On November 20, the United Nations Security Council voted on a draft resolution demanding an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The draft resolution was sponsored jointly by all ten elected members of the Council. Fourteen out of the fifteen members of the UNSC voted in favour of the resolution. This included allies of the US, such as Britain, France, Japan and South Korea. However, exercising its veto power as a permanent member of the UNSC, the US blocked the passage of the resolution. This shows beyond any doubt that it is entirely due to the unconditional backing provided by US imperialism that Israel is able to continue with its criminal offensive against the Palestinian people.
The blocking of the UNSC resolution by the US comes at a time when the whole world has been horror-struck at the barbaric atrocities committed against the Palestinian people and is demanding an immediate end to them. There are no words to describe the extent of the crimes of the Israeli state in Gaza. In one year, more than 44,000 men, women and children counted dead, with thousands more buried under the rubble of their homes, schools and hospitals. More than 2 million Palestinians forced to flee, moving from place to place as Israel has respected no safe havens. The disruption of all channels to provide food, medicine and other aid, and the destruction of all infrastructure, leading to mass famine and epidemics. Yet US imperialism continues to provide full and unconditional political, diplomatic, military and financial support to Israel.
The draft resolution would have been the first by the UNSC to demand an immediate, unconditional and permanent end to the genocide since it began last year. It called for the release of hostages, and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners. It asserted the right of Palestinian civilians to return to their homes and neighbourhoods in all parts of Gaza. It called for immediate access for civilians in Gaza to basic services. It demanded a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. These would have provided a basis to move toward a solution of the crisis. As the Palestinian delegate at the Security Council said: “A ceasefire does not resolve everything, but it is the first step towards resolving anything.”
In his remarks following the vote, the Palestinian envoy further demanded to know: “Is there a Charter of the United Nations for Israel that is different from the Charter the rest of us have? Tell us: is there an international law for them and an international law for us? Do they have the right to kill, and the only right that we have is to die?” In a powerful message to the US, he said: “This draft resolution is trying to restore life, to save lives. It is not a dangerous message. This veto is a dangerous message — to Israel that it can continue executing its plans…. There is no justification whatsoever for vetoing a draft resolution that is trying to stop atrocities. There is no justification for that.”
The reason that US imperialism and its agent in this region, the Israeli state, do not want an unconditional ceasefire is that they want to carry on the war to ensure the fulfilment of their objectives — that is, to annex Palestinian territory, to completely crush the dauntless spirit of the Palestinian people who have never given up their resistance to occupation for nearly seven decades, and to threaten any country in this region that stands against their objectives. This can be seen by the deliberate widening of the US-Israeli military offensive to include Lebanon, Iran and Syria. This reckless drive for domination threatens not only the peace and security of the region of West Asia, but of the whole world.
The demand for an immediate, unconditional and permanent cessation of hostilities by the US-Israeli marauders against Palestine and the other countries of the region is absolutely just! The voices of people around the world against this crime against humanity must become even stronger and more insistent.