The piece UN needs to crack down on Syrian chemical weapon use by CAMERA Fellow Madelyn Grant was originally republished with permission of The Lantern, thelantern.com, Ohio State University.
Israel has one of the strongest and most advanced military forces in the world. It is a country composed of people of different ethnicities with extremely different backgrounds, but at the end of the day, it is a country with an intense, unrelenting passion for the protection of its citizens.
This strong need to protect its citizens comes from the fact that Israel follows Jewish values in its care for all of its residents, not just a select few. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of people are losing their lives in the conflict in Syria, and the United Nations has not stepped in to help.
The U.N.’s sole purpose is to protect human rights around the world. Why has the U.N. not made drastic efforts in Syria, given the catastrophic number of deaths?
There is a specific group within the council of human rights that deals with the Syrian Arab Republic and investigates possible violations of international human rights. Yet a chemical weapon attack in September did not warrant an emergency session in the eyes of the council, according to unwatch.org. Instead, the U.N. has chosen to focus on less pressing issues such as the water quality in countries such as Kiribati and Tuvalu.
As an American student, I see America as being put in a very similar situation as Israel finds itself. Of course, the geographic proximity of Syria to Israel’s border is much different than that of the U.S. to Syria, but either way, the decision of whether or not to take action should be in the hands of the U.N.
The responsibility should not fall on countries such as the U.S. and Israel simply because they have the means to help. The U.N. is a powerful force, as well as a melting pot of representation, and they should be taking action in Syria.
The U.N. Human Rights Council published a report that condemned the recent tragedy taking place in Syria and ordered Syrian authorities to cooperate with the U.N. All eyes have been on the U.N. and criticism has been flying because of the fact that no real actions against Syria have been taken. This destructive activity is not considered normal in the modern world, and something must be done.
Does Israel or the U.S. need to swoop in and be the superhero in Syria’s nightmare? Israel and Syria have not had any diplomatic relations for years. In the last two and a half years, the Middle East has been flaming up with riots. Throughout it all, as the death tolls were climbing in Israel’s neighboring countries, the citizens of Israel were continuing to live. Israelis are also some of the only people in the Middle East who have not been suppressed by their government throughout it all. The situation has never been ideal or even what anyone would call pleasant, but Israel has always done whatever is necessary to keep its citizens and soldiers safe.
The chemical weapons being used in Syria could easily be releasing chemical gasses into the air of its very close neighbors, one of which being Israel. This is just one of the many reasons why the U.N. should take action before more people get hurt and the chaos continues to spread into neighboring countries.
Whether or not people agree with Israel helping the Syrians or staying out of the situation, Israel’s hospitals are quietly treating some of Syria’s injured victims. Israel has also opened its towns to aid some victims of the Syrians’ governmental assaults. The care Israelis are offering Syrian refugees in hospitals is of no difference than what would be offered to Israelis.
While Israel is constantly the talk of United Nations meetings, it is much more rare to see Syria on the agenda. It is as if Israel does not get the respect and honor that the country deserves within the U.N. Even in the face of such a terrible massacre in Syria, the council has not moved on from the topic of Israel.
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Two minutes into the video, a hot mic catches UN interpreter saying anti-Israel votes are ‘a bit much’