Israeli propaganda defeated at UN
Despite being the target of ongoing defamation by the US and Israel because of its refusal to abandon Palestinian refugees, the UN manages to serve as a method of monitoring the world’s moral compass.
We saw this last week, when the UN General Assembly (UNGA) declined to approve a resolution that singled out violence by Hamas while ignoring ongoing terrorism and oppression by Israel’s government. After rejecting the one-sided anti-Hamas resolution, the UNGA approved by an overwhelmingly majority another resolution that urged a “comprehensive Middle East peace” and that denounced Israel’s illegal and racist settlements.
These votes paint a hopeful picture that, despite Israel’s huge investment in propaganda and lies as well as efforts by US’ outgoing UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, the majority of the world stands by Palestinian rights and peace based on a compromise that would recognize the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Pro-Israel propagandists immediately began arguing that the votes reflect the moral corruption of the UN and most of the world’s nations, pointing out that, this week, three Israeli settlers had been killed by Palestinian shooters.
The real hypocrisy is that, while the pro-Israel propagandists condemned the killing of the settlers, the American resolution made absolutely no mention of the fact that Israel has killed more than 200 Palestinians this year, mostly civilians, using long-range sniper fire along the border between Gaza and Israel, and seriously injured thousands more.
Ironically, while Israel and the US rejected peace based on compromise, most nations in Europe and the Arab world spoke in favor of a “just peace” and against “all forms of violence.”
It seems the US and Israel are engaging in a policy of hypocrisy when it comes to the UN and Palestine. On the one hand, America and its financial dependent Israel continue to turn to the UN for justification for many of their actions. But, while they gladly accept votes when it comes to their own interests, the two consistently vote against resolutions that recognize the rights of Palestinians.
Israeli propagandists often argue that Palestinian refugees — three generations of victims that have grown to nearly 5 million since Israel expelled them in 1948 — should be assimilated by the nations that house their refugee encampments. But the truth is that it has been Israel’s refusal to recognize the violence and suffering it heaps on Palestinians that prevents a resolution of the conflict.
They also pretend that only Israelis are killed in the conflict. Most Arab countries have condemned the violence on both sides; the killing of Jews, Christians and Muslims. But that is not the case with Israel.
Whether a resolution passes or does not pass at the UN is beside the point. The UN has become an oxymoron; a symbol not of unity but of dysfunction. The UN has lost a lot of its importance because some nations, like the US, have far more power than other member nations and they exploit it for their own political advantage.