United Nations Secretary-General opened the UN General Assembly’s 78th Session on September 19 with a litany of things gone wrong around the world over the past year.
There have been natural disasters. Climate change. Disruptive technologies. Existential threats. “Our world is becoming unhinged,” he said. “Democracy is under threat. Authoritarianism is on the march. Inequalities are growing. And hate speech is on the rise.”
In his remarks, he focused on specific geographic areas which merit concern, including the Russian war against Ukraine, the civil war in Sudan, the millions who are displaced in Congo and the fact that Syria no longer bears any resemblance to single nation.
GutHe focused on specific areas of concern. Russia’s war in Ukraine. Civil war in Sudan. Millions displaced in Congo. Syria in ruins.
Oddly, Guterres did not mention Iran — but he did not fail to reference Israel, albeit without directly naming the Jewish State.
“In the Middle East, escalating violence and bloodshed in the occupied Palestinian territory is taking a terrible toll on civilians,” Guterres said.
And, as US President Joe Biden said in his own speech shortly after: “Unilateral actions are intensifying and undermining the possibility of a two-state solution, the only pathway to lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.”
There was no mention of the fact that the “escalating violence and bloodshed” is being perpetrated daily against Israeli civilians living in Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and elsewhere in the Jewish State. Nor did Guterres bother to mention that the “violence and bloodshed” in the Palestinian Authority is largely perpetrated by the terrorists who attack IDF soldiers as they come to arrest them for their crimes.
JNS contributed to this report.
