US Hegemony: A Threat to Global Democracy?
The US uses its veto power, again, to protect Israel.
The United States claims it only uses its veto power in rare, extraordinary circumstances. Yet of the 84 vetos documented by the UN, at least 33 resolutions that the US has singlehandedly vetoed to protect Israel. 14 of them are specifically referred to as the “Palestinian question,” while 13 are referred to as the “Middle East Situation,” and 15 as the “Situation in the Occupied Arab Territories.” Yet they all have one defining characteristic: protecting Israeli aggression in the Middle East.
In official documents released by the UN, from the very 2nd veto of the US in the Security Council in September 1972, it can be seen the US has been defending Israel’s violent actions for decades. Former Russian UN Ambassador Yakov Malik had said at that meeting, “the United States did bring about the rejection of a just proposal for which 13 members of the Council had voted. By vetoing the adoption of the draft resolution sponsored by Guinea, Somalia and Yugoslavia, the United States has assumed a heavy responsibility for the futher dangerous development of events in the Middle East.” (Paragraph 131).
And we did, the United States bears much responsibility for the ongoing crises in the Middle East. That is just the first of many examples when the rest of the world called out violence and oppression and the US was uncooperative in a solution.
In this sense, it’s almost the US has been dodging responsibility in the Middle East while being the sole aggressor from the West, giving Israel a blank cheque to do whatever they want in the region with its unwavering support.
In January 1976, the first resolution referring to Palestinians specifically was introduced. The US UN Ambassador at the time Daniel Moynihan defended the use of another veto (paragraph 78) by stating, “When we first began our deliberations the United States made it clear that we wished to avoid confrontation and to produce positive results to aid in the search for peace. Many, we know, will be disappointed that we do not have a resolution to use and refer to, but for our part let me say that we have none the less profited from the various views that have been expressed and we have increased our understanding of the enormous complexities before us all.”
Nothing has changed since 1976. Nearly 50 years now and the US has vetoed for the benefit of Israel at least an additional 30 times.
This is an embarrassingly absurd abuse of power. For the US to have so much authority in a region it is not located in, and to ignore the advice and resolutions put forth by countries actually feeling the affects of Israeli aggression.
The concept of a Security Council veto is to ensure impulsive resolutions don’t lead to escalation, but inaction is also an action.
The most recent veto was just on the 8th of December, 2023, in which the US voted against a ceasefire resolution in Gaza. In what has become one of the gravest humanitarian crises on the face of the modern Earth, tensions are rising. Not only are the public becoming more informed and angry at the actions of the Israel and the United States, but Arab countries themselves are being targeted which could lead to even further conflict in the Middle East.
It is at the bloody hands of the US, President Joe Biden, and UN Deputy Ambassador John Wood that the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 2024 continues, and global democracy dwindles.
