On November 15, after lengthy negotiations and four failed attempts to reach consensus, the United Nations Security Council finally adopted a resolution on what it calls the “Israeli-Palestinian crisis.”
Resolution 2712, adopted by 12 votes in favor, zero against and three abstentions (from Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States), however, did little other than give Israel the green light , once again, to continue its genocide. war against Gaza.
The resolution calls for the implementation of “urgent and prolonged humanitarian pauses and corridors” in Gaza for “a sufficient number of days” to facilitate “full, rapid, safe and unimpeded access to United Nations agencies and partners.” He demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and other groups, particularly children, as well as the guarantee of immediate humanitarian access.” And apparently to protect Palestinian civilians, who are bearing the brunt of the Israeli offensive, he further calls on “all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population of Gaza of basic services and aid essential to their survival.” survival, in accordance with international humanitarian law.
Ambassador Vanessa Frazier of Malta, who drafted the text, went so far as to say that votes in favor of the resolution would result “in real human lives.” The lives of thousands of children, civilians and heroic aid workers.
It is, of course, impossible to say whether the resolution helped save “real human lives,” because it did not explicitly demand that Israel stop killing Palestinians or condemn its indiscriminate bombing and lawless siege on Gaza.
Indeed, the very call for “humanitarian pauses and corridors” was nothing more than an admission that the UN Security Council is more than willing to allow Israel to continue its project of ethnic cleansing in Gaza, as long as it agrees to occasionally stop its bombing and provide safe passage to a few aid trucks, presumably to improve optics.
This is unacceptable.
Israel is openly committing war crimes in Gaza. Thousands of Palestinians, the vast majority women and children, have been killed in Gaza since October 7. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres himself warned that in Gaza civilians are being killed at an “unprecedented and unprecedented rate in any conflict” that he has seen since he took office. functions. office in 2017. Israeli bombing has reduced most civilian infrastructure – including hospitals, schools and a majority of homes – to rubble in the north of the besieged enclave, and the south is not faring much better. In Gaza, more people could die from disease than from bombings if the health system is not urgently repaired, the World Health Organization has said.
And yet the powerful UN Security Council seems unable to offer the long-suffering Palestinians of Gaza anything more than a few truckloads of aid and a vain demand that Israel take an occasional brief pause before killing them indiscriminately.
However, even this watered-down and unnecessary resolution was a step too far for Israel’s imperial patron, the United States, which did not reject it outright, but nevertheless refused to vote for it.
The day after the vote, the American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, explained in an official statement that her country had not voted yes because the text “did not condemn Hamas nor reaffirm the right of all Member States to protect their rights. citizens against terrorist attacks” – meaning it does not explicitly reaffirm Israel’s “right” to kill Palestinians with impunity.
This attitude, which places Israel’s real and imagined “rights” at the center of all discussion and action on Israel-Palestine, even when Israel is actively massacring thousands of Palestinian women and children, is an integral part of the will of the United States and the West at large. strategy to “manage” the century-old conflict.
In fact, Thomas-Greenfield’s statement on Resolution 2712 is a classic example of how the United States responds to any attempt by anyone to reprimand or censor its favorite settlement: undermine the truth. , defend the indefensible and protect Israel at all costs.
In her statement, Thomas-Greenfield referred to the October 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel and called on Security Council members to condemn the Palestinian armed group that “slaughtered civilians, burned families alive and executed children.” Although she demanded condemnation of Hamas’ “barbaric” attack, she made no mention of Israel’s bombing and siege of Gaza, which was undoubtedly equally barbaric – or perhaps even more so. given their scale – which have so far killed more than 15,000 people, including a record number. children.
For example, she did not mention how the Israeli decision to cut off fuel, water and medical supplies to Gaza’s 2.3 million residents, in blatant violation of international law, resulted in the deaths of many patients. , including premature babies, at al-Shifa and other Gaza hospitals.
She also refrained from talking about Israel’s targeted strikes against residential buildings in overcrowded refugee camps, against ambulance convoys or United Nations schools sheltering displaced civilians. She did not call any of these acts, which flouted international law and killed thousands of innocent people, “barbaric acts of terror.”
In the same statement, Thomas-Greenfield also attempted to exonerate Israel from the carnage it has caused in Gaza since October 7, in a few discreet words.
“Let’s be very clear,” she said, “Hamas started this conflict.”
Of course, this phrase conveniently ignores Israel’s long and bloody history of colonial theft and illegal occupation that gave rise to Hamas in the first place.
Not content with simply muddying the waters to protect Israel from any significant criticism or sanctions, Thomas-Greenfield went on to do something equally sinister in her statement: she suggested that Palestinians and Israelis are suffering equally and that the United States United cares about the Palestinians. as much as he cares about Israelis.
“The loss of every innocent life is devastating,” she said without a trace of irony. “And we mourn all those who were killed – Israelis and Palestinians, men, women, children and the elderly. People of all nationalities and all faiths.
This statement, from start to finish, is a perfect example of the West’s default reaction to Israel’s undeniable and unjustifiable crimes against the Palestinians: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.
The Thomas-Greenfield statement is undoubtedly a fine example of well-calculated and skillfully executed political deception, but it is neither unique nor extraordinary.
Indeed, President Joe Biden, his top diplomat, Antony Blinken, and their allies across Europe have followed the same strategy as Thomas-Greenfield and engaged in fury-inducing doublespeak on Palestine from the start of this latest war against Gaza.
Western leaders and diplomats have hidden, disputed and distorted facts they deemed unfit for public consumption in order to influence media narratives and deceive unsuspecting audiences, as well as to appease the collective conscience of the West and to enable Israel’s murderous agenda.
For example, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who claims that Europeans are “defenders of the free world,” regularly engages in stomach-churning doublespeak about Palestine.
After a massive explosion at the Arab al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City killed hundreds of displaced civilians and maimed almost as many, von der Leyen said: “In this tragic hour, we must all redouble our efforts. efforts to protect civilians from the fury of this war. .”
After giving up on performative empathy, she turned the narrative around and began talking about Israel’s “right to self-defense, in accordance with international law.”
No doubt aware of the erroneous, incongruous and hypocritical nature of this statement, she added: “There is no contradiction between being in solidarity with Israel and acting to meet the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people. »
Unfortunately there is – and refusing to acknowledge this obvious contradiction is simply wrong.
For decades, countless Western leaders have supported Israel’s “right” to unleash unimaginable terror on Gaza (and the occupied West Bank), in blatant violation of the Geneva Conventions.
This time, the situation is so bad that UN experts have sounded the alarm about “the support of some governments for Israel’s war strategy against the besieged population of Gaza and the failure of the system international community to mobilize to prevent genocide.
Enough is enough.
The West must respect the rules-based order and work with the international community to end Israel’s illegal conduct in Gaza.
This is the fifth time Israel has launched a military offensive in Gaza since 2007, and each campaign has been filled with war crimes and brazen attempts by the West to undermine, justify and ultimately normalize Palestinian deaths. .
It is unclear how many more lives will have to be lost in Gaza and the occupied West Bank before Thomas-Greenfield, Biden, von der Leyen and other Western actors make a humane and conscious effort to stop spreading lies and supporting Israeli propaganda.
It is time for the United States and Europe to abandon their atrocious pretext and condemn the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
In case it needs repeating: Israel does not have the indelible right to kill Palestinians.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.