The UN Security Council met today for its quarterly session entitled “The Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question.” The one-day meeting, whose agenda included a list of 87 speakers, included emotional and hard-hitting reports reflecting tension in the Southwest Asian region. Russia, China, many Arab countries, Brazil, and others all called for a ceasefire, establishment of humanitarian corridors to provide food, water, electricity, medicine, and fuel immediately to the Palestinians. The list of participants is here.
The U.S. had prepared a draft resolution for the meeting which included an attempt to make Iran a focus; however, late reports indicate that such mention was removed; negotiations are said to be ongoing. Media that have seen the resolution report that it fails to call for a ceasefire, defends Israel’s right to self-defense, urges respect for humanitarian law and calls for “sufficient and unhindered” delivery of aid to Gaza. It also calls for the unconditional release of all hostages. Secretary of State Tony Blinken’s speech before the gathering can best be described as reeking of hypocrisy and justification for Israel’s slaughter of the Palestinian people and Washington’s support for it.
The “continued failure of this Council is inexcusable. Why can’t it act to resolve the horrific Palestinian crisis, and end the misery and oppression its people have suffered for 56 years?” said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki. The UNSC is “obliged” to stop the barbaric massacres carried out by Israel, he said. Two million Palestinians are on a “survival mission, every day,” he warned, and those killed are all civilians. “Where is the outrage?” He pointedly demanded of the UNSC, “is it hard for you to uphold your mandate when it comes to Palestine? Is your human conscience not moved?” Are Palestinians just “human animals,” as the Israelis say?
The daily savage killing of hundreds of innocent youngsters is such that Palestinian children are now writing their names on their hands “so that they will not become unknown corpses nor buried in collective graves,” the Foreign Minister reported. The message was always clear, he stated. “Nothing can justify killing Israeli civilians. Well, nothing justifies killing Palestinian civilians.”
