The United Nations yesterday irrevocably repudiated the principles upon which it was founded some seven decades ago as the world emerged from a genocidal war vowing “never again.”
Ostensibly, of course, the General Assembly voted merely to upgrade the status of “the state of Palestine” — which doesn’t in fact exist and which isn’t likely to, in any real sense, for some time to come.
But the vote was a giant step toward UN recognition of such a thing — that is to say, the creation of a Turtle Bay bolthole for the agglomeration of terrorists, Islamists, cutthroats, thieves and backstabbers who now animate Palestinian politics.
In so doing, the UN lowered its own status — at least in the eyes of folk who believe in what’s supposed to be the once-upon-a-time honorable body’s core values: global peace, security, the rule of law, negotiation.
And in the eyes of those — like us (and even the UN itself, ostensibly) — who think the state of Israel has a right to exist.
What a disgrace: By extending its “Non-member Observer” label to an entity it unilaterally calls “Palestine,” a world body that arose from the ashes of the Second World War and was looked to in desperation to ensure global peace has lent its prestige to a movement bent on the extermination of a peaceful, democratic state: Israel.
Or such prestige as remains, that is. The United Nations has been traveling down this road for some time now.
Let’s be clear.
One can always hope for the eventual emergence of a Palestinian state dedicated to a peaceful coexistence with Israel.
But that will never happen while Palestinians and their murderous enablers in Iran and in the Islamist movements worldwide surrender their fantasies of extinguishing the Jewish state.
Don’t hold your breath.
Indeed, yesterday’s UN vote only made that less likely. Because what Turtle Bay did, coming hard on the heels of a round of Hamas-inspired violence in Gaza, was to reward the concept of statehood-by-terror; it sent a stark message that peace and negotiation are for suckers; that violence, terror and bullying will win the day.
How ironic. And sad.
True, it is Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas who has pushed the bid for unilateral UN recognition. In recent years, Abbas’ faction — based in the West Bank — has been somewhat less radical and violent. And it’s nominally distinct from the more openly terroristic Hamas in Gaza.
But making distinctions of any sort between Palestinian factions is a mug’s game — to say nothing of making actual policy decisions based on such differences.
The Palestinians have to sort out their own rivalries — which will be a long and bloody process — before they are fit negotiating partners for anyone.
For the UN, none of that matters. Fact is, it long ago lost its way — along with its credibility, its legitimacy and its honor.
Yesterday’s vote only reinforced that.