Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, placed a yellow star on his chest during a Security Council meeting on Monday, guaranteeing that he would wear it proudly if the council did not condemn Hamas.
“Some of you have learned nothing in the last 80 years. Some of you have forgotten why this organization was created,” the ambassador said, denouncing the Security Council’s silence on the unprecedented attacks by the Islamist movement in Israel on October 7.
The Security Council – which remains deeply divided over the situation in the Middle East – has not adopted a single resolution on the war between Israel and Hamas.
“From now on, every time you look at me, you will remember what it means to remain silent in the face of evil,” the Israeli ambassador said.
“Like my grandparents and the grandparents of millions of Jews, my team and I will wear yellow stars from today,” Erdan added, standing up to hang a yellow star, referring to the symbol whose use is dedicated to the Jews was imposed. by the Nazi regime in Germany in the first half of the 20th century.
“We will use this star until they wake up and condemn Hamas’s atrocities,” the ambassador promised.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the October 7 attacks “the worst crime against Jews since the Holocaust.”
Monday’s Security Council meeting was declared an emergency by the United Arab Emirates, following the expansion of Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip, and was marked by “briefings” from several UN agencies working on the ground, which described the “unprecedented level of destruction’. “overlooking the enclave.
“The current siege of Gaza is a collective punishment. (…) The level of destruction is unprecedented, the human tragedy unfolding under our watch is unbearable,” said the head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe. Lazzarini.
During the meeting, the majority of Council member states emphasized the need for Israel to protect Palestinian civilians, with Britain – so far a solid ally of Israel in the Gaza war – speaking out against any idea of ’transfer of mass movements of Gazans into neighboring countries,” referring to Israel’s alleged plans.
Despite maintaining her support for Israel, British Ambassador Barbara Woodward distanced herself from some Israeli practices or projects.
The diplomat “explicitly called on Israel to address the growing number of attacks and killings in the occupied West Bank,” stressing that “it is its responsibility to protect Palestinian civilians there.”
Similarly, he called for attacks in Gaza to be conducted “according to the principles of proportionality, distinction and necessity (…), avoiding harm to civilians,” and called for greater international cooperation to “establish sufficient access points ” to guarantee the Gaza Strip. humanitarian access to Gaza, one of the critical aspects of the current crisis.
Finally, he blamed Hamas solely for the start of this conflict, but defended President Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority “as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.”
In a sign of Washington’s growing concern over the rising Palestinian death toll, the US ambassador to the UN said President Joe Biden reiterated to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that “while Israel has the right and responsibility to defend its citizens from terrorism, must do so in a manner consistent with international humanitarian law.”
“We condemn the killings of Palestinian civilians and urge Israel to prevent these attacks, in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority,” called on Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
For two weeks, the UN Security Council has exposed its deep divisions over this war and its consequences by rejecting four draft resolutions.
Some proposals were rejected by the United States, Israel’s allies, because they did not mention Israel’s right to defend itself; others, presented by the US, were rejected by Russia and China because they did not clearly call for a ceasefire.
Faced with this impasse in the Security Council, the UN General Assembly on Friday took responsibility in the process by adopting by a large majority a non-binding resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”, but without mentioning Hamas.
At the time, the Israeli ambassador described the proposal as an outrage.
Source: DN
