Merve Aydogan
29 October 2024•Update: 29 October 2024
HAMILTON, Canada
Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, on Tuesday issued a powerful call to action, urging the Security Council to match their words with decisive action, warning: "Stop this genocide, or forever remain silent."
Saying that Israel continues to commit crime after crime and violate every rule of the UN, Mansour noted that Israel is "betting that its will to kill and colonize will outweigh the collective will of the international community to save lives and achieve freedom and peace."
Mansour stressed that Palestinians are being bombarded, starved and "blamed for being killed" by Israel, and highlighted that the people in the Gaz Strip, having nowhere else to go, understand that if they leave, they will not be able to return.
Accusing Israel of systematically violating international law, Mansour stated that "Israel wants to rewrite international law to consider that indiscriminate killing, targeting of civilians, including humanitarians and doctors and journalists, starvation as a method of war, arbitrary detention, abductions and torture, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body and health, wanton destruction, forcible displacement and colonizations are all legal as long as they are committed by Israel." Crimes like killing humanitarian aid workers and journalists, he added, are only deemed "barbaric" by Israel when committed by others.
He warned the international community against Israel trying to establish a "racist," "supremacist" and "inhumane" legal order.
"Will you allow Israel to dehumanize us further as part of its attempt to erase us?" Mansour challenged the Council, questioning if the destruction of Palestinians would be "acceptable" or dismissed as "inevitable."
Emphasizing the existential threat faced by Palestinians, especially in Gaza’s northern regions, Mansour said, "There is a lot you can do. The Palestinian people did not surrender, neither should you."
Reflecting on the international community's lack of action, Mansour said that the risk predicted 10 months ago had become an "undeniable reality."
He asked Council members, "Are the States willing now to finally denounce this genocide, especially given Israeli crimes in northern Gaza? Are they willing to act accordingly?"
Warning about Israel's aims to dismantle the international law-based order, he cited an increase in attacks on UN representatives, humanitarian workers and journalists as proof of the agenda.
"This is the conflict with the most UN staff, humanitarians, and journalists killed," Mansour asserted.
He demanded that global condemnations of Israel’s actions lead to "action and accountability" before the situation further deteriorates.
"Genocide is only possible because of impunity. Israel has crossed every red line, broke every rule, defied every prohibition. When is enough? When are you going to act?" he asked.
Reminding the Council of its duty to address the suffering in Gaza, Mansour said: "I will vacate this seat now with one last message, this seat is not empty."
"It is filled with people enduring unspeakable pain that cannot reach you. You have to reach them. You are the Security Council. You have to reach every single person who is in pain among the Palestinians. That is your duty," he said.
He implored the Council to act on behalf of Palestinian civilians who continue to suffer under siege, including children left to endure life "in a tent, still under the bombs and with nothing to eat" and parents unable to find solace after losing their families in bombings.
