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Take it to the Ban Ki-moon: UN Serving Neo Con Agenda
You Answer to the State Department
by Cecilia Lucas
On Thursday, I was one of a handful of activists who attended an “informal conversation” of 1300 people with Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, hosted by the World Affairs Council of Northern California at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
We had prepared a banner demanding the enforcement of UN Resolutions 194 and 242. Under UN General Assembly Resolution 194, Palestinians have the right to choose to return to the homes they were expelled from or to seek compensation for their losses. UN Security Council Resolution 242 calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories occupied during the 1967 war (including Gaza, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights). As Ban Ki-moon began to speak, we stood silently with the banner until security forces came and told us to sit down. We complied, and waited to hear what the Secretary General had to say about the situation in Palestine.
Ban Ki-moon acknowledged that the UN has a “humanitarian
responsibility” in Palestine, in particular regarding the Palestinians
in Gaza. He insisted that there be cooperation from the international
community in terms of economic assistance and by “letting Palestinians
engage in economic activities.” He stated that the borders of Gaza must
be opened and that Palestinians are suffering from a lack of freedom of
movement, although he did not mention that it is Israel which is
keeping the borders sealed and starving 1.4 million Palestinians.
Ban Ki-moon believes there are “signs of optimism” in the Middle
East today. His optimism lies with the Quartet, Jordan, Egypt, Israel,
and US-Israeli puppet Abbas. He did not insist that the international
community engage with Hamas, a legitimately democratically elected
body. For Ban Ki-moon, the main thing standing in the way of a
resolution to this conflict is “the division in Palestine” and the lack
of “unity of the Palestinian people.” Sure, there’s division in
Palestine. There’s division in any country. But as Ali Abunimah
recently pointed out, “the split among Palestinians today is not
between Hamas and Fatah, nor between “extremist” or “moderate,” or
“Islamist” or “secular,” but between the minority who have cast their
lot in with the enemy as collaborators on the one hand, and those who
uphold the right and duty to resist on the other.” (July 18,
“Overcoming the Conspiracy Against Palestine“)
Not once did Ban
Ki-moon mention the word “occupation.” Not once did he acknowledge the
hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who are still refugees after
almost 60 years. The organization he heads, the United Nations, has
clear resolutions dealing with these issues – and yet there is a
complete lack of will to enforce them, primarily due to the role the US
plays in the organization. Israel is the target of sixty-five UN
Resolutions, Palestine is the target of zero. And yet somehow Ban
Ki-moon manages to see the major problem in the ongoing conflict as
having to do with the Palestinians. Not once did he mention any
responsibility on the part of Israel for the past and present suffering
of the Palestinian people.
So I asked him directly, “Will you
enforce UN Resolutions 194 and 242?” Instead of receiving an answer to
my question, however, I learned that it is illegal to ask one!
A half
dozen security personnel escorted me and the other two activists who
had earlier been involved in the silent banner action out of the room.
We were told freedom of speech does not apply on private property, even
if you are asking a question that is on-topic.
We were also informed
that we were being detained and that to avoid arrest, we must answer
all questions asked to us by the man who would only identify himself as
being with the State Department.
Ban Ki-moon, however, has a
whole cadre of people shielding him from having to answer pointed
questions. The entire structure of the event was set up to achieve
precisely this purpose. One could only ask a question by submitting it
on a card. Our friends who were able to remain in the room informed us
that there were twenty minutes allotted at the end of the event to
answer questions from the audience.
“How do I get your job when I grow
up?” and “Will there ever be a female Secretary General of the UN?”
were deemed higher priorities than, “Will the UN hold Israel and the
United States accountable for their violations of international law?”
Our
friends also informed us that in a subsequent conversation regarding
Iraq, the Secretary General offered a similar analysis to his reading
of the situation in Palestine. The problem in Iraq is apparently also
simply due to the lack of unity of the Iraqi people. Yes, there is
sectarian fighting going on in Palestine and in Iraq. But what Ban
Ki-moon failed to mention are the major parts played by Israel and the
US in the creation and exacerbation of those tensions. (For a detailed
analysis on US responsibility for sectarian violence in Iraq as well as
on US and Israeli responsibility for Hamas/Fatah fighting in Palestine,
see Jonathan Cook’s June 26 article, “Divide and Rule, Israeli Style“)
There
are a number of UN programs that have done important life-saving work
on the ground in many places. And yet the UN, contrary to its name, is
designed to primarily serve the interests of the powerful nations that
enjoy permanent membership and veto power on the Security Council: the
United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China. Until this
is changed, those nations will bloc any enforcement of UN resolutions
that are not in their interests. In the meantime, hopefully activists
around the world will continue placing pressure on the UN to cease
applying double standards in the enforcement of international law, in
particular in regards to the United States and Israel. The tragedies in
Iraq and Palestine are but two ongoing crises where the people of these
nations have been failed by the UN because of the undemocratic power
the US holds over that organization.
Cecilia Lucas is a resident of Oakland, CA. She can be reached at: cecilialucas@gmail.com. Read other articles by Cecilia.
Writings 
On Thursday, I was one of a handful of activists who attended an “informal conversation” of 1300 people with Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon, hosted by the World Affairs Council of Northern California at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. 
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