Last week, the United Nations General Assembly met for an emergency session. The focus of the gathering was the most recent unrest on the Gaza-Israel border.
The result of the session was yet another biased, anti-Israel resolution; and while the U.N.’s job is to promote globalization and peace amongst all nations, it continues to ostracize the only country in the Middle East that operates under a completely free and open democracy.
Any uncertainty about the U.N.’s hypocrisy was cast aside as the General Assembly denounced Israel just minutes after striking down an amendment introduced by the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, that condemned Hamas, a terrorist organization, for its part in the unrest on Israel’s border. The vote to condemn a sovereign nation, while ignoring a violent terrorist faction, was not only a rejection of Israel’s right to existence. It was also proof that the U.N is a haven for countries that have long been bastions of repression and totalitarian control.
Since its establishment in 1948, the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. Human Rights Council, and the U.N. General Assembly have combined for over 100 condemnations of Israel, with the Human Rights Council leading the way with 78. Yet, since the inception of the UNHRC, there continue to be dozens of members guilty of committing the very violations the council seeks to prosecute. For example, in its first year, the UNHRC passed 11 resolutions condemning the state of Israel, including a vote in June of 2006 to make Israel a permanent agenda item for every session moving forward. The resolution passed by a vote of 29-12 with 5 abstentions.
Some of the 29 members that voted in favor of the 2006 resolution are: Algeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, China, Tunisia, Zambia, Bahrain, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, and Cuba. All of these nations have been guilty of violating human rights, including jailing or killing homosexuals, legal domestic violence, human trafficking, child labor, religious persecution, state-sponsored terror, terrorist safe havens, and more.
This hypocrisy has been a recurring theme of the international governing body and culminated last Wednesday, when a resolution by the General Assembly accused Israel of violating international law, condemning the state for protecting its borders, and completely ignoring the role of the Hamas terrorist organization. Perhaps the most appalling moment came when Ambassador Nikki Haley’s amendment, which identified and condemned Hamas for their role in the violence, was struck down. The amendment read as follows:
“Condemns Hamas for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence along the boundary fence, thereby putting civilians at risk, demands that Hamas cease all violent activity and provocative actions, further condemns the diversion of resources in Gaza to construct military infrastructure, including tunnels to infiltrate Israel and equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas, when such resources could have addressed the critical needs of the civilian population, and expresses grave concern about the destruction of the Kerem Shalom crossing by actors in Gaza, which has severely hindered deliveries of food and fuel for the people of Gaza.”
So to adopt a resolution against Israel, the U.N. would also have to denounce the terrorists who instigated the violence. But Algeria introduced a motion to reject Ambassador Haley’s amendment, and it carried. Fifty-eight countries voted against condemning the terrorist organization, and 42 abstained, feeling it was not important enough to pick a side. When the president of the U.N., Miroslav Lajcak of Slovakia, declared that an assembly rule of two-thirds majority was needed, the measure was not adopted.
Wednesday was a win for terrorists. Hamas was successful in inciting violence on the border of a sovereign nation, using civilians as human shields. They burned 2,250 acres of Israeli farmland using incendiary kites and shot hundreds of rockets, one of which landed in the playground of a kindergarten. They burned down a border crossing that was used to provide innocent people of Gaza with much needed food and fuel. They also admitted that 50 of the 60 initial deaths in the border incident were members of Hamas. Yet the United Nations and the international community failed to take their word for it, instead labeling them as unarmed civilians. The body gave Hamas a free pass.
That’s how the United Nations is a safe haven for terrorists. It is time the U.S. take more severe measures to put a stop to it.
Mark Footerman (@MarkFooterman) is a current HillVets Congressional Fellow and United States Army veteran.
