11 December 2024
Madam President,
Even against the backdrop of the dramatic developments in Syria, we must not forget about the situation in Gaza, where Israel’s military operation is raging, killing tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians. For all the months of this escalation, the Security Council has failed to take any real action to bring about a ceasefire in the enclave. Humanitarian solutions have remained words on paper, and several hundred humanitarian workers have died while helping Palestinians.
Why did this happen? Traditional critics of the UNSC would probably say that all this is because of the ineffectiveness of this body. But such an assertion not only fails to capture the genuine essence of the problem, but also shields one UN member state from the fire of criticism. I’m referring to the member state that bears full responsibility for blocking six UNSC draft resolutions calling for a ceasefire, including the one of October 18, 2023, which was submitted by Brazil and contained an unequivocal condemnation of the October 7 attack. I say this for our American colleague, who lamented today the lack of such Council decisions. Many of you who during this session criticized the Security Council as a whole did not dare to mention this delegation by name. Although we all know that we are talking about the United States.
The latest victim of the self-centered and narrow-minded geopolitical interests of the United States was the draft resolution submitted by the E10 to finally stop the bloodshed in Gaza. Thus, the outgoing Democratic administration, which pitches itself as a “beacon of the free world” and a human rights champion, has once again taken the side of brutal force, inhumanity and total impunity.
They sent a clear message to the whole world: if you are a close ally of the United States, you have no laws or restrictions to abide by, and obligations under international law are nothing but a hot air. Dear American colleagues, don’t get complacent by the fact that not everyone in this room today will say directly what they really think about your veto. Many are too afraid of the consequences, as everybody is well aware of how Washington punishes any dissent, let alone criticism towards the US. But you can rest assured that the unsightly role of the US in the current crisis and in the Middle East in general will always be remembered in history.
Madam President,
The right of veto was not conceived by the founding fathers of the UN to give their friends a license to kill civilians, but it was designed as a tool to ensure that the decisions of the Security Council are balanced.
Unfortunately, the US never realized that and is using this instrument to give a leeway to the Israeli war machine. As a result, the number of the victims in Gaza to date has exceeded 44,000. How many more tens or hundreds of thousands of Palestinians must die so that Americans eventually open their eyes and get their sense of conscience awakened? How does Israel’s ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip facilitate the release of hostages, among whom there are Russian and American citizens? How does West Jerusalem’s military action against Lebanon or its offensive deep into the Syrian territory contribute to this? Emboldened by the unconditional and “all-around” support from the US and enjoying complete impunity in Gaza, Israel is launching new military operations under increasingly less convincing pretexts. Thus, taking advantage of the overall instability in the region they are seeking to attain their political objectives by military means.
These are all links in a vicious chain that evolved from the carte blanche given to West Jerusalem by the Biden administration, which not only failed to solve any of the problems in the region, but at the end of its tenure in the White House is seeking to unleash a whole host of new crises.
For 433 days, Palestinian women and children have been dying in Gaza, but for all this time Council members have had to listen to endless assurances by the United States that their “bilateral diplomacy on the ground” is nothing but effective, and that we urgently need to put pressure on Hamas while turning a blind eye to Israel’s actions. The climax of this campaign was the UN Security Council resolution 2735, which was pushed through by the United States on June 10 only to advance the so-called “Biden plan” (as you remember, Russia abstained on that resolution). As we warned at the time, the resolution appeared to be premised on blatant frauds – not only did Jerusalem gave no consent to this plan, but it systematically put forward new and new conditions that were patently unacceptable to the other side. In fact, the only objective of this document was to provide diplomatic cover for the Israeli military operation in Gaza. The time for the introduction of the draft resolution was also not chosen by chance – then, the Council was considering the Algerian initiative, which was not tainted by double binds and was intended to prevent an offensive on Rafah.
Distinguished Colleagues,
But Washington has paid the toll for its lapdog connivance with Israel and its selective blindness. Today, there are almost no people left in the world who still trust the US, which is attested to by the the results of the vote on the E10-cosponsored draft resolution of November 20, when even Washington’s closest allies did not share its position. We are sure that we’ll have similar results during the upcoming vote on the two drafts submitted by Indonesia (they are intended to support the UNRWA mandate and demand a ceasefire in Gaza).
We fully support these drafts. Today, all UN Member States have the opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to defend peaceful Palestinians and the Agency not only in words but also in deeds. We appreciate the constructive approach of the authors of these documents, who have demonstrated flexibility and willingness to compromise, which is so needed now. We call on everybody to vote in favor of the drafts. For the many thousands of civilians who have already died in the Middle East, we are unfortunately taking this step too late. But it is not too late to help those who are still alive.
Thank you.