By: IBRAHIM Jaafar
Israel was the most condemned country at the UN in 2018 with the General Assembly passing at least 20 resolutions against Tel Aviv for human rights abuses, illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian territory and its continued occupation of East Jerusalem says Anadolu Agency.
At least six efforts passed at the end of November sought to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a separate resolution passed in December renewed condemnation of the US’s unilateral recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The resolutions passed this year further voice support for long-stalled efforts to achieve a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while separately condemning Israel’s continued occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights.
A US-drafted resolution condemning the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and other Palestinian factions has failed to get the required majority for adoption by the UN General Assembly. This was despite the US “warning” countries which planned to vote against the proposal.
The US and Israel exerted a lot of effort in trying to ensure that the resolution was passed, because while General Assembly resolutions are non-binding on member states, they are considered to be a barometer of world opinion. Introducing the resolution, the US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, appealed for countries to put to one side their different views of the Israel-Palestine conflict and vote for the resolution. At one stage, Haley seemed to be begging member states not to oppose the US text.
“The General Assembly has passed over 700 resolutions condemning Israel and not one single resolution condemning Hamas,” she declared. That is arguably more a reflection of Israel’s contempt for international law than a condemnation of the General Assembly. Haley’s efforts were in vain; the resolution fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for it to be adopted.
Haaretz called the failure to pass the resolution a blow to the US and Israel. The Times of Israel called the failure a “crushing defeat to Israel and its American ally after weeks of diplomacy.”
Nikki Haley's swan song in the chamber was an embarrassment for her and her country. Her resolution to condemn Hamas was voted down, while a resolution reiterating the call for a comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, which she opposed, passed overwhelmingly. It is particularly galling that Haley wanted to use the UN to condemn Palestinians while defending Israel and its breaches of hundreds of resolutions passed by the very organization she wanted to use to sanction the people of Palestine who are in breach of none.
In history, America has historically supported the most unjust policies against its minorities – practices that were even protected by the law.
If someone breaks into your home to rob you and harm your family, logic dictates that you do whatever it takes to expel that invader from your home.
But when that home is a Muslim land, and that invader is the U.S. military or her allies, for some reason the standards suddenly change. Common sense is renamed terrorism and the people defending themselves against those who come to kill them becomes the terrorists who are killing the oppressors. The mentality that America was victimized with when British soldiers walked its streets two and a half centuries ago is the same mentality Palestinians are victimized by as Israelis soldiers walk their streets today. It's the mentality of colonialism.
Such Israelis don’t seem to get it. The UN has condemned Israel because it breaks international law with its colonial policies and aggressive actions against the people of Palestine. If they truly want an end to the conflict, — then they have to change their policies and stop violating Palestinian rights. Only then will a just peace be possible. That is the truth and significance of the failure of the US-Israel alliance at the UN General Assembly this year.
Thus, "UN or no UN" those working against Palestinian rights
ould also know that they have picked on a people who have demonstrated over decades that they will not give up on their rights, whatever the challenges.