- September 20, 2024
- 3:51 pm
- World News
In his speech at the UN Security Council meeting on September 19, 2024, Russian representative Vasily Nebenzya once again spoke out another anti-Israeli speechdemanding that the borders be returned to the 1967 line and that the anti-terrorist operation in the Gaza Strip be stopped.
He said that Israel, with the support of the United States, “is colonizing the West Bank and actively squeezing Palestinians out of these territories.” Nebenzya accused the Israeli authorities of increasing settlement activity, saying that Israel's impunity is only possible thanks to Washington's support. He called on the Council to put pressure on the United States to influence Israel.
“We need to put pressure not so much on Hamas, but on our American colleagues, who continue to perceive the Council and multilateral diplomacy in general as an unnecessary burden.”
“I would like to believe that the need for decisive collective measures to stop Israel's actions will become obvious to our American colleagues as well. In the meantime, Palestinian women and children are paying the price for their stubbornness and imperial ambitions with their lives.”
However, these accusations from Russia seem extremely hypocritical given its own aggressive actions on the world stage. Russia itself is waging a war in Ukraine, where since 2014 its army has been destroying infrastructure, seizing territory, destroying cities and killing civilians. Just as Nebenzya accuses Israel of violating international law, Russia ignores its own crimes in Ukraine, from the annexation of Crimea to the occupation of the Donbas regions.
Moreover, Russia’s support for dictatorial regimes in the Middle East and direct involvement in the Syrian conflict, where bombing civilians and using chemical weapons have become part of Moscow’s strategy, is a direct example of how Russia is trying to “cover its eyes” to its own crimes while simultaneously accusing others of violating international law.
Russia actively supports terrorist groups in the Middle East, including, indirectly, Hezbollah, which it does not recognize as a terrorist organization, unlike Israel and most Western countries. Nebenzya, in his speech, condemned Israel's actions against Hezbollah, while trying to protect Lebanon from cyberattacks allegedly carried out by Israel.
“We strongly condemn the unprecedented cyber attack on friendly Lebanon and its citizens, which constitutes a gross violation of its sovereignty and is a serious challenge to international law.”
But the very fact that Hezbollah admits that its own fighters were harmed in the killings underscores Israel's real goal: fighting terrorists, not civilians, as the Russian spokesman claims.
Nebenzya also mentioned the “historic resolution” of the UN General Assembly, which condemns the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands. However, he did not mention that similar resolutions on Crimea and Donbass, condemning the Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories, were also adopted, but are ignored by Russia. Russia, which promotes the idea of “two states” to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, effectively denies such a possibility to Ukraine, violating its sovereignty.
Thus, Russia's criticism of Israel looks like an attempt to distract the world community from its own crimes in Ukraine and the Middle East. While Russian bombing continues, thousands of Ukrainians suffer from aggression similar to that which Nebenzya accuses Israel of.
