A story in today’s New York Times says the United Nations is highly critical of Israel’s conduct in the Gaza fighting, as if this was a revelation. When has the U.N. not been highly critical of the Jewish State about something or other?
The article says the U.N. “lashed out at Israel on Thursday over the war in Gaza, saying that access to civilians in need is poor, relief workers are being hurt and killed, and Israel is woefully neglecting its obligations to Palestinians who are trapped, some among rotting corpses in a nightmarish landscape of deprivation.”
Once again, The Times is editorializing in its news pages. Neither the U.N. nor The New York Times has ever expressed similar concern over the humanitarian crises caused by suicide bombers or rocket attacks from Gaza.
There are civilian casualties in every war; that’s why it would have been wise for the civilian population of Gaza, which elected Hamas to power, not to have constantly provoked Jerusalem by raining rockets on Israel’s civilian population.
The Times presents United Nation’s criticism as if it was coming from an unbiased source. But outside of the Muslim world, Israel has no more implacable foe than the U.N.
In 1975, the United Nations passed a resolution equating Zionism with racism. It took the UN almost 20 years to repeal this obscenity.
In 2003, the General Assembly passed 18 resolutions criticizing Israel for alleged human rights violations, versus 4 critical of other countries. During Israel’s two wars in Lebanon, the U.N. relief agency UNRWA allowed Palestinian fighters to use its facilities.
The United Nations is on the verge of hysteria over deaths near a U.N. school in Gaza. Apparently, it’s irrelevant that the Israelis were taking fire from said school. In fact, at least two of the casualties were Hamas fighters. (The Times refuses to refer to them as terrorists, preferring the less judgmental term “militants.”)
For The New York Times to indict Israel for the suffering of civilians in Gaza by citing the United Nations, is like quoting Osama bin Laden on America’s role in world affairs.
@nytimes.com
