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Courting the Global South:
Will Israel Become a UN Security Council
Member?
By Ramzy Baroud
Al-Jazeerah, CCUN,
September 25, 2017
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Netanyahu in the 2017 UNGA meeting |
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There is a great irony in the fact that Israel is seeking a
seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Since its
establishment atop the ruins of Palestinian cities and villages in 1948,
Israel has had the most precarious relationship with the world's largest
international body. It has desperately sought to be legitimized
by the UN, while it has done its utmost to delegitimize the UN.
Following a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) condemning
Israel's human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in
March 2014, Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, then accused the
UN of being 'absurd'. He vowed to "continue to denounce and expose" the
UN "procession of hypocrisy." For many years, Israeli leaders
and government officials have made it a habit of undermining the UN and
its various bodies and, with unconditional support from Washington,
habitually ignored numerous UN resolutions regarding the illegal
occupation of Palestine. To a certain extent, the Israeli
strategy – of using and abusing the UN - has worked. With US vetoes,
blocking every UN attempt at pressuring Israel to end its military
occupation and human rights violations, Israel was in no rush to comply
with international law. But two major events have forced an
Israeli rethink. First, in December 2016, the US abstained from
a UN resolution that condemned Israel's illegal settlement activities in
the Occupied Palestinian Territories. By breaking with a
decades-long tradition of shielding Israel from any international
censure, it appeared that even Washington’s seemingly undying allegiance
to Tel Aviv was uncertain. Second, the rise of the
Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement began
changing the dynamics of international politics regarding the Israeli
occupation. The movement, which began as a call by Palestinian
civil society to hold Israel accountable for its violations of
Palestinian human rights, grew rapidly to become a global movement.
Hundreds of local BDS groups multiplied around the world, joined by
artists, academicians, union members and elected politicians.
Within a few years, BDS has registered as a serious tool of pressure
used to denounce the Israeli occupation and demand justice for the
Palestinian people. UNHRC quickly joined in, declaring its
intention to release a list, thus exposing the names of companies that
must be boycotted for operating in illegal Israeli settlements.
The human rights group’s efforts were coupled by repeated condemnations
of Israel's human rights violations as recorded by the UN cultural
agency, UNESCO. This meant that UN bodies that do not allow for
veto-wielding members grew in their ability to challenge the UN Security
Council. The actions of UNHRC and UNESCO spurred a determined
Israeli-American campaign to delegitimize them. Since the Donald
Trump Administration’s advent to power, and with the help of his
ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, Washington has waged a war against
the UN, using intimidation and the threats of withholding funds.
UNESCO insisted on its position, despite the cutting off of funds.
Meanwhile, UNHRC decided to go along with publishing the list of
companies, despite US threats to pull out of the human rights body
altogether. According to Israel’s Channel 2, the list includes
Coca-Cola, TripAdvisor, Airbnb, Priceline and Caterpillar. It also
includes national Israeli companies and two large banks. Israeli
officials fumed. Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely charged that
"The UN is playing with fire", threatening that such initiative will
cause further loss of UN budget. She even declared that the US
and Israel are working together to start a 'revolution' at the Human
Rights Council through a joint 'action plan.' Signs of this
oddly termed 'revolution' are already apparent. Aside from choking off
UN bodies financially, Israel is lobbying countries in the South that
have traditionally exhibited solidarity with Palestinians due to the
common historical bonds of foreign oppression and anti-colonial
struggles. Netanyahu had just concluded a trip to Latin America,
considered the first by a sitting Israeli Prime Minister. In the last
leg of his trip in Mexico, he offered to 'develop Central America.'
The price is, of course, for Latin American countries to support
Israel's occupation of Palestine and turn a blind eye to its human
rights violations in Palestine. The irony that, fortunately, did
not escape everyone is that last January, Netanyahu declared his support
of Trump's promise to wall off the US-Mexico border and force Mexico to
pay for it. It remains to be seen how Israel's efforts will win
Latin America to Israel's side, considering the latter’s terrible record
of supporting fascist regimes and subverting democracy. The
Israeli Prime Minister's charm offensive was planned to include Togo in
October to attend the Israel-Africa Summit. Thanks to the efforts of
South Africa, Morocco, among other countries, the summit was cancelled
due to the fact that over half of African countries were planning to
boycott it. The setback must have been a major diplomatic
embarrassment for Tel Aviv as Netanyahu has made African diplomacy a
pillar in his foreign policy. Last June, he visited Uganda, Kenya,
Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda. He was accompanied by a large delegation
of business executives. Earlier in June, he promised African leaders at
the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit in Liberia
to supply them with agricultural technology that would stave off
droughts and food scarcity. The price? According to African News
Agency (ANA), "Israeli technology would solve Africa’s most urgent
issues – as long as African nations opposed UN resolutions critical of
Israel’s occupation of Palestine." Not all African leaders
allowed themselves to be manipulated by Tel Aviv. But the
Israeli tactic is certainly becoming more defined and emboldened. Tel
Aviv’s aim is to undercut the support of Palestinians at the UN General
Assembly, and sabotage the work of UN bodies that exist outside the
realm of US power. Meanwhile, it also wants to secure a seat for
itself at the UN Security Council. The assumption is that, with the
support of Haley at the UN, such a possibility is not far-fetched.
In addition to the five-permeant veto-wielding UN Security Council
members, ten-member countries are elected on a two-year term basis.
Israel’s charm offensive in Latin America, Africa and Asia is meant to
ensure the needed vote to grant it a seat in the 2019-2020 term.
The vote will take place next year, and Israel will stand against
Germany and Belgium. Israel’s strategy of elevating its status
at the UN can also been seen as an admission of failure of Tel Aviv’s
antagonistic behavior. However, if Israel wins that seat, it is
likely to use the new position to strengthen its occupation of
Palestine, as opposed to adhering to international law. It is
unfortunate that the Arabs and the Palestinian Authority are waking up
to this reality quite late. Israel has been plotting for this moment for
years – since 2005 under the premiership of Ariel Sharon – yet the PA is
only now requesting an Arab League strategy to prevent Israel from
reaching that influential position. What Palestinians are
counting on, at the moment, is the existing historical support that the
Palestinian people have among many countries around the world,
especially in the global South. Most of these nations have
experienced colonization, military occupation and had their own costly
and painful liberation struggles. They should not allow a colonialist
regime to sit atop of the UN, obstructing international law while
preaching to world about democracy and human rights. - Ramzy
Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His
forthcoming book is ‘The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story’ (Pluto Press).
Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter
and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and
International Studies, University of California. Visit his website:
www.ramzybaroud.net.
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