As of: February 15, 2024, 5:30 p.m
By: Georg Anastasiadis
Comments
Press
Split
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sets an example in the Munich synagogue.
A comment from Merkur editor-in-chief Georg Anastasiadis.
© Angela Weiss/AFP//Klaus Haag
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visits the Munich synagogue and sets an example.
However, this will not change the break between Israel and the United Nations.
A comment by Georg Anastasiadis.
The Munich Security Conference 2024 begins with a global political exclamation mark.
The visit of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to the Munich synagogue will not mend the rift between Israel and the United Nations after the Hamas atrocities on October 7th involving Palestinian employees of the UN relief agency UNRWA.
But it is an important gesture that Guterres does not want to completely escalate the conflict with Jerusalem in the Gaza war.
The United Nations can no longer play a mediating role in the Middle East war
There is no contradicting the Portuguese and the UN he leads when they demand that Israel take moderate action with its army in Gaza.
But he sided with the Palestinians and Hamas too early and too clearly for the United Nations to play a mediating role in the Middle East war.
Severely wounded Israel was mourning its dead when Guterres spoke up and said that the terror did not take place “in a vacuum”.
Not only to the ears of Israelis, but to all Jews in the world, this sounded like a justification for the massacre.
Sadness and disappointment turned to anger when it became known that numerous UN employees in Gaza were actively involved in the Hamas killings.
Hatred of Israel had already been taught in Gaza's UN schools.
In the United Nations, a majority led by Russia and China today sees a post-colonial, unjust regime at work in Israel that has made a pact with the evil West.
Despite all the concerns about mistakes made by the Netanyahu government, nothing could be more wrong than that. For many Jews, the country, which is threatened by Hamas and its friends in Iran, is their last refuge and a guarantee of survival in a hostile world.
Even Guterres, who has come under pressure, will not be able to heal his wounds with a visit to a Munich synagogue.
The UN has played its role in the Middle East.
We can only hope that Israel at least listens to the advice of its friends as it advances into Gaza.
George Anastasiadis