The United Nations came into existence in 1945 in the aftermath of World War II as an embodiment of hope for the world and for the maintenance of international peace and security after two devastating wars had ravaged Europe in the span of less than half a century.
While the UN has undoubtedly made quite a few remarkable achievements through its specialised agencies and bodies in catering for the needs of children, refugees, women and other vulnerable groups, as well as in providing the necessary legal frameworks for human development, education and protection of our planet, it has failed miserably in its role as a guarantor for peace and stopping the aggression of the powerful.
In fact, the second half of the 20th century had witnessed some of the worst atrocities since the end of World War II. In 1994, for example, the UN failed to stop the horrible genocide in Rwanda, in which approximately one million people, mainly Tutsi, were killed by the Hutu militants. Previously, in 1982, more than 1,000 Palestinian women and children were massacred in cold blood by the Lebanese Phalangists in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, under the watchful eye of the late Israeli general, Ariel Sharon, nicknamed the ‘bulldozer’, with protection from none.
A worse crime which the UN failed to stop was the massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica at the hands of fanatic Serbs, in 1995. Another more heinous crime of genocide occurred in Cambodia during the period from 1975 to 1979 when the Khmer Rouge regime, initially supported by the US to weaken the Vietnamese, caused the death of approximately three million people.
Whether the UN could or could not prevent such atrocities is an arguable matter but what is more important is how much did we learn from the painful lessons of the 20th century? Now, as we enter the third decade of the 21st century, the world witnesses the massacre of the Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank.
The recent counts of those killed in Gaza have reached over 28,000 people, among whom the highest percentage is women and children who cannot be Hamas fighters except in the sick imagination of the likes of Benjamin Netanyahu. Despite the injunction by the International Court of Justice calling upon Israel to refrain from its potentially genocidal acts, the Israeli army, the IDF, continues its massacres of Palestinians daily, heedless of any calls for restraint.
Benjamin Netanyahu and his bloodthirsty generals continue to mislead the Jewish people that they will achieve the unachievable, namely the destruction of Hamas
Netanyahu and his bloodthirsty generals continue to mislead the Jewish people that they will achieve the unachievable, namely the destruction of Hamas. As I argued in a previous article in Times of Malta (‘A tragedy called Gaza’, January 21), resistance organisations such as Hamas cannot be destroyed as the flame of resistance cannot be extinguished. In fact, Israel and its short-sighted supporters are sowing the seeds of hatred and will only reap the grapes of wrath.
If Israel continues with this policy, it will only succeed in killing more thousands of Palestinians in a campaign which can only be defined as genocide as South Africa has courageously described it in the case it presented to the ICJ. Israel should realise that Gaza can be physically destroyed by sheer use of overwhelming force but the Palestinian people cannot be defeated.
The word Gaza is derived from the biblical Hebrew Azzah, which means ‘Strong City’. Indeed, Gaza has proven that it is worthy of its name. It is a starving city under brutal siege, yet, none of its people has fled. The living continue to resist while the dead are buried in the land of their ancestors.
The question I would like to raise is: Could the UN stop this genocide unfolding daily before the eyes of the whole world? Unfortunately, the answer can only be in the negative as we learned from previous lessons.
The UN Security Council will not be able to issue a resolution calling upon Israel to immediately implement a ceasefire, even in return for the release of all hostages and reaching a deal on Gaza with the Palestinian Authority.
The American veto will abort any such resolutions, no matter how the language is watered down. In fact, it is truly pathetic that the UN cannot protect its own agencies, as the recent decision by the US, and some other countries, to suspend funding to UNRWA has shown.
Just because of allegations by Israeli that some UNRWA employees are affiliated to Hamas, the US, some European countries, together with Australia, Canada and Japan decided to deprive the starving Palestinians in the dead of winter from their only remaining lifeline. This is a brutal act, similar to severing the umbilical cord from an unborn baby.
The impotence of the United Nations is a sad reflection on the realities of post-World War II. The only hope that remains is the voice of the people. Millions demonstrated in the US, Europe and other parts of the world calling for stopping the aggression on Gaza and expressing their anger and frustration that the UN, founded in the name of the people, could do virtually nothing to stop the massacre in Gaza.
Without wishing to be a prophet of doom, if the mad policies of the right-wing, short-sighted and bigoted government of Netanyahu continue, the world will witness many more thousands killed, starved to death and displaced.
The short-sighted supporters of Israeli genocidal policies will go down in history as accomplices to heinous crimes against humanity.
However, as demonstrators in Tel Aviv, demanding the return of their loved ones still held hostages through negotiated deals, have shown, the Jewish conscience itself can no longer tolerate the madness of Netanyahu and his cohorts who will, in destroying Gaza, bring down the temple upon the heads of all.
Saadun SuayehSaadun Suayeh is the former ambassador of Libya to Malta.