Expense of innocent lives: How far will Israel’s borders expand?: UN Reform

Oddly enough I received an email from a reader asking me what I thought about this idea- My response was this is a big subject. But in general I’d say the UN needs to be reformed. It also needs to be reduced in size and scope of duties. UN peacekeeping, it seems to me has been an abysmal failure- resulting in crimes and abuse including sexual abuse. Repeatedly. The only real value I can see in the UN as an institution is for war prevention and it’s failed miserably in that regard. If anyone else has an opinion, feel free in the comments section.

Daily Sabah

It has been almost a year since Israel began bombing Gaza. Their attacks have not only killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, but also displaced hundreds of thousands and destroyed the infrastructure of the enclave. Israel’s War Cabinet, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, is now expanding the war on Gaza to neighboring Lebanon, and nearly 600 people have been killed in airstrikes on civilian areas so far, while thousands of others are injured and displaced. Israel’s relentless attacks on civilian areas, schools, hospitals, humanitarian convoys, journalists and United Nations personnel have seen no limits.

This week, world leaders have convened for the 79th session of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in the organization’s New York headquarters in the U.S. The atrocities and genocide taking place in Gaza, the ongoing tragedy in Sudan and the Ukraine-Russia conflict were some of the key topics of the speeches.

“Israel’s attitude has once again shown that it is essential for the international community to develop a protection mechanism for Palestinian civilians,” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during his historic and powerful speech he delivered following the speech of U.S. President Joe Biden.

In contrast to Biden’s speech, which was rather ambiguous on a path forward and how to tackle the current conflicts, Erdoğan delivered a speech that criticized the international community’s idleness in the face of the Gaza genocide, called for reform to the U.N., and raised questions about Western values and the sincerity of Western leaders.

Some of this article is omitted, but, read entirely at the link above

Just as Hitler was stopped by the Alliance of Humanity 70 years ago, Netanyahu and his murder network must be stopped by the Alliance of Humanity,” Erdoğan said, urging the international community to take action. He also called on the states backing Israel, namely the U.S., to stop their one-sided approach that sides with Israel in the conflict. “For how long will you continue to bear the shame of looking on this massacre, of being its accomplices?” The Turkish president said.

History is repeating itself

The human tragedy does not end. In the early and mid-years of the 20th century, the world witnessed two bloody wars. According to a common consensus, more than 16 million were killed during World War I between 1914 and 1918, and it ultimately led to the fall of four great empires. In the aftermath, the League of Nations was formed in 1920 “to promote international cooperation and to achieve international peace and security.”

The World is bigger than five’

The calls for reform to the U.N. system are increasing, especially from emerging powers in the Global South. “It is time for reform or rapture,” the outgoing secretary-general had said about the current U.N. system in the face of current global challenges.

Erdoğan is also among the pioneers of the new wave of reform of the current global governance, as the world order is no longer a bipolar system. There is uncertainty about how the current multipolar world order will be designed. In this phase, it is time for a reform of the U.N.-led global governance system for a “fairer world” and more just system where the rights of all members of the international community and not only the powerful will be protected.

We need the values represented by the maxim “The World is bigger than five,” more and more nowadays. We witness that international peace and security are too important to be left to the arbitrariness of the “privileged five.”

Otherwise, in the absence of such change and reform for more effective global governance that would protect the rights of the victims against aggressors like Israel, many more Gazas would emerge and it is inevitable that new genocides would continue to take place. Lastly, it should be underlined that it is the duty of all the members of the international community, not only a few, to ensure that this reform is actually realized.

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