Sharon Zhang
Truthout / November 21, 2024
“Do they have the right to kill, and the only right we have is to die?” the ambassador pleaded.
Palestine’s UN ambassador issued a strong rebuke of the high-powered UN Security Council (UNSC) for failing to stop the genocide in Gaza after the U.S. vetoed a ceasefire proposal for the fifth time on Wednesday, questioning whether the council has decided that it is acceptable to sacrifice Palestinian lives.
“There is no right to mass killing of civilians. There is no right to starve an entire civilian population. There is no right to forcibly displace a people. And there is no right to annexation. This is what Israel is doing in Gaza. These are its war objectives,” said Palestinian Ambassador Majed Bamya in an impassioned speech before the council.
On Wednesday, the U.S. used its power as one of five permanent members of the UNSC to veto a resolution that would have demanded a ceasefire, release of captives held by the Israeli military and Hamas, and a return of all Palestinians to their areas of Gaza.
After the vote, Bamya rebuked the council for allowing the genocide to continue, even as member states — including the U.S. — have condemned the civilian suffering in Gaza at the hands of Israeli forces.
“Two million people displaced. Still hunted, even when they are in tents. Total destruction of Gaza and all the requirements of life in it. And war on Lebanon, its people and its sovereignty,” Bamya said. “What does it mean to proclaim all these principles, ‘we reject, we reject, we reject,’ and then shield Israel of the consequences of its actions?”
“Maybe for some we have the wrong nationality, the wrong faith, the wrong skin colour. But we are humans and we should be treated as such,” the ambassador went on. “Is there a UN charter for Israel that is different from the charter we all have? Tell us. Is there an international law for them, and an international law for us? Do they have the right to kill, and the only right we have is to die? What the hell does Israel need to do, more, for this council to act?”
Bamya said that there is “no justification whatsoever” for any state to veto a resolution to stop Israel’s slaughter. He pleaded, emotionally, for the council to simply recognize Palestinians as people, with humanity like anyone else.
“One day, someone will dig up the record of these meetings, the records of them — will see us pleading for the lives of our people over and over and over and over again. And they will try to understand why our calls were not heeded,” he said.
The U.S. bears special complicity in Israel’s genocide. The UNSC has seen five similar resolutions come to a vote, just for them to have been vetoed by the U.S. each time, despite the Biden administration’s previous insistence that they are working around the clock for the ceasefire.
Also on Wednesday, in the UN General Assembly, the U.S. was one of six states voting against a resolution affirming the rights of Palestinian refugees to their property and assets; and one of nine states to abstain on a resolution affirming the need for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to continue its work without obstruction, with only three states voting against it.
Bamya said that the UN Security Council is not just obstructing a ceasefire, but also Palestinians’ right to live and have a future.
“There is a world where we could live and grow. And see our children grow with no occupation, no bombs, no tents, no settlements, no walls, no military checkpoints, no prisons. No constant humiliation, no oppression. No houses demolished, no amputations, no pain and no agony,” he said.
“That world can exist today if we were to act. And the fact we are not means that many, many more Palestinians will suffer,” Bamya went on. “It’s this future that is being destroyed before our very eyes. And the entire Palestinian civilian population is the primary victim.”
Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering politics, climate and labour
