Instead of being an important direct player that can act against Hamas and its murderous ideology, the UN has become one of its biggest supporters.
By NADAV MANSDORFUNRWA school damaged by fighting in Gaza(photo credit: REUTERS)
True to its usual ritual of condemning Israel and establishing an international commission of inquiry against it, the UN Council for Human Rights is directly responsible for the systematic killing of scores of Palestinians in Gaza.The bitter Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on for over 60 years and is rife with blood and emotion. Traditionally, the world, including Israel, has thought of the conflict as about territory, as a clash between cultures or a historical struggle. But this recent conflagration has exposed a simpler reality, that is both easier to understand and much more painful. This war has brought about something that no diplomat, prime minister or international organization has ever been able to achieve. This war might just be the historical turning point because it has placed the Israelis and the Palestinians on the same side for the first time.The change was induced by the facts that are being revealed during the current war: the Palestinians are not taking an active part in the Hamas terrorism. The Palestinians are not an integral part of the violence and crimes that Hamas is attempting to inflict on innocent Israeli citizens.It turns out that the Palestinians are also victims of Hamas terrorism and the reality it has created. This change in the attitude of the Israeli public occurred when it was officially revealed that Hamas is not only acting to hurt Israeli civilians, but also systematically committing crimes against humanity on its own side and against its own people.Hamas forces innocent Palestinian women and children to remain in homes where terrorism activities are taking place, and which the IDF has announced are going to be bombed. Hamas, according to official UNRWA reports, uses schools and hospitals to store weapons and fire missiles.Hamas uses the Palestinians’ distress to smuggle weapons and terrorist equipment under the guise of humanitarian aid. Hamas prefers to violate the humanitarian cease-fires at the price of the lives of innocent Palestinians, just to produce propaganda clips. Hamas invested hundreds of millions of dollars in building an underground terrorism infrastructure, instead of investing in building good schools, state-of-the-art hospitals or other civilian infrastructure that would improve the quality of the Palestinians’ lives.Hamas do not make these civil investments because civilians do not interest it.Hamas instigates and encourages the murder of innocent people, on both sides, just to score public opinion points at home and in the international community. It tries to wreak chaos and instability in the area to obtain the support and tools necessary to continue the attacks on Israel, thus forcing the Palestinians to support its activities. By constantly and murderously hurting its own people, it recruits the world and the UN against Israel.While Israel is trying to purge the real and immediate threats to its existence, it is finding that it is fighting a war both for itself and for the 1.8 million Palestinians living with constant violence, threats and terrorism from Hamas, which is also robbing them of a decent life and basic human rights.But instead of denouncing Hamas and acting against its leaders and funders, the UNHRC continues to create symmetry between Israel and Hamas, symmetry between a sovereign state that is defending itself from indiscriminate terrorist attacks and a self-proclaimed and officially recognized terrorist organization that uses every possible means to hurt Israeli and Palestinians citizens.
The UN’s Middle East declarations legitimize shedding the blood of Israeli citizens, and cause the bloodshed of many Palestinians. While Israel, a strong, developed and advanced country that knows how to protect its citizens from the Hamas threat and will not suffer colossal damages, the new committee established by the UNHRC is responsible and will directly be causing the murder of scores of innocent Palestinians by Hamas.Even though the UN has been collecting and documenting testimonials of the crimes and atrocities that Hamas terrorists are committing against Palestinians, the UN committees choose to ignore these findings and continue to provide Hamas terrorists and their ideology with a back-wind by castigating Israel. The symmetry that the UN has created blocks any possibility of exchanging the murderous ideology that rules the Gaza strip with a moderate ideology of coexistence and peace. The committees de facto give Hamas the oxygen it needs to continue its internal and external violence.Thus instead of being an important direct player that can act against Hamas and its murderous ideology, the UN has become one of its biggest supporters.The UN’s failure to take clear steps against Hamas and its ideology make it a direct accomplice to the threats and terrorist acts of a terrorist organization against Israel, and an accomplice to the crimes against humanity Hamas is committing against the Palestinian people. The UN’s decisions and proclamations can bring about many more years of bloodshed, or a change in the narrative and a new glimpse of hope for the area and its people. As things stand today, the UN is being disloyal to its mission.Nadav Mansdorf is a social entrepreneur and strategic consultant.
