Jenin, a city on the northern part of the West Bank (more correctly known as Judea and Samaria) has become a center of war operations waged by Palestinian Arabs against the state of Israel. Countless attacks have emanated from that place.
So Israel did something about it. A military operation was performed to incapacitate or at least damage Jenin’s war-making capability and destroy its military supplies.
Since, as is sadly typical, much of that war-making apparatus is in residential areas (Palestinian Arab “leaders” have no problem using their people as human shields) there were civilian casualties.
Throughout the attacks on Israel, the United Nations had no problem at all. Try and find a condemnation of those activities…or, for that matter, a condemnation of the fact that the hamas charter, never condemned by the “leadership” on the West Bank, specifically calls for the obliteration of Israel and the death of all Jews – in Israel and everywhere else in the world.
But Israel taking action to prevent the attacks? Now THAT is of grave concern to the UN.
From Elad Benari’s article at Israel National News:
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday launched a scathing criticism of Israel over what he claimed was its excessive use of force during the counterterrorism operation in Jenin.
Guterres said the operation had left over 100 civilians injured, forced thousands to flee, damaged schools and hospitals and disrupted water and electricity networks, reported The Associated Press.
He also criticized Israel for preventing the injured from getting medical care and humanitarian workers from reaching everyone in need.
“I strongly condemn all acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror,” Guterres was quoted as having told reporters.
Asked whether this condemnation applied to Israel, he replied, “It applies to all use of excessive force, and obviously in this situation, there was an excessive force used by Israeli forces.”
Guterres called on Israel “to abide by its obligations under international law,” and to exercise restraint and use only proportional force.
“The use of air strikes is inconsistent with the conduct of law enforcement operations,” he stated before adding that Israel “as the occupying power… has a responsibility to ensure that the civilian population is protected against all acts of violence.”
Guterres said he understands Israel’s legitimate concerns with its security. “But escalation is not the answer,” he said. “It simply bolsters radicalization and leads to a deepening cycle of violence and bloodshed.”
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, denounced Guterres’ remarks and said, “The Secretary-General’s remarks against Israel were shameful, farfetched, and completely detached from reality. The recent Israeli counter-terror activity in Jenin focused solely on combating the murderous Palestinian terror targeting innocent Israeli civilians.”
“Sadly, Palestinians had to leave their homes temporarily as Palestinian terrorists turned them, along with hospitals and schools, into arms caches and command centers for their terror activity. Blaming Israel for these ruthless Palestinian acts only incentivizes the terrorists to continue using populated areas for their arms and weapons!” continued Erdan.
“Time after time,” the Ambassador said, “the UN Secretary-General disregards brutal Palestinian terror and neglects to condemn the cold-blooded murder of innocent civilians. Yet when discussing defensive Israeli actions aimed at dismantling terror infrastructure, the SG is quick to issue extensive condemnations of Israel detached from the truth.”
“I call on the SG to retract his words and clearly condemn the Palestinian terror against civilians and for using other Palestinians as ‘human shields,’ rather than denouncing the democratic State of Israel for defending itself in the face of terror,” concluded Erdan.
Got that? Israel’s response should be “proportional” (“proportional” defined as Palestinian Arabs, by their actions, literally being in charge of how Israel reacts). And trying to dismantle the Jenin war machine is an “escalation” (presumably leaving it in place would be just fine).
This is what Israel is up against with the United Nations – which has become increasingly useless over the years, to the point of being a pathetic joke today, with one of its only effective actions protecting Palestinian Arab terrorism against the state of Israel – Israel being a country which the UN makes no secret of despising.
Hey, here’s a novel little thought: how about demanding that all Palestinian Arab military actions against Israel cease immediately? Then if Israel does anything militarily against targets in the West Bank or Gaza, the UN will have a shred of legitimacy to its denunciations.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.
