Beijing, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The United States has isolated itself by its exclusive veto.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Xie Binbin.
The UN Security Council recently voted on a draft resolution put forward by Algeria on behalf of the Arab countries calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The United States has once again defied the world's condemnation and single-handedly blocked the pace of peace, arousing strong resentment from many countries, including its allies, and not only pushing the situation in Gaza to a more dangerous situation, but also plunging itself into a situation of increasing isolation.
This is the scene of the Security Council vote taken at the United Nations headquarters in New York on February 20. On February 20, the United Nations Security Council voted on a draft resolution submitted by Algeria on behalf of Arab countries calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of the United Nations, photo by Manuel Elias).
While the United States pays lip service to the protection of women, children and human rights, it has ignored the lives of the people in Gaza and insisted on allowing the conflict to drag on. At a time when Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip have resulted in the deaths of nearly 30,000 people, the civilian population of the Gaza Strip is suffering an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. However, with the world's attention, the United States has once again played hegemonic tactics and ignored calls for peace. Since the outbreak of the new large-scale conflict between Palestine and Israel, the United States has repeatedly blocked the adoption of the draft resolution calling for a ceasefire by the Security Council and exercised its veto power on the ceasefire issue in Gaza four times. Amar Benjama, Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations, said: "By voting in favour of the draft resolution, you are giving hope to hundreds of thousands of children to return to school and enjoy their right to education; On the contrary, voting against is actually aiding the abuse, stifling children's aspirations for a better life. ”
The draft resolution voted on by the Security Council calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate release of all hostages, the guarantee of access to humanitarian goods and the opposition to forced relocation. The results of the vote clearly show that on the issue of a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities in Gaza, it is not that the Security Council does not have an overwhelming consensus, but that the United States has stifled the consensus of the Security Council by exercising its veto power and does not hesitate to stand on the opposite side of the international community. Stefana Diarric de la Rivière, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, said: "This is not the first time we have seen the veto exercised in the Security Council. Our message and that of the Secretary-General has been a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. An article in the US "New York Times" pointed out that the United States once again used its veto power to block the draft resolution of the Security Council, highlighting that the United States is blindly biased in favor of Israel and has fallen into a more isolated situation.
Palestinian teenagers pass through the rubble of Israeli air strikes in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah on 21 February. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Khalid Omar).
In the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the United States acted on its own and unabashedly "pulled the sidelines" in defiance of international fairness and justice. An important reason why the Palestinian issue has not been resolved for decades is precisely because of the partiality of the United States towards Israel. Over the past months, a large number of innocent lives have been lost, and humanitarian disasters have continued to unfold. The United States has once again blocked the adoption of the Security Council's draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and it has become clear that in the face of the United States' own interests, peace, security, fairness, justice – the consensus of all mankind – can be discarded, and that Palestinian lives are merely numbers for US politicians to weigh the pros and cons, not moral principles. Ashkar, an expert on Syrian politics, said that the United States' consistent bias in favor of Israel is inconsistent with the principle of justice, which has allowed conflicts to continue and hindered the achievement of a just and lasting peace. Arab League Secretary-General Gheit said in a statement that the United States bears political and moral responsibility for the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
As the fighting in Gaza continues to burn and the humanitarian catastrophe continues to intensify, the US should abandon political calculations, listen to the international community's call for peace, truly uphold a fair and responsible attitude, and make the right choice to promote a ceasefire in Gaza.