apropos almost nothing, Iraq also didn't "get destroyed", as the meme claims. US invasion was remarkably non-destructive, as far as actual military operations go (as opposed to subsequent events related to occupation) – user5341 Jan 02 '17 at 14:22
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    I've corrected the answer so it represents the evidence linked more fairly and included relevant citations. Please keep personal political opinion to a minimum (on either side). – Sklivvz Jan 02 '17 at 15:58
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    @Oddthinking: Where is there any meme here? A meme is the unit of a culturally self-propagating idea, per Dawkins. As far as I can see, this is someone who conflated two basically unrelated ideas, photoshopped them into a picture, and posted it somewhere on the internet. – jamesqf Jan 02 '17 at 22:10
  • @jamesqf: I suggest you answer [this question](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/3741/what-is-and-isnt-a-meme). – Oddthinking Jan 02 '17 at 22:15
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    @Oddthinking UN Security Council resolution 678 authorized all means necessary including invasion. – DavePhD Jan 03 '17 at 14:33
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    @DavePhD: Yes, you are right to call me on this. I was referring only to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, not the 1990 one. Sorry for the confusion. – Oddthinking Jan 03 '17 at 14:59
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    @Sklivvz, the line about opportunity to break sanctions may be obvious but some people need it pointed out. Maybe re-word it? However I think it should go back into the answer. – Ryan Jan 05 '17 at 23:16
  • @Ryan I disagree, it makes absolutely no sense and it's unsupported by evidence. – Sklivvz Jan 06 '17 at 00:31
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    @Sklivvz, What? it's unsupported? What other non-terrorist non dictatorship/communist country has had as many sanctions placed on it as Israel in the last 40 years? You can't break sanctions that aren't placed. Not to mention the quote in the ***OP and answer*** from the freaking secretary general of the UN that the UN has a *"disproportionate volume of resolutions, reports and conferences criticizing Israel"*. – Ryan Jan 06 '17 at 01:08
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    @Ryan: Maybe he meant it was not supported by evidence provided in the answer. To be honest the quote you cite doesn't talk only about resolutions concerning Israel; it only talks about the combination of resolutions, reports, and conferences criticizing Israel, which is not the same. – user541686 Jan 13 '17 at 08:49