Palestine, the United Nations and the need for America to wake up

At any given time the five so-called “permanent members” of the United Nations Security Council have the right to veto any substantive draft resolution, regardless of the level of international support there is for the draft. At one time or another, each of the five permanent members has exercised that right. Those countries are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and in agenda items entitled, “Middle East situation, including the Palestinian question” and “The question of the exercise by the Palestinian people of its inalienable rights” the US has vetoed draft resolutions on no less than 15 occasions.

The drafts repeatedly reaffirm that “…the Israeli settlements established in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, are illegal and constitute a major obstacle to the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace”, and “…demands that Israel, the occupying Power, immediately and completely ceases all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and, that it fully respect all of its legal obligations in this regard…”

The question that begs to be asked is: when the majority of the UN member states demand that Israel complies with its moral and legal obligations, what right does the United States of America, or any other country for that matter, have to say otherwise? In the last three years America’s relationship with Israel has become somewhat strained, which would seem to indicate that its continuing support of Israel in the UN is all the more hypocritical.

In 2010, Hillary Clinton announced to the nation and the world that Israel’s intention to build 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem was “deeply negative” for US-Israeli relations. President Barack Obama, in a rare mood, announced that he would refuse to meet with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu when he arrived in Washington and then promptly met him in the White House. So much for tough talk! Obama then demanded that Israel impose a freeze on settlement construction in East Jerusalem and in his own defence Netanyahu replied that he had no knowledge of the decision to build any houses; a very strange comment coming from the prime minister of the country involved.

The meeting ended without any progress and Israel continued to build the 1,600 houses, prompting Vice President Joe Biden to describe the situation as “one of the most serious rows between the two allies in recent decades”.

The following year, 2011, Obama made a foreign policy speech in which he called for a return to the pre-1967 borders, suggesting that the Israelis and Palestinians settle on a mutually-agreed border, which Netanyahu objected to out of hand. While the US might be paying lip service to the idea of finding a lasting solution, Israel is not even pretending to consider the idea. It is such frequent snubs by the state of Israel that make the actions of the US even more unacceptable.

America has repeatedly turned a blind eye to the atrocities carried out by the state of Israel against what is now a non-member observer state at the UN. The wanton destruction of entire communities including places of worship, schools and homes happens on a daily basis. Houses are bulldozed and the inhabitants are given only a moment’s notice to get out and rescue as many of their belongings as they can. What right does Israel have to do this?

There are factions within the country which believe that God gave the land to the Jews and so they have to right to take it. However, Jewish scholars deny this and have said repeatedly that the Torah, the Jewish Bible, says that the State of Israel will never exist until such time as the people of the world unite as one and worship One God. It goes so far as to say that any establishment of the country until that time would be contrary to God’s Word.

That the United Nations was set up with the highest of ideals cannot be denied. It was created on 24 October 1945 in the hope of promoting international co-operation for lasting peace. The Security Council, one of its six departments, is responsible for “deciding certain resolutions for peace and security”. However, just as the League of Nations outgrew its usefulness when it proved incapable of preventing aggression by the Axis powers in the 1930s, so too can it be argued that the United Nations might go the same way as it has been corrupted from within by nationalist sentiments that place the benefits of one nation over that of others.

That one country can prevent assistance to another country in order to safeguard the blatantly illegal and immoral demands of a third country is clearly wrong. The people of America need to wake up to this injustice carried out in their name.

Stewart Sloan works as an editor for regional human rights NGO in Hong Kong and is a published author. He may be contacted at [email protected]

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.