Apparently, Trump was laughed at yesterday at the UN (though he claimed they were laughing with him, not at him). Cue the knee jerk reaction of embarrassment (as in, we are so embarrassed of Trump). Bolstering this embarrassment is the apparent lauding of the UN and the world leaders it houses (as in, Trump is making the US the laughing stock of the world in front of all these venerable leaders).
What we’re wondering, more than anything, is why anyone continues to venerate this institution? The stated mission of the UN is to maintain international peace and security. It has failed miserably. Since its inception there has been: the Korean War; the Vietnam War; Pol Pot’s genocide in Cambodia; numerous deadly US-Soviet proxy wars, such as the one in Angola; Mao’s Cultural Revolution; Yugoslav wars; Islamic terrorism; ongoing civil war in the Congo, claiming millions of lives; genocide in Darfur; genocide in Rwanda. This list goes on. The UN has not prevented a single of these, and in some cases, most notably Rwanda, fomented them. Is there any doubt that this organization is not fit for purpose?
Let’s take the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Again, what has the UN done? From the pro-Israel view it foments the conflict by bolstering anti-Israel activism and delegitimization of Israel. And while the Palestinians benefit from UN support in the form of UNRWA, even the pro-Palestinian side would have to admit that the UN has failed to even minimally reduce or limit Israel’s occupation.
So while Trump might be a laughing stock, when it comes to the UN, it’s the institution itself that’s the real laughing stock. Our theory: the esteemed world leaders are happy to laugh at Trump because they know that all of the focus on Trump means no one will be look at what’s going on in their regimes (chemical warfare in Syria; Brexit disaster; financial implosion in Iran; humanitarian and economic disaster in Venezuela. Again, the list goes on).
One thing the UN has long ceased to be is some kind of moral barometer. This video says it all.
VIDEO: I asked the UN Human Rights Council: “Why are you silent after a Palestinian terrorist stabbed to death American-Israeli citizen Ari Fuld? Why won’t you condemn the PA for incentivizing the murder of Jews by paying rewards to the families of terrorists?” pic.twitter.com/bEmMpYpHRI
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 18, 2018
So when it comes to the UN, who is the real laughing stock? Donald Trump? Or the organization that claims to protect human rights and international security and does neither?
