Humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza

THE EDITOR, Madam:

December 8 was the sombre 43rd death anniversary of John Lennon and coincided with a special meeting of the 15-member Security Council at the United Nations Building quite close by his murder scene in New York City. The singer’s famous mantra of Give Peace A Chance must have been playing in the minds of many attendees as the secretary general invoked Article 99 of the UN Charter, for the first time since 1971. This enabled him to raise what he sees as threats to peace and security, while warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, and urging the Security Council to demand an immediate ceasefire from Israel. The vote was 13 to one in favour, with only the US voting against, and Great Britain abstaining. Back in the day, British were called lion-hearted, with lots of heraldry displaying lions to symbolise courage, nobility, strength, valour, etc. – but by abstaining they resembled the cowardly lion from The Wizard of Oz. Nobody was surprised that the US vetoed this resolution, as it has done on so many other occasions when Israel has been brought to task by the international body. The state of Israel was established on May 14, 1948, by the head of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, David Ben-Gurion, who then became prime minister; he received immediate support from then US President Harry S. Truman later that same day.

Shortly before he died in 1945, then President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) had given assurances that the US would never intervene without consulting both Jews and Arabs in that volatile region. An historic meeting between the gravely ill FDR and Saudi King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud took place aboard the USS Quincy anchored in the Great Bitter Lake of the Suez Canal, where security guarantees for the kingdom were made by the US in return for access to affordable oil. The future of Palestine was also a hot topic, with FDR wanting a Jewish state, while the Saudi King suggested the Jews get their state in Bavaria, as Germany was on the very brink of defeat by the Allied powers of US, Great Britain and Soviet Union. King Abdul Aziz asserted that Jews and Muslims would never live peaceably together in Palestine. The latest US veto has been met with huge street protests around the globe – from London to Washington, from Mexico City to Manilla, from Hamburg to Johannesburg, and all points in-between. Ordinary people realise the terrible consequences of the Saudi king’s suggestions and FDR’s promises being ignored by President Truman and all the other 13 presidents who followed. All too glaringly apparent in today’s humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada