On Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres upheld the dignity and importance of his office when he said in a new report that options to protect Palestinian civilians under Israeli occupation range from establishing an armed military or police force to deploying civilian observers or beefing up the UN presence on the ground. This was an unprecedented move from the UN. Guterres was responding to a request in a Palestinian-backed resolution adopted by the General Assembly in June that deplored Israel’s “excessive use of force”. The resolution had sought proposals to protect Palestinian civilians and recommendations “regarding an international protection mechanism”.
True to form, the regime in Tel Aviv flatly rejected the proposal. Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon even had the temerity to suggest that “the only protection the Palestinian people need is from their own leadership”. The Israeli regime’s arrogance, and its contempt for the opinion of the international community, is underpinned by the certainty of unwavering support from the world’s sole superpower, the US. A UN mandate for a protection force would require a decision from the Security Council, where the US would definitely veto it. This blind American backing over decades, which has only gotten stronger, has enabled the Israeli occupation regime to ignore UN resolutions. It continues to create new “realities on the ground”, and has been so successful at it that the possibility of an independent Palestinian state today looks more remote than ever before. And with each passing day, the plight of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation continues to get more dire. But the Palestinians are here to stay, and no matter how brutal the occupation gets, they will continue to fight for their rights. And most of the international community is on their side in this struggle.
