The U.S. again voted against a Gaza ceasefire on Tuesday, but this time a slew of U.S. allies abandoned Washington in the U.N. General Assembly, writes Joe Lauria.
U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution on “Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations” in Gaza on Tuesday. (UN Photo/Loey Felipe)
By Joe Lauria
Special to Consortium News
The United States is facing growing domestic and international opposition to its support for the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
Defying the U.S. and Israel, the U.N. General Assembly voted on Tuesday, 153 nations in favor with 10 against, and 23 abstentions for an immediate end to the killing.
Most significantly, the vote on Tuesday showed a slew of U.S. allies abandoning Washington on Gaza.
It is the second time in the past six weeks that the Assembly voted for a permanent ceasefire. On Oct. 27, the vote was 120 in favor, 14 against and 45 abstentions.
After witnessing six more weeks of genocide, 33 more nations — including several who almost always automatically side with the U.S. — this time evidently had enough and voted against Washington and in favor of an immediate halt to the slaughter.
Some U.S. allies that had abstained on Oct. 27, like Australia, Albania, Canada, Denmark, Greece and India, on Tuesday found the strength to oppose the U.S. to vote in favor of a ceasefire.
Three Eyes Statement
The prime ministers of three of the Five Eyes nations — Australia, Canada and New Zealand (which vote in favor both times) — issued a joint statement about their yes vote:
“In defending itself, Israel must respect international humanitarian law. Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected. We are alarmed at the diminishing safe space for civilians in Gaza. The price of defeating Hamas cannot be the continuous suffering of all Palestinian civilians.”
Trumpeted by the Murdoch press, the Australian rightwing is flaying Prime Minister Anthony Albanese alive for standing up to Israel and the U.S.
The Australian newspaper quoted opposition leaders saying Albanese did it only to avoid losing votes to the Greens; the Israeli ambassador to Australia saying Albanese’s vote “will embolden Hamas;” and Opposition defense spokesperson Andrew Hastie slamming the government’s “provocative” vote.
The centrist Sydney Morning Herald explained that Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong appeared to be so worried about the vote that they took their decision in “secret,” keeping most of the cabinet and Labor MPs in the dark. The paper said the Labor Party had both Jewish and Muslim ministers and voters to cater to.
The Australian Greens leader said it was too little, too late.
It shouldn’t have taken Labor nearly 20,000 deaths and 67 days to finally vote for an immediate ceasefire at the UN.
This is a step in the right direction, but Labor, a ceasefire must be permanent.
And Labor must stop arming the Israeli military & call for the occupation to end
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) December 13, 2023
Albanese faces a new test, however, as the United States Navy has asked Australia to send a war ship to the Middle East, something that could contradict a vote for a ceasefire.
Canada Too
Global News reported that Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Tuesday on Parliament Hill:
“We must recognize that what is unfolding before our eyes will only enhance the cycle of violence. This will not lead to the durable defeat of Hamas, which is necessary, and the threat that it poses to Israel. With the future of Israelis and Palestinians in mind, Canada is joining the international call for humanitarian ceasefire.”
The Canadian capital’s daily, The Ottawa Citizen, wrote a story quoting Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to the Canada, saying, “I’m deeply disappointed with the support that Canada has given to this resolution that does not call out Hamas for its horrendous acts of terrorism against Israelis and does not address the root cause of the situation.”
The Citizen reported:
“Moed said Canada has previously been an ally to Israel at the UN helping to added needed context to resolutions at the assembly, but he said Canada didn’t do that today.
‘Part of the aim of this resolution was to isolate Israel in the UN yet again. Canada made it a point in the past not to allow that to happen.’”
Reaction From Washington
How they voted on Tuesday.
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said the U.S. could not support the resolution because it did not condemn Hamas. “Why is that so hard?” she asked, while adding that the U.S. was concerned about the humanitarian situation, but evidently not enough to stop the bombing. (Perhaps it’s hard because condemnation of Hamas has been used to justify the genocide.)
In Washington, President Joe Biden at a fundraiser on Tuesday deflected the rising heat against the U.S. — now from its closet allies — by blaming Israel alone for the mess, as if Biden has no leverage over Tel Aviv.
In an article entitled, “Biden says ‘indiscriminate bombing’ in Gaza is costing Israel support,” The Washington Post reported:
“Biden told supporters that “the indiscriminate bombing that takes place” was beginning to cost Israel support around the world.
‘Bibi’s got a tough decision to make,’ Biden said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. ‘I think he has to change, and with this government, this government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move.’”
Meanwhile, Biden keeps shipping weapons and money to Israel and keeps two aircraft carrier groups in the region to deter any nation that might even think about intervening to stop the genocide.
The Resolution
The General Assembly vote came in an emergency session called in response to the U.S. veto on Friday of a binding Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. A General Assembly resolutions aren’t binding but are politically significant.
The G.A. resolution “demands” that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, “notably with regard to the protection of civilians.”
Two amendments making specific reference to extremist group Hamas were voted down.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan called the resolution a “disgraceful” attempt to bind Israel’s hands, warning that “continuing Israel’s operation in Gaza is the only way any hostages will be released.”
Read the text of the full resolution below the video.
Watch the debate at the General Assembly on Tuesday (3 hrs, 17 min.):
Text of the adopted resolution
Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations
The General Assembly,
Guided by the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations,
Recalling its resolutions regarding the question of Palestine,
Recalling also all relevant Security Council resolutions,
Taking note of the letter dated 6 December 2023 from the Secretary-General, under Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations, addressed to the President of the Security Council,
Taking note also of the letter dated 7 December 2023 from the Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East addressed to the President of the General Assembly,
Expressing grave concern over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population, and emphasizing that the Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations must be protected in accordance with international humanitarian law,
1. Demands an immediate humanitarian ceasefire;
2. Reiterates its demand that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians;
3. Demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, as well as ensuring humanitarian access;
4. Decides to adjourn the tenth emergency special session temporarily and to authorize the President of the General Assembly at its most recent session to resume its meeting upon request from Member States.
Joe Lauria is editor-in-chief of Consortium News and a former U.N. correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, and other newspapers, including The Montreal Gazette, the London Daily Mail and The Star of Johannesburg. He was an investigative reporter for the Sunday Times of London, a financial reporter for Bloomberg News and began his professional work as a 19-year old stringer for The New York Times. He is the author of two books, A Political Odyssey, with Sen. Mike Gravel, foreword by Daniel Ellsberg; and How I Lost By Hillary Clinton, foreword by Julian Assange. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @unjoe
Please DONATE toCN‘S WinterFund Drive
Remember back when Blinkie’s Brilliant Plan was to ‘isolate Russia’? Turns out they isolated themselves instead.
They called upon the entire world to oppose Authoritarianism, and then found themselves alone against everyone else. The Emperor and all the King’s Men (and other diverse genders) were all so consumed with Doublethink, that it never occurred to them that people might oppose the world Emperor while opposing Authoritarianism.
It never occurred to them that they might be isolated in their formerly exceptionally shiny mansion on the hill. They were so intent on making their lists of who they would ban from their parties, that they never noticed that their invitations were being returned to sender. That the staff had closed the patio bar long ago as the crowds had dwindled and that now it was good they had a DJ because a band might outnumber the dancers.
So the Leader of the Free World could not command the world to endorse Genocide. There is some limit after all.
“ Don’t Drink The Water. There’s Blood In the Water!”
“Most significantly, the vote on Tuesday showed a slew of U.S. allies abandoning Washington on Gaza. “ Joe Lauria
…..”WHO KNOWS what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow Knows!”
….. “My commitment to Israel is known and engraved in the rock.” Joey R. Biden
….. “Nothing will stop us until victory in Gaza War” Benyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu
OCTOBER 7, 2023: “Declaring WAR!” Netanyahu declares it is “time for war,” i.e., “Calls for a ceasefire meant asking I$rael to surrender to terrorism and barbarism, the temporary prime minister said, “This will not happen. The Bible says that there is a time for peace and a time for war. This is a time for war.”
JULY 9, 2021: “Party of War.” [ISRAELI] media report that after Biden knelt, “the two presidents spoke at length about the commitment to strengthen relations between the two countries.” Biden announced: “My commitment to Israel is known and engraved in the rock.”
….. “FOR OVER 40 YEARS, Biden has been an ardent supporter of every foreign war & intervention, always in the vanguard of flexing military muscle over diplomacy, & perhaps the most ardent supporter of Israeli wars, brutality, settlement expansion, billions of unlimited taxpayer dollars (no questions asked) in outright gifts, &, is fully supportive of human rights violations – whether it is Israel, the corrupt Gulf sheiks, or third world dictators.
…..So, DEAR JOE BIDEN, The NEXT time, you kneel for confession, ask the Good Lord, that Rock of Ages, to engrave justice, human rights, decency, and peace, in your hardened mind and callous heart.”
“And Jesus wept.” (Raouf J. Halaby is a Professor Emeritus of English and Art. He is a writer, photographer, sculptor, an avid gardener, and a peace activist. [email protected])
“Biden Kneels Before Israeli’s President’s Chief of Staff,” @ hxxps://www.counterpunch.org/2021/07/09/biden-kneels-before-israeli-presidents-chief-of-staff/
Thank you for this article. Most citizens of the world, also in the West, are totally appalled by what we are witnessing in Gaza. It is actually beyond comprehension and Evil is the only concept I feel, which can name it.
Zionism, in its century of unfolding, has shown its evil inclinations in many ways, from its very early days onwards and we may not have seen its culmination yet. Evil enjoys being evil and enjoys its actions and we are witnessing that.
En masse we are angry, raging , sad and with gritting teeth we see that nothing changes, the killing goes on, the suffering intensifies.
I do not quite know how to stand in all this, but I do know that I need articles such as the above, that paints some positive developments. I am so happy with the direction of the Global South and especially Vladimir Putin, a president of a caliber we haven’t got in The West. His diplomacy, words and actions are deeds of hope. Thank you Consortium News for bringing the ‘glimmers of hope’ to us, I need them.
In this case, it is very easy to abandon Washington, and all of its little friends.
It will also be very easy for me to not vote for Joe Biden next year. Perhaps not vote at all. A registered Dem for all my life, This attitude is due to the Biden administrations failure to take strict action against Israel in the UN and also by cutting off funding to that country. Gynecide is a horrid concept and that is what Israel is doing to the Palestinians.
Josh, you need to ask Washington’s permission to “abandon Washington”. If the prime ministers of three of the Five Eyes nations — Australia, Canada and New Zealand issued a joint statement about their yes vote it was with the prior permission of the USA. None of them act without consulting the Empire first. Here in Australia it was just for reasons of domestic politics. The ALP struggling.
The violent blowback the American people will suffer over the next few decades bc of the total support Washington provides to the racist, sadistic and hegemonic artificial Israeli state will be horrific beyond measure.
Every orphaned Palestinian boy is a future member of the global intifada. Moreover, every time a young Muslim or Arab anywhere in the world, who has a desire for social justice wired in his makeup, witnesses the wanton carnage and barbarity the American arms to the Israeli Defense [sic] Forces are causing in Gaza, he becomes a potential fighter for revenge and justice.
The American people are going to pay dearly for their leaders’ subservience to an ultra-violent and repugnant exclusionary religio-ethno state.
This sure makes more sense than Biden’s version, namely that Israel is losing international support.
While Israel is indeed losing support, it’s been a bit of a diplomatic pariah before. It’s worked its way round arms embargoes, developing one of the world’s best networks of suppliers (it was Israel’s role in Operation Cyclone to source weapons for the ‘Afghan’ mujaheddin) and building its own armaments industry, and if all else fails it still has enough nuclear weapons to flatten Gaza with enough left over for Iran or wherever. Its government sees no reason to be particularly bothered if it is internationally condemned.
Biden and the rest of the US ruling class, on the other hand, need at least some acceptance that there’s more to US global hegemony that wilfully remaining the only nation loudly, publicly and enthusiastically enabling the destruction of Gaza and the rest of Palestine.
There’s also this article from Naked Capitalism: hxxps://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/12/amid-escalating-wars-and-other-global-crises-the-corporate-takeover-of-united-nations-gathers-pace.html
Three articles in one day concerning the UN, each with a different perspective. Pepe Escobar’s article in UNZ has hopeful tones of a future alternative to the current UN.
Hamas was elected by the Palestinian people of Gaza..Its not a separate entity.
It would be like trying to kill the republican party in this country to defeat the United States..
Exactly, and also as a resistance movement Hamas has a right in international law to fight against an illegal occupation. Israel’s “self-defense” is not legitimate against the occupied population it is supposed to protect.
Not a single nation. including Arab and Muslim countries, has sent Gaza or the West Bank any military aid to fend off the Israeli invasion which most of the Israeli population supports in an effort to use troops to ethnically clear these lands of Arabs (Palestinians) and other non-Jewish populations. Gaza is little more than a regional massacre that does not impact global economics, thus is deemed unimportant to the rest of the world unless it accidentally shrinks or halts oil exports. Palestinians, it appears, are for all intents and purposes, expendable. In order to reverse this, it is up to the global Muslim civilian population to declare otherwise and take action.
Off-topic. CN ran an article by As’ad AbuKhalil about inaction by Arab nations. This article is about the U.S. losing its closest allies because it continues to defend genocide.
Hear, hear.
Seems to me “Team Global Israel” (& “War profiteering collaborators”) are very effective at getting their shills high up in western national domestic power politics. Seems obviously achieved with “conduit” money/donations to political parties (& private secret deals) and some magical powers they hold over creating MSM lies (ie Global MSM finance). They all pretend this is all so democratic & back up claims w BS & fake “surveys” It’s always the same more “Murder, theft & deception”. Here we are witnessing the most horrendous mass murder imaginable (in 2023 not 1323), and terrible wasteful destruction, and, ”our” so called “World leaders” (AKA frightened sheep) from religions, commerce & charities et are all almost completely mute. What a bunch of hopelessly oppressed cowards “we” are. Political support for a ceasefire is not emboldening Hamas it is emboldening “Global Isreal”. They almost perpetually invert truth. My view is, what we allow them to do to the Palestinians today in time they will be doing to us/others, & pos before too long. Really the issue is still bought politicians and crooked narrative control/propaganda.
The cry of the Holocaust was “Never again!” The perpetrators this time though are the Western elite. Using the power of social media and narrative management, they are attempting to convince the entire world population that genocide and murder are a good thing.
Ordinary people are now expected to suspend their own individual humanity and conscience, to literally destroy their souls in order to support Israel’s lunatic based territorial aspirations. Well, you can blow that out your ass. My soul and conscience are not for anyone’s use. What is that saying about “Who the gods will destroy they first make crazy?” Those who are trading their souls for trivial, sordid advantage will not be able to come back from this. Teach your children well.
Just imagine how much more wonderful the world will be when everyone simply accepts genocide and murder as an efficient and necessary method for getting things done. Think Gaza will be the last? It pretty much paves the way for the use of nuclear weapons. Not just America, the Western alliance has chosen this path and is now becoming the bane of humanity. Gaza today is the inevitable outcome of a “rules based international order” that issues rules and orders for convenience rather than upholding international law. What’s next when anything goes? Perhaps this will be the “Let them eat cake…” moment in relation to our ruling elites.