A Desire for Inclusion

For almost its entire existence, Israel has fought to belong at the United Nations.  Whether in belonging to a Regional Group (it took until 2004), or the ability to serve at the UN Security Council like every other country, Israel was seemingly a nation that stood apart.

One would therefore imagine, that Israel would welcome the United Nations using inclusive language like “all” when it comes to attacks against Israel’s population.

A review of the select times that the UN leaders use such terminology, reveals that the UN has no such inclusive intent.

A Desire for Recognition

Israelis and decent people around the world expect at least the same amount of concern and consideration that the UN gives to other victims of terror. They want:

• To hear that the attacks were acts of “terrorism”;
• It to be clear that the victims were innocent;
• Acknowledgment that they were attacked for being Jewish;
• Blame placed on the perpetrators, the Palestinian Arabs and their leadership for incitement

The United Nations uses such format around the world, and clearly spells out the victims and perpetrators when Israelis attack Palestinian Arabs. However, the UN refuses to do so when Israeli Jews are killed by Palestinian Arabs.

Consider the comments by the UN Media Centre on January 18, 2016 when Palestinian Arabs stabbed two women, killing a mother of six and injuring a pregnant woman, and compare it to the UN comments when three Palestinian Arabs were killed in in arson attack in July 2015.

UN Responses	January 18 Attack on Israeli women	July 31 Attack on Palestinian Arabs
Words in press release	207	433
Victims	“Two women” (not Israelis)	“Palestinian child” (2x); “Palestinian toddler”; “Palestinian houses”
Comment on Victims	“civilians” (not innocent)	“Innocent life”
Perpetrator	None (not Arabs)	“settler violence”; “Jewish extremists”
The crime	“tragic incidents” Such terminology is not intentional and vicious; it could be used for a traffic accident	“heinous murder” (2x); “terrorist crime”; “vicious terrorist attack”; “deplorable act”
Cause	“extremists on all sides”	“Continued failures to effectively address impunity for repeated acts of settler violence” “Israel’s illegal settlement policy, as well as the harsh and unnecessary practice of demolishing Palestinian houses”
Perpetrators	“swiftly brought to justice“	“terrorist act/ deplorable act brough to justice” (3x)
UN Concern	“all victims of violence”	The Palestinians

Funeral of Dafna Meir in Jerusalem,
January 18, 2016 (photo: AP)

Why were the “Palestinians” mentioned over-and-again as “innocent” victims targeted in an act of “terrorism”, but the Israelis are merely generic “civilians” caught in amorphous “tragic incidents”?  These female victims deserve to be referred to as Israeli Jews, as that was the rationale for the attack (as was the case for Palestinian Arabs).  The women deserve more than being lumped in a generic “all,” in the UN’s short paragraph of condemnation on the attacks.

Similarly, the Palestinian Arabs that stabbed these defenseless women do not deserve to be coupled with Israeli extremists.  The UN’s use of “extremists on all sides” rings hollow when the same body placed blame solely on “settler violence” and “violent extremists” when “Palestinians” are attacked.

The UN ignored the murder of the Henkins in the same way.

It ignored the murder of the Fogels in the same way.

Signpost for Teko’a, where one of the Israeli women was stabbed
(photo: First.One.Through)

The UN Considers Israel to be Fundamentally Wrong

The United Nations has endorsed the Palestinian desire for a Jew-free state, and consequently any Jewish deaths are tragic, but justified.  Unfortunate, but understood.

Conversely, Palestinian deaths are criminal acts of Jewish extremists, abetted by the government. Jewish terrorism is a natural byproduct of an illegal “occupation.”

For the United Nations, there is only one group that are victims in the “spiral of violence.” The Palestinians.

As such, the perfunctory condemnation for Israelis murdered needed to include the Palestinians in “all victims.”  Similarly, the true aggressors in the conflict are the Israelis, so the condemnation was addressed to “extremists on all sides.”  The UN wasn’t trying to include Israelis in the victims of terror.  It was deliberately omitting them, and placing blame for their demise of the victims themselves and the Israeli government.

 

Not only was the UN sympathy for the Israeli victims vacuous, the inclusion of Israeli extremists in its statement was insensitive.  It is well passed time for the UN to show at least the degree of sensitivity that it offered to Palestinians, as they do with Israelis who were personally and viciously stabbed by Palestinian terrorists.

The radical Islamic terror that demands a pure Islamic caliphate is being fought daily in Israel and its territories, not sporadically in western Europe. Israel is part of the global “all” that is being attacked by radical Islam, not, as the UN portrays, part of the “all” of extreme religious fanatics.

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UN text from January 18, 2015: “Strongly condemning the two stabbing attacks on two women, one of them fatal, in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, a senior United Nations envoy on the Middle East today called upon Israeli and Palestinian authorities to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice.

“These tragic incidents only highlight the urgent need for all leaders to work together against the spiral of violence and the targeting of civilians,” UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said in a statement.

“The volatility of the current situation only serves the hate-filled agendas of extremists on all sides. I encourage all parties to promote calm and refrain from inflammatory statements and retaliatory actions,” he added, voicing increasing alarm at the continued attacks in the occupied West Bank taking place almost on a daily basis.

The stabbing attacks took place within the past 24 hours in the settlements of Otniel and Tekoa, resulting in the death of Dafna Meir, a 39-year-old mother of six, and seriously injuring Michal Froman, a pregnant woman in her 30s.

“Nothing justifies the murder of a mother in front of her own children,” Mr. Mladenov said. “My thoughts are with the families and friends of all victims of violence.”

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UN Text from 31 July 2015 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN special envoy on the Middle East have strongly condemned today’s arson attack in the West Bank that killed a Palestinian child and left the child’s parents severely injured.

“The Secretary-General strongly condemns today’s murder of a Palestinian child in the West Bank and calls for the perpetrators of this terrorist act to be promptly brought to justice,” reads a statement issued by his spokesperson in New York.

Continued failures to effectively address impunity for repeated acts of settler violence have led to another horrific incident involving the death of an innocent life, adds the statement. “This must end.”

The absence of a political process and Israel’s illegal settlement policy, as well as the harsh and unnecessary practice of demolishing Palestinian houses, have given rise to violent extremism on both sides, the statement continues.

“This [situation] presents a further threat to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for statehood, as well as to the security of the people of Israel. The Secretary-General urges both sides to take bold steps to return to the path of peace.”

Mr. Ban reiterates his call on all parties to ensure that tensions do not escalate further, leading to more loss of life, the statement concludes.

Earlier today, the United Nations special envoy on the Middle East today expressed his outrage over what he called a “heinous murder” and a “terrorist crime.”

“I am outraged by today’s vicious arson attack by suspected Jewish extremists in the Occupied West Bank village of Duma, near Nablus, which killed Palestinian toddler Ali, critically injured his mother and father, and injured his four-year old sibling,” the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, said.

Joining in the “strong condemnations” issued by Israeli and Palestinian Governments and political leaders, the Special Coordinator also called for a “full and prompt investigation” to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“This heinous murder was carried out for a political objective. We must not permit such acts to allow hate and violence to bring more personal tragedies and to bury any prospect of peace. This reinforces the need for an immediate resolution of the conflict and an end to the occupation.”

Later today, the Security Council issued a statement to the press, condemning “in the strongest terms” the “vicious terrorist attack,” and underlining the need to bring the perpetrators of this “deplorable act” to justice.

Council members encouraged all sides to work to lower tension, reject violence, avoid all provocations, and seek a path toward peace.”

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Related First.One.Through articles:

UN Media Centre Ignores Murdered Israelis

UN Press Corps Expunges Israel

The UN Can’t Support Israel’s Fight on Terrorism since it Considers Israel the Terrorists

UN Concern is only for Violence in “Occupied Palestinian Territory,” not Israel

UNRWA’s Ongoing War against Israel and Jews

The United Nations’ Remorse for “Creating” Israel

The New Blood Libel

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