On 27 October 2023, the UN General Assembly (GA), meeting in the framework of the ongoing (since 1997) 10th Emergency Special Session, adopted a Resolution on the war that started with the atrocious attack by Hamas and similar terrorist groups on 7 October 2023 on Israeli soil. The war has resulted in the death of around 1500 Israelis and the kidnapping of more than 200 innocent people. Resolution A/RES/ES10/21 was adopted with 120 votes in favour, including Belgium, France, and Ireland, for example. 45 UN Member States abstained, including Canada, Australia, India and The Netherlands. Only 14 voted against it, including Austria, Papua New Guinea and the USA. The Resolution was adopted as a response to what it calls “the 7 October 2023 attack”.
The Resolution is shameful, primarily because of its silence on core issues. It nowhere identifies the perpetrator of the attacks: Hamas and other terrorist groups. It fails to name the entities responsible and does not describe them as terroristic. In its preamble it condemns “all acts of violence aimed at Palestinian and Israeli civilians”. Note the order: Palestinians are those first mentioned as victims then Israelis. This is historically false. That could be construed that Israel started the hostilities whereas, in reality, the war was initiated by the unprovoked pogrom on Israeli civilians committed by Hamas and its cronies. The casualties on the Palestinian side were the consequence of self-defence of Israel against the initial attack. Comparing the text of this Resolution with the Resolution (A/RES/ES-11/1) adopted by the GA on 2 March 2022 on the ‘Aggression against Ukraine’, it was made unequivocally clear that the Russian Federation was the aggressor.
The Resolution of 27 October asks for the “release of all civilians who are being illegally held captive” as if both sides have practised kidnapping of innocents. Only the Palestinian terrorist organisations kidnapped more than 200 civilians, not Israel. The hostages are almost all Israeli and Jewish babies, children, adults and elderly. Canada attempted to name the perpetrator of the atrocities. It introduced an amendment to the Resolution: “Unequivocally rejects and condemns the terrorist attacks by Hamas that took place in Israel starting on 7 October 2023 and the taking of hostages, demands the safety, well-being and humane treatment of the hostages in compliance with international law, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release” (A/ES-10/L.26). 88 States were in favour of including this amendment, 55 were against it, and 23 abstained. The amendment failed by a few votes to be adopted by the required twothirds majority. The omission of reference to the perpetrator of the massacre in Israel did not prevent many supporters of the amendment from voting in favour of the original proposal. As a result, the Resolution was adopted without the amendment.
The Resolution omits the recognition of Israel’s right to self-defence. Article 51 of the UN Charter guarantees “the inherent right of individual or collective selfdefence if an armed attack occurs against a member of the United Nations”. The right to self-defence justifies the military response by Israel to the massive terrorist attack by Hamas cum suis. There is no mention in the Resolution of Israel having the right to act in self defence. That is in sharp contrast with the Resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in the US in September 2001.
Resolutions 1368 (2001) and 1373 (2001) recognise without reservation the right of self-defence by the US, which justified its military actions against the Al-Qaeda terrorist network in Afghanistan. A large majority of the Members of the UN seem to deny that the Jewish State has the right to defend itself.
The Resolution also fails to address and condemn the practice of Hamas using civilians as human shields. Palestinian terrorist movements operating in Gaza regularly operate using their military installations for civilian locations. The Resolution ignores the fact that this practice is a major cause of the number of civilian fatalities in the Gaza Strip.
It is a shame that the Resolution has been adopted with the support of so many States in the world, not only brutal dictatorships but also Western democracies. They apparently see no problem in joining forces with the Islamic Republic of Iran, Syria, the Russian Federation and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. It is revealing that Hamas expressed support for the Resolution and asked for its immediate implementation, the very party that holds hostage more than 200 men, women and children continues to target civilians in Israel with their missiles. To conclude, Resolution A/RES/ES-10/21 is a shame. It illustrates that the UN is, notwithstanding the pogrom of 7 October 2023, back to normal: Israel bashing. It has lost all credibility as an institution to promote peace and justice in the world.
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