Aha Dua Permata: West sees Palestinians as second-class citizens, Russia’s UN envoy says

Thursday 30 November 2023

West sees Palestinians as second-class citizens, Russia’s UN envoy says

Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya
©AP Photo/John Minchillo

The West is not interested in protecting the interests of the Palestinians, it considers them second-class people, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said.

"During these weeks, an extremely unpleasant fact has become clear: the Palestinians are a second-class people for the West, which is simply not interested in protecting their interests. This is the main reason for the problems the Council faces in making decisions," the diplomat said at a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.

"For almost two months, the international community, humanitarian agencies, non-governmental organizations and ordinary citizens have been calling on the Council to demand that the parties cease fire immediately. Russia has been saying this since the very beginning of the escalation," Nebenzya pointed out. "But this call has not yet been heard. And a sustainable ceasefire is not only a moral imperative, it is the only guarantee of an effective humanitarian response, which simply cannot be carried out under the conditions of hostilities," the diplomat said

The envoy pointed out that the Middle East resolution adopted by the UN Security Council as a result of the US position provides only for humanitarian pauses and lacks a mechanism for monitoring the implementation of its provisions. "Its initially correct message turned out to be extremely emasculated by the US efforts and does not contain a requirement for a ceasefire, as well as does not provide for practical measures to ensure wide and unimpeded access to those in need, to provide assistance to the victims," Nebenzya noted.

On November 15, the UN Security Council adopted the Maltese draft humanitarian resolution on the Middle East aimed at helping children in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone. Of the 15 members of the Council, 12 supported the document, while the United Kingdom, Russia and the United States abstained. The Council rejected Moscow's amendment to the resolution calling for a humanitarian ceasefire leading to a cessation of hostilities.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when Hamas militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 200 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and has been delivering air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are also underway in the West Bank.

Israel paints Palestinians as 'animals' to legitimize war crimes: Israeli scholar

Israel is using a "dehumanization" strategy to justify its attacks on civilian areas in Gaza following the surprise attack by Hamas's armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, according to an Israeli professor of international law and human rights.

Neve Gordon, a member of the Faculty of Law at Queen Mary University in London, who is of Israeli descent, told Anadolu that Israel is working hard to legitimize the war crimes it commits.

According to Gordon, attacks on civilian areas, hospitals, the wounded, medical personnel, and protected areas are generally considered war crimes, and Israel is also committing war crimes by blocking access to electricity and water in Gaza.

Gordon said he believes state armies try to see themselves as moral but must adhere to the laws of war to be considered a moral army.

Israel "interprets its actions in such a way as to show that they were carried out according to the laws of war, and therefore, it claims that it is moral ... At the same time, it dehumanizes the Palestinians in claims that they are immoral,” he explained.

"Palestinians are presented as barbarian and as primitive and as people who do not understand the laws of war, people that do not make distinctions between civilians and combatants, and so forth, and therefore they are immoral, while Israel claims that it tries to protect civilians.”

'Legitimizing’ war crimes

Statements like Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant saying, "We are fighting against animals" are clear examples of the strategy to try to legitimize war crimes, said Gordon.

Comparisons of Palestinians to "rats or snakes" on Israeli social media accounts are an effort to "dehumanize" them and "legitimize civilian deaths."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that Gaza is a “city of evil," he said, adding: "When Israel tells 1.1 million Palestinians to move south, and then claims that any Palestinian civilian that stayed there is involved in the conflict, and therefore, a legitimate target, is a way of manipulating the laws of war."

Gordon stressed the need to reduce violence in conflicts, highlighting that it begins with recognizing that each person who dies is a human being with a name, a family, children, sisters, brothers, and friends.

Importance of understanding that each life matters

He also said he finds it horrifying to label civilians who die in conflicts "collateral damage," as no one would want to be referred to as such. The use of such terms sterilizes the field and allows for more destruction, he said.

Gordon pointed to the extreme asymmetry in the conflict, with Israel possessing much more advanced weaponry than the Palestinians.

He said he believes "this might be even the most asymmetrical war ever" and called on Western and international leaders to work toward reducing tension and stopping the violence instead of "fanning the flames" by sending aircraft carriers to the region.

He also urged Western media to emphasize the humanity of those killed and draw attention to the structural inequality between Israel and Palestine in the occupied territories.

He voiced support for bringing the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel to the negotiating table, to work for the release of hostages held by both sides, and to facilitate a cease-fire.

Gordon stressed that talking about a cease-fire alone is not enough, and the decolonization of the West Bank and Gaza must also be addressed. Efforts should be made to reach a democratic agreement between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, he said.

Israeli forces executed an unarmed 9 year old Palestinian child in Jenin out in the open. Some of the same people who would’ve issued statements of outrage and maybe even took to the streets if this happened here in the United States will continue to remain silent while our… pic.twitter.com/bP0SkofPgx
— Dr. Omar Suleiman (@omarsuleiman504) November 29, 2023

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