Friday, August 23rd, 2024

I am so done with the UN. In 2017, the United Nations General Assembly designated August 21 to be International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism. The purpose of establishing this day was to honour the victims and survivors of terrorism. The UN statement reads that the day is to “allow victims of terrorism to have their needs supported and their rights upheld.” A wonderful, meaningful initiative. Well, it could have been.

The first time I heard about terrorism was in 1974. It was the Ma’alot massacre in Israel, when Palestinian terrorists broke into an elementary school and took more than 115 people hostage, including 105 children. Ultimately 25 hostages, including 22 children, were killed (with grenades and automatic weapons), and 68 more were injured. Living in Rehovot, a child myself, I remember being horrified. Beyond horrified, in fact. I was traumatized and haunted by the idea of school children as terror victims.

Since then, we have seen the rise in terrorism from Palestinians – the stabbings, the kidnappings, the suicide bombers who freely wandered onto Israeli busses and into Israeli crowds to blow themselves up, taking with them everyone nearby. We put up a wall and implemented checkpoints. That helped a bit. In 2005, we gave beautiful Gaza to the Palestinians, stupidly thinking that it would bring us the peace that was promised to us by the Palestinians. Instead, we were rewarded with immediate and constant barrages of rockets being shot from Gaza into Sderot to terrorize the residents there. Continuously, daily, for years. Then. . . October 7th.  

So now, this past Wednesday, Int’l Day of R.T.V.T featured an exhibit right at the Visitors Entrance to the United Nations. Large panels displayed images of terror victims, along with their individual stories, hanging right where they could not be missed by anyone entering the building. As you would assume, a visitor could see victims of 9/11, of the Boston Marathon bombing, terror attacks in Kenya, Indonesia, and the like.

What a visitor could not see in this exhibit was any mention of an attack carried out by Palestinians against Israelis. Not one. Not Ma’alot. Not the Munich Olympics. Not Entebbe. Not Sbarro’s. Not Bnei Brak in March 2022, which was called, at the time, “the single deadliest terrorist attack in Israel in eight years”, and which hardly anyone even remembers because there have been so many terrorists since. Not October 7th, despite the fact that it was the worst terror attack in history against Israelis and over 100 of its victims are still captive. The U.N. did manage to include in the exhibit a female Palestinian victim of terror, prominently including the word “Palestine” to enforce the idea of the Palestinian as the victim of Israel. In fact, the small print revealed that the terror happened in New Zealand of all places. 

Enough is enough. That’s why I say I am DONE with the United Nations. Here was a perfect opportunity for them, and they failed yet again with flying colours. We, as Jewish people, should have our eyes open and recognize just how unethical and corrupt this organization is. They are NOT friends to the Jews, and they are NOT friends to Israel. We need a new international organization because as long as the United Nations are calling any shots, the Jewish People are not safe. To end on a positive note, though, let me remind you of the good news: We have ourselves and each other, and together – united! – we have always been, and always will be, a strong, successful, and unbeatable People. 

Am Yisrael Chai!