Overcoming the New Fascist Genocidal Salute, the US Veto: Use the Precedents of 1956 and Apartheid South Africa
On Thursday, the UN General Assembly votes on a resolution on Palestine calling on states to take "all measures necessary" regarding Israel. It must go further, as it did in 1956 and re South Africa.
[I covered many of the issues in this piece in a recent interview with Nick Cruse at the Revolutionary Blackout Network.]
As the US issued its veto last week, a group of veterans for peace and allies — many of whom have been fasting for 20 days — shouted “Shame!” outside the US mission to the UN. Their fast — with people eating only 250 calories a day, the average people are getting in Gaza — goes till the end of the month:
The 14-1 vote signaled yet another low for the US government. It is not — as many claim — complicit in the ongoing Palestinian genocide. It is a partner in it. Much of the rest of the world is complicit.
The UN General Assembly has repeatedly convened its tenth emergency special session under Uniting for Peace regarding Palestine since Oct. 2023. It has passed numerous resolutions, including demanding ceasefires. The problem is that it hasn’t used its powers regarding Uniting for Peace to put teeth into those resolutions. More rhetoric. The latest one, drafted by Spain, may start to be different. Here’s a thread showing its evolution in the last few days.
The most important change seems to be the addition of paragraph 10 which calls upon all member states to "individually and collectively take all measures necessary, in line with international law and the Charter of the United Nations, to ensure compliance by Israel with its obligations."
But it’s baby steps when serious directed action is needed.
People can still call for stronger measures but contacting various officials using this easy form by World BEYOND War. There’s also this document with contact info and this list of handles on X.
As Craig Mokhiber noted, there’s much the UNGA could do. I’ll flesh out two of his points:
“The mandating of a force, based on the 1956 precedent…”
In 1956, after Egyptian President Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, Israel, Britain and France invaded Gaza and Sinai. The British and French vetoes prevented action at the UN Security Council, so the General Assembly stepped in, calling its first emergency session under Uniting for Peace and issuing a series of resolutions:
On Nov. 2, it passed Resolution 997, which noted that “armed forces of Israel have penetrated deeply into Egyptian territory in violation of the General Armistice Agreement between Egypt and Israel.”
On Nov. 4, it followed up, passing Resolution 998 instructing the Secretary General to submit “within forty-eight hours a plan” for dealing with the issue.
The following day, it thanked the Secretary General for his plan and passed Resolution 1000 which established a “United Nations Command for an emergency international force to secure and supervise the cessation of hostilities in accordance with all the terms of the General Assembly Resolution 997.” It named a Canadian major-general to oversee the force and was followed up by Resolution 1001 which implemented more details including creating a committee to oversee the process consisting of a number of countries including Colombia, Pakistan and Norway.
By the end of the year, British and French forces were out of Egypt. Israel tried to hold on to Gaza, but was forced to withdraw in 1957. See:
"Uniting for Peace" is Next Step in Invoking Genocide Convention Process to Protect Palestine
"I like to believe that people, in the long run, are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it." — Dwight Eisenhower
Mokhiber also highlights:
“The call for all states to implement comprehensive sanctions and a military embargo”
The best example of this would be apartheid South Africa. For example, in 1981, the UNGA called its eighth emergency session on Namibia and passed a resolution condemning the “illegal occupation of Namibia by South Africa.” The resolution called out that the “Security Council failed to exercise its primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.” It also called out the US misuse of its veto.
Among other things, it “called upon all states, in view of the threat to international peace and security posed by South Africa, to impose against that country comprehensive mandatory sanctions” and to “cease forthwith, individually and collectively, all dealings with South Africa in order totally to isolate it politically, economically, militarily and culturally.” In 1974, the UNGA had suspended apartheid South Africa from participation.
All states and institutions — including the PLO delegation to the UN, which may be an impediment to stronger resolutions — around the UN should be asked: Why are similar actions not being taken now regarding Israel to overcome the oppression of the US veto?
As Robert Jereski of CODEPINK’s World Court Project says: “Israel rightly perceives words without consequences as a greenlight to continue committing grave crimes. Countries that have been outspoken against Israel’s ongoing crimes will either impose effective sanctions on Israel or be complicit with it.”
Too optimistic. ZioBeasts control far too many governments & media. What has the Arab League (the natural backers of Palestine) done? Beyond sit on their buts & argue which among them is the most stupid
Sam thank you for your fine tuned details. Mention of the campaign against apartheid. Post- apartheid never solved the land problem - fairness in ownership and access to land - thus never solved their poverty problem. Why not focus on solving the land problem as a major geo-political issue addressing gross wealth inequality both within Israel and the US and most other countries?