A senior official at the UN Human Rights Office resigned over what he called “the failure of the UN in Palestine,” as confirmed this Tuesday by the spokesperson for the general secretariat, Stéphane Dujarric.
Dujarric did not mention the name of the official, but acknowledged that the Human Rights Office, based in Geneva and headed by Volker Türk, received a resignation letter in which he stated “his personal reasons.”
The letter, which appeared leaked in the press shortly after, It is signed by Craig Mokhiber, who until this Tuesday was the New York director of the organization headed by Türk.
In the letter, Mokhiber says UN faces ‘enormous pressure to compromise humanitarian principles’ and that “some parties in the UN, even at the highest level, have shamefully bowed their heads to power” when it comes to Palestinian rights, although he also says there are many in the organization who refuse to compromise.
(Read also: Hundreds killed and injured by Israeli bombing in refugee camp in Gaza)
As confirmed by the now former UN official to Europa Press, In his letter he also denounced that “We are experiencing a genocide before our eyes and the UN organizations do not seem to have the power to stop it.”
“As a human rights lawyer with more than three decades of experience, I know well that the concept of genocide has been abused at the political level, but the current carnage against the Palestinian people (…) leaves no room for doubt” , he told the cited agency.
In his letter, Mokhiber also assures that Israel practices powerful “propaganda” to present itself as the equivalent of the Jewish people. and thus presents all criticism as anti-Semitism, something that does not happen, for example, with criticism of Saudi Arabia or Burma, which are not seen as Islamophobia or anti-Buddhism, respectively.
The now resigned official, with a career at the UN spanning several decades, He also encouraged the office he just left to “proudly join the anti-apartheid movement that is growing around the world.” (…) for the rights of the Palestinian people”.
(You may be interested: Iran warns that the conflict between Israel and Hamas is expanding)
And, in his dialogue with Europa Press, he launched a strong criticism of countries like the United States or the United Kingdom and accused them of being complicit for arming Israel or giving political aid to Tel Aviv in the midst of the actions it is carrying out against the Gaza Strip.
According to Mokhiber’s UN profile, The official had worked with the agency since 1992. He held positions as head of the Human Rights and Development Team and senior UN Human Rights Advisor in both Palestine and Afghanistan.
He also “led the team of human rights specialists attached to the High-Level Mission in Darfur, headed the Rule of Law and Democracy Unit, and served as Head of the Economic and Social Affairs Department.”
Two weeks ago, A senior US State Department official also resigned for the same reasons: Josh Paul, in charge of Parliamentary Affairs of the department’s Political Military Office, said that the Joe Biden Administration’s “blind” support for Israel is leading to decisions that are “short-sighted, destructive and contradictory to the values” it boasts. .
The danger of tense relations between Israel and the UN
The senior official’s resignation comes at a time when relations between Israel and the UN are strained due to the outbreak of the conflict. on October 7 after the Hamas attack on Israeli territory and the subsequent response from Tel Aviv in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian enclave governed by the Islamist group.
The confrontation began when, in the middle of a meeting of the UN Security Council, Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the Hamas massacre in Israel, which left 1,400 dead, but recalled that The attacks “do not arise from nowhere” but from “56 years of suffocating occupation” against the Palestinians.
(Continue reading: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirms that there will be no ceasefire in Gaza)
After the statement, Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan issued disqualifications against the entire UN and assured that it is an institution “that no longer has a shred of legitimacy or relevance.”
Erdán went further by calling for Guterres’ immediate resignation and then announcing that Israel will refuse visas to United Nations representatives.
The UN “is hemorrhaging relevance, legitimacy and justification (…). It has just turned 78 years old, but it is so broken and morally corrupt that I doubt it will reach 90, much less 100 years,” he added.
What happens, according to Ignacio Gutiérrez de Terán, professor and director of the Department of Arab and Islamic Studies and Oriental Studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid, is that “There is an idea on the part of Israel that the UN treats it with a certain disdain or negativity. Tel Aviv considers that the UN is a hostile entity and that it does not do much to strengthen its views either.”
On the part of the United Nations, says the analyst, there is the idea that “when there are these types of operations (such as the bombings in Gaza) many targets end up targeting United Nations facilities and personnel, which is why there is protest and there is a struggle between the two.”
(You can read: Guterres criticizes Israel’s ‘unprecedented escalation of bombings’ against Gaza)
Despite the clashes, Julio Guinea, professor at the European University of Madrid and expert in diplomacy and international relations, sees a definitive break in relations between the UN and Israel unlikely and assures that it is rather an increase in tone due to the escalation of the current conflict. A confrontational tone that has also been seen with other countries such as Colombia or Spain due to their positions on the war.
“We have to understand that international relations can have a moment of tension and confrontation that can last as long as the conflict lasts. But then cordial relations have to prevail (…). Israel is not going to be permanently angry with Colombia, or with Spain, or even with the UN. They want to mark territory and for everyone to adhere to what they understand to be fair,” he explains.
Gutiérrez, for his part, assures that he sees a resignation of the general secretary as Israel has requested unlikely. He assures that this decision would only increase the chaos already existing within the UN.
“What mechanisms would be used to elect the new secretary if not even the five states that are part of the permanent members of the Security Council could agree?” he says.
What Gutiérrez does believe is that tensions with the UN could end up affecting the Palestinian population who experience constant bombings in the Gaza Strip. since further clashes between Israel and the UN could affect the delivery of humanitarian aid in the Palestinian enclave.
(In other news: The drama of children in the Gaza Strip: more than 400 die every day in bombings)
“A good part of the humanitarian assistance is channeled through this agency (the UN). Not only what is teaching, instruction, but the distribution of food and water. All this distribution of humanitarian aid is done in principle , or a good part of it, through the representatives of the United Nations. Therefore, if they are not allowed to enter (with the suspension of visas) it is very difficult for them to supervise these operations on the ground,” he concludes.
For now, the resignation of the senior official reveals the divisions in positions regarding what is happening in the Strip and the Israeli response after the massacre perpetrated by Hamas.
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
TIME
*With Efe
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