Erdan: Some UN states happy to see high number of dead Jews

“If the UN General Assembly had existed during the Nazi regime, would it have held a special session to condemn the Allies for their disproportionate response and the large number of German casualties?” asked Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to both the UN and the United States. “Would it have urged them to show restraint in the face of Hitler, the Nazi army and their supporters? I don’t think so.”

He asked: “Did the General Assembly hold an emergency debate to condemn coalition forces for acting disproportionately in their fight against ISIS? You and everyone around the world know the answer to that question.”

The Gaza war, he said on Thursday, is not between Israel and the Palestinians, but between Israel and Hamas, whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

“We will never apologize for defending our citizens, even if some of the countries here might be happy to see a greater number of dead Jews,” Erdan said.

He spoke at the start of a session that lasted for over 10 hours in which envoys and diplomats took the stage to speak about the 11-day war between the IDF and Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip where 2 million Palestinians live.

Many of the member states spoke in support of the Palestinians and highlighted the damage done to Gaza, but did not mention that Hamas started the conflict by shooting at Israel or focus on the damage done to Israel by a barrage of over 4,300 rockets.

On the international stage, there have been those, including comedian John Oliver, who have said that the Palestinians have the higher moral ground and that there can’t be a moral equivalence between the dangers they face when compared to those that Israel faces.

Erdan said that reality was actually the reverse. There is “an attempt to create a false moral equivalence, an immoral equivalence, between Israel, a democracy that seeks peace and abides by international law, and a murderous terrorist organization with an ideology similar to ISIS, that is carrying out the double war crime of firing at Israeli civilians while hiding its weapons behind Palestinian civilians, using them as human shields,” Erdan said.

Erdan warned the international community that it was strengthening Hamas at the expense of the Palestinian Authority, a move that would make any renewal of peace negotiators more difficult.

“So, don’t say we didn’t warn you,” Erdan said.

The tolerance by member states for the demonization of Israel, “is encouraging sickening antisemitic attacks all around the world,” Erdan added.

He called on the UN member states to “protect their Jewish communities, apprehend the perpetrators, and ensure that Jewish citizens everywhere can live proud and open Jewish lives.”

Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Malki, in contrast, accused Israel of stealing Palestinian land and committing genocide against his people.

“To those who say that Israel has the right to defend itself, what right are you exactly talking about. Israel is a colonial power, it is occupying our land, it is persecuting a whole people,” Malki said.

Israelis like to ask UN member states how they would feel if missiles had targeted its cities, Malki explained.

“But Israel forgets that its occupation is the root cause of the violence. So I would like to ask: what would you do if your territory was occupied, if your people were displaced, killed, detained, arrested and persecuted?” Malki asked.

“How can an occupying power have the right to defend itself when a whole people under occupation is deprived of the very same rights?” he asked.

The world, he said, has turned “a blind eye to the genocide of whole Palestinian families.”

Malki didn’t just speak about Gaza. He accused Israel of attempting to eliminate the Muslim presence in Jerusalem and Israel. He called on an internationally led peace process for a two-state solution at the pre-1967 lines.

The Palestinians, he said, have no intention to give up on their claims to Jerusalem. Israel has not given up on annexation and has issued racist laws, Malki said.

It’s government does not even believe in a two-states solution.

He called on the international community to provide protection to the Palestinian people and to hold Israel accountable for its transgressions against them. Specifically he called for an arms embargo against Israel.

“It is your right to hold Israel accountable and not to provide it with arms,” Malki said.

To the UN, he said, “the world should not simply watch and stand idly by, you should stop these crimes.”