According to UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez, the Security Council is an “outdated, unfair, and ineffective system, whose inability to stop Israel’s attack on Gaza has tarnished the organisation’s reputation overall. In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera Arabic, the UN head criticised the council’s shortcomings. The council was created after World War II to maintain international peace and security. The Security Council has consistently fallen short of its potential to resolve the most dramatic conflicts of our time. The United States recently vetoed the urgent, immediate ceasefire resolution, which prevented the UN from passing it. Thus, while Israel continues to commit crimes of war and genocide, the genocide of Palestinians has persisted.
Why Can’t the United Nations Do Something About Gaza?
In terms of fatalities, injuries, and horrific human suffering, the battle in Gaza has resulted in a dreadful situation. It has also highlighted long-standing problems with the United Nations’ principal bodies’ attempt to maintain justice, peace, and stability. It will concentrate on three crucial UN institutions—the International Court of Justice, the UN General Assembly, and the UN Security Council. After 247 days of fighting in Gaza, the UN Security Council finally passed a resolution on June 10, 2024, calling for a comprehensive ceasefire agreement to put an end to the conflict.
Why the United Nations Has Failed to Prevent Genocide?
The victorious parties established the United Nations in 1945 to stop future wars. World War II claimed 85 million lives, making it the worst conflict in human history. The International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide was approved by the UN General Assembly in 1948 to prevent another Holocaust. However, the UN has not been able to stop conflict or genocide. Since the United Nations is based on the antiquated nation-state framework, which permits national governments to assert the right to commit crimes against their citizens and defend genocide under the pretext of sovereignty, it has failed to stop war and genocide in the meantime. National sovereignty demands were intended to be subdued by the responsibility to Protect (R2P) theory.
The Making of Uniting for Peace:
North Korea attacked South Korea in 1950 with Soviet assistance. Due to the UN’s refusal to acknowledge Communist China’s claim to a UN seat, the United States
supported General Assembly Resolution 377A, popularly referred to as the “Uniting for Peace” resolution, to circumvent Soviet vetoes after it was returned to the Security Council and to offer a future alternative to that body. It declares that the General Assembly will take up the issue if the Security Council fails to take action to maintain international peace and security due to a lack of agreement among the P5.
Rethinking the Law of Genocide:
The failure of the Genocide Convention to prevent genocide up to this point may be better understood by doing an anthropological study of international attorneys. Regretfully, lawyers have prevented the Convention from ever outgrowing its baby teeth. Because it was born without any lawyers’ education, it fosters a regressive, adjudication-focused perspective on genocide. “The Convention was primarily meant to adjudicate an individual’s criminal responsibility. A lawyer colleague stated at a 2011 seminar held at Cardozo Law School. Until a court does, attorneys in the US State Department and U.K. Foreign Office even argue they are not allowed to use the term “genocide.”
The Precautionary Principle:
According to the precautionary principle, anticipatory preventative action is significantly less expensive than inaction when there is uncertainty about the likelihood of a big catastrophe. When there are indications of genocide, diplomats and world leaders typically take no action and wait for the genocide to start. The political risk factors for genocide are known to us. The previous genocide has remained unpunished and is still ignored. Control by an elite that excludes certain ethnic groups; official exclusionary ideology; autocracy or totalitarianism. Severe human rights abuses, such as extrajudicial executions and torture, and the closing of ties with the outside world.
Overcoming Ethnocentrism, Racism, Nationalism, and Religious Intolerance:
Genocide is perpetrated by those who have forgotten our shared humanity. The human race is the only race, despite the belief held by some that there are several races. When we become ethnocentric, racist, patriotic, or intolerably religious, we are committing genocide. Idolatry is what genocide is. Instead of worshiping God, we idolize our race, nation, ethnic group, or religion. We erect golden altars and offer human sacrifices on them. Rather than acknowledging all people as God’s creation, we use their blood to saturate our weapons.
Structural Failures of the UN System:
The UN governing bodies, the 193-member General Assembly (GA) and the 15-member Security Council (SC) are at a standstill due to the power disparity within the organization. Every UN member state is entitled to one vote in the GA. The 10 remaining members of the SC can vote but cannot veto any resolution, whereas the five permanent members have the authority to do so. Thus, the will of the great majority of states can be overridden by a single UN member state. The UN’s power disparity has caused the SC to be unable to refer a case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to the same institutional issue. Since Israel is not a party to the ICC, it cannot be prosecuted unless the SC refers it or another state refers an Israeli national to the court for crimes committed on its soil.
The Failure of the International Community to the Palestinians:
Over 35,000 individuals have been killed by Israel’s ongoing targeting and shelling of Palestinians, the majority of whom were women and children. Over 180 days, Israel has persisted in carrying out lethal and focused attacks on every area of Palestine, destroying and destroying the whole strip. International indignation over the ongoing ethnic cleansing, destruction, and attacks on Palestinians has led to massive demonstrations calling for a quick ceasefire and an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
- International Law
A collection of laws, rules, and policies that control how sovereign states and various international organizations interact and behave with one another is known as international law. The law offers a framework for resolving disputes, defending human rights, advancing economic growth, and tackling contemporary problems
- Genocide Convention
Genocide is defined as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group” in Article 2 of the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crime and Genocide. The Holocaust, ethnic cleansing, and mass murders of Jews in Germany in the early 1940s served as the impetus for the Prevention and Punishment of Crime and Genocide Act. Strangely enough, the Nakba took place in 1948 instead. The mass exodus and murder of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War is known as the Nakba, which translates to “catastrophe” in Arabic. In reaction to the 1948 Nakba, the UN adopted a resolution proposing a “two-state” solution.
- Flaws of International Law
Several states have found themselves breaking current international law statutes, even though the fundamentals of international law are “well-respected” and “obliged” by state actors in the international community. If a state violates international law or human rights doctrines, it will be held accountable for its actions and face consequences. More recently, Israel has not been punished or held responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians brought on by the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. By refusing to permit humanitarian aid and international aid into the strip or areas, Israel has consistently disregarded international law and disregarded the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) decision to stop the genocide from continuing.
- International Court Response
The United States veto of the United Nations resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the absence of justice for Israel’s crimes are two examples of how international nation-states and international law have failed the Palestinian people. Since the 1948 Nakba against the Palestinians, Israel has persisted in committing war crimes, human rights abuses, and crimes against international law. The absence of responsibility and punishment enforced by the UN convention and the international community has allowed Israel’s crimes to persist.
Conclusion:
The UN’s inactivity raises serious concerns about its continued relevance while the war in Gaza rages on and the misery of civilians worsens. The most pertinent treaty at that time was the Genocide Convention. The international community of states and civil society must employ every weapon at their disposal if the UN is unable to break the cycle of violence.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How is the UN response to the war in Gaza?
On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez voiced serious concerns about the number of people killed by the escalating fighting in Gaza. Since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed on March 18, he denounced the alleged deaths of over a thousand civilians, including women and children.
- What is the US doing to help Gaza?
Approximately $26 billion in military assistance for Israel and $1 billion in humanitarian help for Gaza were part of the $95 billion security package that Biden signed.
- How did the Gaza war end?
A temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas was agreed on November 22. It calls for a four-day break in fighting to free 50 hostages who were being held in Gaza.
- What was the goal of Zionism?
Theodor Herzl founded the World Zionist Organization in 1897, and it said that the goal of Zionism was to create “a national home for the Jewish people secured by public law.
- Whose control is Gaza?
Yahiya Sin War maintained control of some regions of the Gaza Strip until his murder in October 2024, while Hamas continued to hold some territory despite Israeli military gains.
