……….As Israel Slams UN Chief Scribe
Mohammed A. Abu
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned in strongest terms the attack against the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres by Israel as “unethical, illegal and an act of political blackmail” in view of the fact that, Israel is the occupying force.
The OIC in an official statement said, it considered the Secretary-General’s speech at the Security Council to be in line with his duties and responsibilities derived from international law, international humanitarian law, as well as from the charter and resolutions of the United Nations.
The OIC also expressed its profound respect to the Secretary-General for the role of the United Nations agencies and their tireless efforts at all levels to stop the war crimes being perpetrated by the Israeli occupation against the Palestinian people, their land, and holy sites.
What Guterres Said
At a Security Council meeting, Guterres called for a humanitarian ceasefire on Tuesday amid the deepening crisis in Gaza, and told the Security Council that “clear violations of international humanitarian law” are being witnessed.
He called Hamas’ October 7 murder and kidnap rampage “appalling,” and said “nothing can justify the deliberate killing, injuring and kidnapping of civilians, or the launching of rockets against civilian targets.”
“It is important to also recognize the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum,” Guterres said. “The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation. They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced and their homes demolished.”
“But the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. Excellencies, even war has rules,” he added.
Israeli Response
The UN Chief Scribe’s condemnation of Hamas in no mean terms while also alluding to the fact that attack did not happen in vacuum angered Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who the CNN reports,was in the chamber as Guterres spoke. “In what world do you live?” said Cohen. “Definitely, this is not our world.”
Writing on social media later, Cohen said that “after the October 7th massacre, there is no place for a balanced approach. Hamas must be erased off the face of the planet!”
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, called on Guterres to resign, saying he had “expressed an understanding for terrorism and murder.”
Then, on Wednesday, Erdan said his country will block visas for United Nations officials. It had already rejected an application by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, Erdan told the Israeli Army Radio channel.
“It’s time we teach them a lesson,” added Erdan.
Guterres Sets the Record Straight
In an effort to “set the record straight,” Guterres said Wednesday he was “shocked by misinterpretations by some of my statement yesterday in the Security Council – as if I was was justifying acts of terror by Hamas.”
“This is false. It was the opposite,” he told reporters, restating his condemnation of the October 7 attacks.
Historical Origin of the Israeli-Palestinian Problem
A UN document,”Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: 1917-1947 (Part I)”, notes that, the question of Palestine was brought before it ,shortly after the end of the Second World War.
“The origins of the Palestine problem as an international issue, however, lie in events occurring towards the end of the First World War. These events led to a League of Nations decision to place Palestine under the administration of Great Britain as the Mandatory Power under the Mandates System adopted by the League.
“In principle, the Mandate was meant to be in the nature of a transitory phase until Palestine attained the status of a fully independent nation, a status provisionally recognized in the League’s Covenant, but in fact the Mandate’s historical evolution did not result in the emergence of Palestine as an independent nation.
“The decision on the Mandate did not take into account the wishes of the people of Palestine, despite the Covenant’s requirements that “the wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory”.
“This assumed special significance because, almost five years before receiving the mandate from the League of Nations, the British Government had given commitments to the Zionist Organization regarding the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine, for which Zionist leaders had pressed a claim of “historical connection” since their ancestors had lived in Palestine two thousand years earlier before dispersing in the “Diaspora”.
The Balfour Declaration
These undertakings to the Zionist Organization were made known in a declaration issued by the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Arthur James Balfour, (whose name it has borne since):
“Foreign Office,
2 November 1917
“Dear Lord Rothschild,
I have much pleasure in conveying to you on behalf of His Majesty’s Government the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations, which has been submitted to and approved by the Cabinet:
‘His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.’
I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.
Yours sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour”.
“The pivotal role of the Balfour Declaration in virtually every phase of the Palestinian issue cannot be exaggerated. The Declaration, which determined the direction of subsequent developments in Palestine, was incorporated in the Mandate. Its implementation brought Arab opposition and revolt.
” It caused unending difficulties for the Mandatory in the last stages pitting British, Jews and Arabs against each other. It ultimately led to partition and to the problem as it exists today. Any understanding of the Palestine issue, therefore, requires some examination of this Declaration which can be considered the root of the problem of Palestine” the UN report notes.
The Countless UN Security Council Resolution on Palestine
The UN’s beef, is also got to do with Israel’s constant disrespect and disregards for numerous Security Council Resolutions on Palestine aimed at bringing lasting peace between the two neighbors The numerous Security Council Resolutions include but not limited to the following:
1.UN Security Council Resolution 242(1967) on the establishment of independent dual states of Israel and Palestine to co-exist peacefully but not one state trying to swallow up the other.
2. Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem-GA Resolution (A/RES/77/247,30-December 2022
3.The Right of Palestinian People to Self Determination-GA Resolution(A/RES/77/208)-15-Dec-2022
4.Human rights and international humanitarian law, Legal issues, Occupation
A/RES/77/247
5.Israeli Settlements in the OPT, including East Jerusalem, and the Occupied Syrian Golan – GA Resolution(A/RES/77/126)-12-deC-2022
6.Covenant: Economic Social and Cultural Rights, Economic issues, Energy, Environmental issues, Golan Heights, Human rights and international humanitarian law, Inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, Natural resources, Occupation, Water–A/RES/77/187
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