Indian ecologist and UN environmental negotiator S. Faizi has written to the President of the United Nations General Assembly urging action against what he described as Israel’s “unprecedented and direct attacks on the UN system.” In his letter, sent to the General Assembly President with copies to the UN Secretary-General and the chairperson of the Group of 77, Faizi argued that Israel’s actions constitute “an unpardonable affront to the community of nations” and should trigger measures under the UN Charter and General Assembly Rules of Procedure to deny Israel credentials and participation in UN fora.
Faizi listed seven recent instances of what he called direct assaults on the UN, including Israel’s UN Ambassador shredding the UN Charter on the General Assembly podium, calls to destroy the UN headquarters, the declaration of the UN Secretary-General as persona non grata, the designation of UNRWA as a terrorist organization, the killing of more than 360 UN staff in Gaza, restrictions on UN officials including the Special Rapporteur on Palestine, and repeated attacks on UNIFIL peacekeepers in Lebanon.
“These are not just violations of international law in Palestine or the wider region, but deliberate attacks on the very institution of the United Nations, unseen in its 80-year history,” Faizi wrote. He argued that even apartheid South Africa, though condemned by the UN General Assembly, had not attacked the UN system itself.
Pointing to precedents where the General Assembly circumvented Security Council vetoes to isolate apartheid South Africa, the Taliban, and the Myanmar junta, Faizi urged that Israel’s credentials be denied or withdrawn under Rules 28 and 114 of the General Assembly’s Rules of Procedure.
“The UN cannot afford to have an enemy within. Such a country cannot meet the requirements to admit its delegation to the sessions of the GA and other bodies of the UN,” Faizi stated. “The criminal acts against the UN by Israel provide compelling grounds for suspension or expulsion, but where the Security Council is paralysed by vetoes, the General Assembly must act.”
He appealed to the new General Assembly President to “use your influence to guide the member states to arrive at an outcome that will see this criminal country not sharing stage with the rest of the world in the UN fora.”
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