UN General Assembly Adopts
Humanitarian Truce Resolution
Israel steps up bombardment of Gaza October 27, as UN passes
resolution calling for humanitarian truce.
The afternoon of October 27, the UN General Assembly -- after a two-day emergency session -- passed a resolution that calls for an "immediate, durable and sustained humanitarian truce" and calls on Israel to permit "sufficient and unhindered" life-saving supplies and measures to reach the besieged people of Gaza. It also calls for the upholding of international humanitarian law and the "immediate and unconditional release" of all civilians being held captive. The resolution was adopted by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions, including Canada. Such a vote in the General Assembly is non-binding but carries great moral authority.
Israel's Ambassador Gilad Erdan responded by viciously attacking the stand taken by the UN General Assembly, declaring October 27 to be a "day of infamy," and proclaiming that the UN no longer has "an ounce of legitimacy." He went so far as to accuse the UN of supporting the "beheading of babies," falling back on Israeli lies about acts which it is known the Palestinian resistance has not committed.
Prior to the resolution's adoption, Canada's Ambassador to the UN presented an amendment, backed by the U.S., that sought to include a reference to an "October 7 terrorist attack" and Hamas. It failed to get the required two-thirds majority vote of the member states, receiving 85 votes for, 55 against, and 23 abstentions.[1]
"In a powerful speech rebutting Canada's explanation, Pakistan's ambassador Munir Akram said that if Canada was being fair in its amendment it would agree to name Israel as well as Hamas. Not naming either side was the best choice, he said, as the Jordanian resolution does. 'Israel needs to be named too, if you are to be fair and equitable and just,' he said. We all know who started this. It is 50 years of Israeli occupation and the killing of Palestinians with impunity, he said. Israel can't face the truth or face justice. The Israeli occupation is the original sin, not what happened on October 7," UN News reports.
The emergency session of the General Assembly was convened under its "Uniting for Peace" mandate, which empowers the Assembly to act when the Security Council is deadlocked over a critical matter of international peace and security. Assembly President Dennis Francis called for an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire and the opening of aid corridors to save lives. President Francis underscored that the preeminent priority of the collective UN membership "must be to protect and to save civilian lives. [...] All parties to this conflict must abide by international humanitarian law, and immediately create the necessary conditions to allow for an opening of humanitarian corridor to the Gaza Strip." He praised the work of UN personnel in Gaza, offering condolences to the families of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East personnel killed since the start of the crisis, which as of October 27 is 57 people.
A dozen of the 110 speakers due to take the floor spoke on Thursday, October 26 with the Friday session hearing more speakers. Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations spoke first, making a powerful appeal to stop the killing for the sake of "all those who can be saved."
When the Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan spoke, it was to claim that Israel's genocidal siege of Gaza and war against Hamas is justified to ensure that such "depravity and atrocity [referring to the Al-Aqsa Flood operation of Palestinian resistance forces] never occurs again." What has ensued since October 7 "has nothing" to do with the Palestinians, the Arab-Israeli conflict or the Palestinian question, he said. According to him, it is a war of "the law abiding democracy of Israel against modern day Nazis." He held up a tablet display which he declared to be evidence of a decapitation in an effort to legitimize Israel's goal, which he said is to "completely eradicate Hamas' capabilities and we will use every means at our disposal to accomplish this."
Riyad Mansour replied, "You are speaking while families are being killed, while hospitals are coming to a halt, while neighbourhoods are being destroyed, while people are fleeing from one place to another with no safe place to go." Citing the hundreds of Palestinians killed every day, he said that nothing can justify war crimes and crimes against humanity. "Why not feel a sense of urgency to ending the killing?" he said. "You are setting us back 80 years by trying to justify what Israel is doing now." The answer to the killing of Israelis and Palestinians is not more killing, he said, asking the UN membership to uphold UN principles and keep future generations from the scourge of war. "Vote to stop the killing, vote to stop this madness," he said. "Choose justice, not vengeance. Choose peace, not more wars. Vote to put an end to almost three weeks of the worst double standards we have seen in decades. Do not miss this chance. Lives are hanging in the balance. Please, save lives, save lives, save lives."
The Ambassador of Mauritania spoke on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation saying the absence of any moral, legal, or political consensus has only emboldened the occupying power to carry on with impunity its illegal policy of colonial settlement and annexation. He pointed to Israel's years-long blockade, forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, systematic ethnic cleansing, organized acts of terrorism, and desecration of holy places, including Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque. He added that Israel is persisting with its denial of the violation of the inalienable right of a people to self-determination and independence. This unacceptable situation must be brought to an end, he said.
Iran's Foreign Minister said that for three weeks the international community has been a witness to the "war crime and genocide of the occupying Israeli regime in Gaza and the West Bank of Palestine." He said that the U.S. and several European countries sided with Israel and they refer to the Palestinian liberation movement as "terrorists." He added "Unfortunately this is the state of our world today. This is the situation of the Security Council, which was supposed to try to establish world peace and security." He called on the U.S. to work for peace and security and not war against people, women and children, stating "instead of sending rockets, tanks and bombs, to be used against Gaza, the United States should stop supporting genocide in Gaza and Palestine." He also issued a warning to the U.S. and Israel. "I say frankly to the American statesmen who are now managing the genocide in Palestine, that we do not welcome the expansion of war in the region, but I warn if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire."
Jordan's Deputy Prime Minister, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group said: "We must stand for peace, our human values and the UN Charter. History will judge us. Say no to war. Say no to the killing. Call out war crimes." As the killing continues, he said, the Israeli government has cabinet members that call for "wiping out Palestinians from the face of this Earth." He said, "Israel is making Gaza a hell on Earth. The trauma will haunt generations to come." Israel must uphold values, he said. "The right to self-defence is not a right to impunity; Israel cannot remain above the law," he said. "Let the guns go silent and let the will to live and let live prevail. Let's restore faith in the peace process as the only path to ending this conflict once and for all."
He said of the resolution drafted by Jordan on behalf of the Arab Group, "Vote for it; make a stand." "Let's make a collective cry, cry out against more bloodletting. Let's unite for peace ... Make a stand for peace, make a stand for life, make it clear, make it firm," he said, calling for a moment of silence for all the civilians and innocents who have perished during this war.
Joaquín Alberto Pérez Ayestarán, Ambassador and Deputy
Permanent Representative of Venezuela, who also spoke on behalf
of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United
Nations was the first to speak on day two. He called for an end
to "inflammatory rhetoric," an immediate ceasefire and end to
all hostilities directed towards civilians and civilian
infrastructure, including hospitals, refugee centres and food
warehouses.
França Danese, Brazil's Ambassador and President of the Security
Council for October, welcomed the emergency session after the
Security Council failed to adopt any of four draft resolutions
on the crisis. He endorsed Jordan's resolution as "solidly
rooted" in international humanitarian and human rights law, and
"fundamentally committed to the humanitarian imperative."
Türkiye, which co-authored the Jordanian resolution said peace will not be possible as long as Palestinians aspirations for freedom, dignity and statehood continue to be denied.
Saudi Arabia said that the killing and destruction in the Gaza
Strip is not only creating a humanitarian catastrophe but is
also having dire consequences and repercussions on the security
of the region and the world. "We have clearly condemned the
targeting of civilians by any party, called for a ceasefire,
stop to the bloodshed, immediate lifting of the siege, release
of hostages, and providing humanitarian assistance and support
to those affected. [...] We also condemned the attempts at
forcible displacement and policies of collective punishment
against the population in Gaza, including starvation of
civilians as a weapon of war."
"Enough is enough!" Silence over the basic rights of
Palestinians under fire in Gaza "is no longer an option," said
Egypt's ambassador Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek. He said there had
to be one standard applied to all, including Palestinians, as
opposed to double standards. "We can no longer bear what is
happening to the Palestinians." He denounced the policy of
besieging and starving civilians of the Gaza Strip, saying that
denying them water had "no place in the 21st century. They are
reminiscent of practices of the Middle Ages." He called on the
Assembly to demand that aid be delivered to Gaza, "without any
conditions," adding that otherwise it would mean "a death
sentence for the people of Gaza." Displacing Gazans for the
third time in history from their land must be "rejected
categorically," he added.
Qatar's Permanent Representative to the UN expressed "our
unequivocal rejection of the siege imposed by Israel, the
occupying power,"depriving 2.3 million people -- half of them
children -- of their basic needs.
The EU is ready to contribute to the resumption of the political process on the basis of a two-State solution and supports the holding of an international peace conference as soon as possible, its spokesperson said.
Brian Wallace, Jamaica's Permanent Representative who spoke for Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said that If we do not immediately put an end to this conflict, it could escalate into a wider regional war. He expressed concerns about the implications for international stability, with devastating consequences, particularly for small vulnerable island states such as those in CARICOM, which are "already struggling to overcome multi-faceted challenges. [...] Let us recognize once and for all the utter futility of war, violence and terror," he said.
Voting record at UN General Assembly on Humanitarian Truce
resolution. (click to enlarge)
Note
1. Represented by Ambassador Bob Rae, Canada tried to amend the Jordanian resolution in such a way as to deny the right to resist of an occupied people and to lend credence to the Israeli narrative that the current conflict was instigated by an act of terrorism, not by the brutality of the genocidal Zionist project that began in 1948 with the creation of Israel and the dispossession of the Palestinian people. Rae said that Canada could not support the current text, adding that the Assembly could not act without recognizing the events of October 7 as "terrorist attacks." If the proposed amendment is not adopted, the Assembly will not have recognized one of the world's worst terrorist attacks and "we will all have to live with that failure as the tragedy continues to unfold," he said.
The World Stands with You Palestine!
WE ARE ALL PALESTINIANS!
This article was published in
Volume 53
Number 16 - October 2023
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2023/Articles/MS53163.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca