UN Security Council Refuses to Call Out Terrorist Rocket Attacks Aimed at Civilians

After several failed attempts, the United Nations Security Council finally issued an official statement on Saturday regarding this month’s military conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organizations in Gaza. The statement called for the parties to continue observing the ceasefire that took effect on May 21st. Here is the text of the statement in its entirely, which is an exercise in the UN’s usual display of immoral equivalency:

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Military conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist organizations in Gaza

“The members of the Security Council welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire beginning 21 May and recognized the important role Egypt, other regional countries, the UN, the Middle East Quartet and other international partners played in this regard. The Security Council called for the full adherence to the ceasefire. The members of the Security Council mourned the loss of civilian lives resulting from the violence. The members of the Security Council stressed the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza, and supported the Secretary General’s call for the international community to work with the United Nations on developing an integrated, robust package of support for a swift, sustainable reconstruction and recovery. The members of the Security Council stressed the urgency of the restoration of calm in full and reiterated the importance of achieving a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders.”

Note that the Security Council statement made no reference to the Palestinian terrorists’ deliberate firing of rockets at civilians in Israel or their use of Palestinian civilians as human shields. It did not acknowledge the inherent right of a UN member state under the UN Charter to defend itself against terrorists' aggressive attacks on its population. It called on the international community to provide “support for a swift, sustainable reconstruction and recovery” in Gaza without requiring the establishment of mechanisms to ensure that the aid does not end up in the hands of Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, or other terrorist groups in Gaza.

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Security Council statement made no reference to the Palestinian terrorists’ deliberate firing of rockets at civilians in Israel or their use of Palestinian civilians as human shields

The statement failed to call for an arms embargo to prevent more arms from flowing to the terrorists, let alone requiring as a condition for sending building materials to Gaza that all terrorist weaponry and attack tunnels be destroyed under international supervision. As Israel’s Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Gilad Erdan said at a UN General Assembly meeting last Thursday that was called to discuss the Israeli-Hamas hostilities, “We will never apologize for defending our citizens, even if some of the countries here might be happy to see a greater number of dead Jews.” Ambassador Erdan added, “We see an attempt to create a false moral equivalence, an immoral equivalence, between Israel, a democracy that seeks peace and abides by international law, and Hamas, a murderous terrorist organization with an ideology similar to ISIS, that is carrying out the double war crime of firing at Israeli civilians while hiding its weapons behind Palestinian civilians, using them as human shields.” The UN Security Council, by its silence and refusal to call out the terrorists as the murderous thugs they are, is complicit in tacitly countenancing their war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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