You can toil through some of his recent effusions here, and here; or for a bit of earlier history, here is Ban’s statement of September 19,2007, in which he pronounced himself “very concerned” that the government of Israel had declared the Gaza Strip an “enemy entity,” and called on Israel not to interupt essential services to Gaza. Ban did allude to the reason for Israel’s action — calling for a stop to “the continued indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza into Israel.” But how did he propose to make that happen: “I call for it to stop immediately.” (Note: Ban did not mention the word “Hamas,” or call upon any specific actor firing the rockets; he called for “it” to stop. And, thousands of rocket and mortar attacks later, Ban might have noticed that “it” didn’t give a damn).
OK, so what could Ban do? As Secretary-General, he enjoys the opportunity to provide statements and advice to the Security Council, and of course he can order up a press conference and find an instant world audience. And though it might be something of a departure from custom, he could try finding the backbone to speak the truth — that the UN member state of Israel is under relentless attack out of Gaza by a terrorist group, Hamas, dedicated to its destruction. That another terrorist group, Hezbollah, which infests Lebanon is also dedicated to “Death to Israel.” That both are backed and provisioned and trained by Iran, where the president, who is overseen by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini, has called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Ban could even throw in a few footnotes, about the role of Syria as a cohort and enabler of all this destructive activity and intent, and Saudi wahhabism in all its ruinous manifestations. He might even add a note about a subject which, as a former foreign minister of South Korea, he ought to know very well — the collaboration of Syria and Iran with nuclear-armed, missile vending, totalitarian North Korea.
Ban might also want to mention a name which, as far as I can see on the UN web site, has not passed his lips in any public setting since a September press conference in which he read out a Quartet statement that included a fleeting reference: Gilad Shalit. Actually, it would be fitting for Ban to devote an entire press conference (and then some) to Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped two-and-a-half years ago into Gaza. If Ban is genuinely concerned about humanitarian traffic through the border crossings, would he care to explain why he has been so publicly insistent on the flow of free goods into terrorist-run Gaza, and so apparently uninterested in whether Gilad Shalit might finally be released to travel back out?
All this would be a great help in clarifying the problems in the Middle East. It would be salutary for the UN as well. True, the organization still has no official definition of terrorism, so Ban might find himself venturing into what is, for UN officials, exotic terrain. But there is nothing to prevent the Secretary-General from saying “terrorist,” if he wants to. It might bother the finely tuned sensitivities of actual terrorists, or states that support them. But there’s not much they could do about it. The UN has no procedure for removing a sitting secretary-general. It would be a move of great integrity were Ban to re-focus the UN debate right now, away from the inane formulations about “disproportionate force,” and toward the genuinely germane issue of terrorism.
So that’s what Ban could do, were he willing to stand up for the actual peace-and-human-dignity charter causes of the UN, or even for simple decency. And if he cannot find it in himself to do that, then the least he could do right now is stop making statements that sound like the utterances of a UN-trained parrot. Give it a rest. Take a holiday, Mr. Ban. It will make for a better world.
<- Prev Page 2 of 2
PJM Home
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
17 Comments
1. Amy L.:ABSOLUTELY right Claudia. You’re terrific.
Jan 3, 2009 - 7:59 pm 2. Brian:Ban Ki-moon ?the same guy who barely said anything about the russian invasion of georgia?Or who also said there was no internaitonal support for Darfur.What an ass we have for UN secretary general.Terrorism is an enemy of the civilized world and thus humanity.Israel is doing the right thing by finishing off Hamas militants.
Jan 3, 2009 - 11:46 pm 3. davidingeorgia:I assume your title for this piece is rhetorical?
he’s at the UN…OF COURSE destroying Israel is part of his job! else he’d not have the job in the first place…I’m sure it’s in the fine print of the employment contract somewhere.
Jan 4, 2009 - 5:50 am 4. Eric R.:Posted at another thread, but maybe more fitting here:
Israel must simply tell the UN, and especially the Europeans/eu, to go to hell.
They must publicly rebuke the Europeans as unrepentant anti-Semites and Nazis, intent on a second Holocaust.
They must accuse the Europeans of Hitler worship.
They must tell the Europeans that a Second Holocaust is not going to happen, no matter how much they want it.
They must be willing to place armed Israeli agents at Jewish institutions throughout Europe, for Europe’s response to Jews who have the gall to tell them off will be a psychotic, uncontrollable rage, culminating in pogroms by local Islamists, with government officials ordering police to stand by and do nothing, while the Jew-hating media places blame on the dead Jews.
Finally, Israel must be ready to use its military, in case Europe opts for a blockade or boycott. For apart from France’s and Britain’s nukes, their militaries are impotent.
Jan 4, 2009 - 5:57 am 5. Commentary » Blog Archive » Flotsam and Jetsam:[...] Claudia Rosett
Jan 4, 2009 - 7:49 am 6. Stephen Fox:Claudia,
Absolutely right, but its so much par for the course that the Secretary-General of the UN should be a Kofi Annan/Ban ki Moon figure that I’m finding it hard even to get surprised by it. But yes, it’s a shame, in the old, strong sense of the word.
Eric R, all points taken, but the Czech Presidency of the EU has issued a statement unconditionally supporting Israel. Much to the horror of Brown and Sarkosy, the cowardly shits.
Jan 4, 2009 - 10:59 am 7. joeblough:I would assume that he thinks that’s his job.
What else could he be thinking?
Jan 4, 2009 - 1:10 pm 8. Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum:There are only two reasons to deal with the UN at all: 1) to make sure that the U.S. keeps and uses its veto on the security council, 2) to remind Moon that the best thing he can do to insure peace between Israel and Hamas is to STFU.
Jan 4, 2009 - 7:07 pm 9. tanstaafl:The (former) Israeli ambassador was interviewed on “the news” as to what he expected from the UN’s emergency Saturday night meeting.
He answered that he spent 6 years at the place and expected something like 0 to nothing.
The Libyans had introduced a resolution calling on Israel to cease & desist, which resolution, reportedly, made no mention of Hamas rocket & mortar attacks on Israel.
The United States insisted on language describing actual facts on the ground.
Everybody went home, sans resolution.
Naturally, the United States is the bad guy for insisting on words that factually describe the entire scenario between Hamas & Israel.
(I’ve seen several South Koreans writing here who are a bit ashamed of Ban Ki Moon)
The End.
Jan 4, 2009 - 8:29 pm 10. Bogdan of Australia:Ban Ki-Moon who upon entering the office of the (dis-)UN declared solemnly that he would be fulfilling his function as an honest impartial international brooker is quickly morphing into one of the most despicable, sleazy and biased political figures. And perhaps, it should be not suprising. Right after having been nominated, he announced that one of his priorities would be more bolder approach to the American “unitelarism”; not an act of a particular bravery. So his anti-American and anti-Israeli bias has been detectable from the very beginning. I can only wonder, why the Bush’s administration was so enthusiastic with its support for that dupe of a politician? Perhaps it was the result of a strategic naivity so characteristic to Bush’s view of the world and in particular during his second therm when the State Department began winning over Rumsfeld and Cheney team…
Jan 4, 2009 - 8:36 pm 11. Steynian 304 « Free Canuckistan!:[...] ROSETT: “Does Ban Ki-Moon Think It’s His Job to Help Destroy Israel?” …. [...]
Jan 5, 2009 - 3:17 pm 12. JackT:Hamas is a terrorist group, Israel is a State, she should act like one. You don’t go leveling an apartment building just to kill one guy. I hope Obama shuts that crap down over there. Just hold all free money we give to Israel until they stop killing women and children.
Jan 5, 2009 - 9:12 pm 13. Brian:Ban Ki-Moon is the Inspector Clouseau of the UN … unfortunately he unlike Clouseau is very real klutz and is definitely not funny.
Jan 6, 2009 - 7:59 am 14. Donald R May, MD:It is sobering and frightening that the United Nations and most of the World condemn Israel and are seeking to defend Hamas. Most of the news media are spinning their reporting to make Hamas appear to be the victim of the evil aggressions of Israel.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon never called even one special session of the United Nations Security Council to condemn and stop Hamas from firing rockets randomly into the civilian areas of Israel. Hamas was committing war crimes and the Secretary-General of the United Nations was apparently ignoring these war crimes. What would Mr. Ban have done had North Korea lobbed thousands of explosive rockets or artillery shells into Seoul?
Israel’s self defense should not be negotiable. The responsibility of any government is the protection of its citizens.
“Mr. Conservative”
Jan 6, 2009 - 5:30 pm 15. Donald R May, MD:http://www.timeswatch.org/articles/2009/20090106140533.aspx
Please excuse the above incorrect URL
The following is the correct URL to my blog posting, “A Time for War and a Time for Peace”
Jan 6, 2009 - 5:33 pm 16. Steynian 306 « Free Canuckistan!:http://blogs.lubbockonline.com/conservative/2009/01/06/a-time-for-war-and-a-time-for-peace/#comments
[...] THE BENIGHTED NATIONS– “Does Ban Ki-Moon Think It’s His Job to Help Destroy Israel?” …. [...]
Jan 10, 2009 - 4:25 pm 17. Steynian 306:[...] THE BENIGHTED NATIONS– “Does Ban Ki-Moon Think It’s His Job to Help Destroy Israel?” …. [...]
Jan 11, 2009 - 1:55 pm