The United Nations in Search of Freedom and Justice

“Either you are with us or against us”, declared President Bush, a typically Darwinian orchestrated statement on “terrorism”, to bully the helpless and destitute people and nations of the world. The United Nations is a myth living in a perceived reality of New York’s high rise towers, overseeing the island’s fixed Liberty statue – a symbol of ideological freedom, justice and peace – abstract words often echoed by some of the market-place Western intellectuals, but the reality construed in words is just composed of dry ink affixed on paper.

The idea of the UN evolution should have facilitated freedom, peace and justice to all of the human beings living on this planet, contrary to what was violated and abused during the tragic events of the 2nd World War. Those obsessed with material power played with words, power clichés and kicked around the functional aims of the League of Nations. The mankind was subjugated to untold crimes and sufferings because of the few who wanted to run the world. Is the world different and safer today? Recently, Archie Augustine (“The Relevance of the United Nations” Sept. 2002), noted in his commentary on President Bush wanting to repeat the history: “we dictate, we rule.”

It seems that President Bush son of Bush, forgot the recorded course of Western history with two World Wars, simply represent continuing ignorance and wickedness. The UN is just a name, an ideal construct being manipulated by the active powers when and if it fits in their scheme of things. There is no rule of law or criterion for justice to reasonably justify the hegemonic superpowers role, what they believe in or what the UN must do in complex global affairs of varied national interests and concerns of the majority of the humanity. States, legitimate or illegitimate, have memberships at the UN not the humanity é the real victim of wars and injustice. Recently, Mark Bruzonsky noted in his scholarly address at the Chicago Model United Nations Keynote address, Jan. 2002:

For today’s U.N has not lived up to either the dream or the promise of its founders. Most of all it has not fulfilled its primary responsibility to achieve the kind of independence, credibility, and assertiveness on behalf of all the people on Planet Earth.

Global circumstances have changed, and issues have multiplied but the UN and its politically indoctrinated role remains the same. It is very much a window dressing of gunpowder politics and ancient diplomacy at work. Few self acclaimed powerful and Permanent Members of the Security Council cannot imagine to view themselves as burden on human conscience and irrelevant to the needs of the majority of the humanity that has no logical representation at the UN. Most Council members are conflict-oriented, not solution oriented, as the industry of conflict-making and conflict-keeping is linked to their economic and political lifeline. They will continue to exploit the humanity and mismanage the UNO functional ideals and priorities. A new humanity-based representative global organization is needed to balance the existing imbalance.

At the UN functional Headquarters and its major organs, indicate overwhelming influence and domination of the nations who possess power and means of exploitation é be it a myth or a perceived reality. The United Nations has lost its vulnerability and relevance, once it succumbed to being a tool of the Western power politics and management control. If the UN shadowy umbrella is removed, nations claiming to be powerful will fear being powerless outside the Security Council without a veto power. At its inception in 1945, the prevalent concept of power is no more than today’s myth é an obsolete notion with lost meanings and missing sense of global peace and security. It is a sustainable joke that Five Permanent Members with the power of veto should determine the fate of the nations of the world. The United Sates and Britain want to attack Iraq’s President Saddam Hussein and they desperately need the mask of the United Nations to kill an irrelevant and already dead figurehead in the Middle East politics. The prospective attack could annihilate thousands and perhaps millions of Iraqi civilians in seconds and minutes depending upon the nature of weapons to be used against them. Why Saddam Hussein was not ousted during the American led 1991 Gulf War? Because Saddam Hussein was much needed to further institutionalize the Middle East conflict and divert attention from the Israelis crimes against the Palestinian people. American strategic policy aims wanted a new top listing in the Middle East, providing cover up to the Zionist short and long terms military conquest goals. The UN was a silent spectator throughout the planned displacement, torture and killings of Palestinian civilians by Israeli armed forces and world-renowned terrorist, Ariel Sharon, the PM of Israel. Did the UN send its troops to safeguard the innocent victims of Israeli killing machines? Did the UN dispatch its agreed upon Facts Finding Observers to Janine to determine the extent of Israelis genocide there? Recently, Charles E. Carlson (“Inside the Gaza Strip”) offered a candid observation:

“The war in Ramallah is not against Arafat or against Palestinian; it is against all of Islam. It is designed to increase violent action, not to stop violence. It is conducted by the combined power of the Zionists and secular money powers that controls the U.S. Government. So again, you will ask why?”

Under the disguise of “terrorism” and the American on-going war in Afghanistan against Talaban regime, in Noam Chomsky’s expression is “real terrorism” against the people of the world. The question of control of oil and wealth are the core issues, not the Talaban or Osma Bin Laden. Who is responsible for waging prolonged wars against the poor and exploited people of the earth? Surely, you should like to listen to a scholar of the credibility of Mark Bruzonsky:

And there are real reasons, real grievances, real and profound struggles, which lie behind 911. For we are not in a new war at all. Rather we are in a new phase of an ongoing war in which millions of people in far away countries have already been killed, in many cases by policies and forces and allies of our own country.

The important question is, why the United Nations Organization or its Security Council did not intervene to stop the Israeli killings of the innocent civilians in Palestine? How come there is no body in the global conscience to challenge the Zionist atrocities? Do the Arab leaders have Living Armies and Generals to stand for Islam, if nothing else?

Where were the superpowers, the noble Preamble of the UNO, the Security Council and others when Indian armed gangsters were raping the women and killing the civilians in Srinagar, Kashmir? European nationalism instigated the two World Wars, but the Third World War would unfold unthinkable consequences to prove that all human beings are “wicked and ignorant.” In a glance, the UN was the by-product of the power politics and the imposed tragedies leading to the 2nd World War. It was formulated to free the humanity from the evils of European nationalism, aggressive policies and warmongering. Its Charter and major components were suppose to provide human protection and security to all the member states. The League of Nations failed because it was squeezed to become a debating club lacking any power and effective role in global crisis management. Japan occupied Manchuria; the League did nothing for China except the paper work. Hitler moved forces to Eastern and Western Europe and occupied several nations whereas the League remained an observer without taking any prompt action against the aggressor.

There are important and corresponding similarities between the two recent cases where the UN is involved. Zionists with British and American political support, displaced the Palestinian population and encouraged Jewish emigration to Palestine before and after the Second World War, and militarily helped the Zionists to occupy Palestine. The UN passed paper resolutions but took no practical actions against the forced displacement of Palestinians. Under a false pretext of accession, India rushed its armed forces and occupied Kashmir on gunpoint, and promised to hold plebiscite under the UN, but several paper resolutions could not bring the Indian government to honor its international commitment. The UN had no power of its own to persuade India for its global obligation. Analyzing the contemporary issues and futuristic challenges, the UN role in peace and security problems and its broad based achievements are negligible. On the issues of organizational role in peace and security, the UN is tragically impotent to change its own orientation and priorities for an effective futuristic role-play. The deprived humanity must not be left to a choice of stoning the UNO for its one-sided role and hopeless performance. An international organization is expected to have its own culture of powerful thinking and sustainable actions to extend hope and sense of security to those being exploited and besieged by the extreme Western protagonist of global domination. Mark Bruzonsky noted an important point on behalf of the concerned humanity:

We need to focus on resuscitating a United Nations which itself is in difficult predicament desperately needing to find a way to be independent and potent. Though it is an organization of member states it is urgently important to become a far more democratic forum, and thus a far more respected forum, representing the peoples of our world, not just their often corrupt and self-serving, repressive and deceptive governments.

The UN, if at all it should continue to function, its legal authority, global responsibilities for human survival and progress, and organizational effectiveness must be tested by impartial observers to determine whether it can cope with the contemporary issues of international peace and security. More importantly, if the UN can restore its lost image and failing performance in dealing with the problems of Palestine and Kashmir. Here it must be swift and take powerful action against Israel and India, not just the paper resolutions.

More recently, the United Nations faces another formidable challenge to undo its own resolutions and legal commitments on Palestine. The US Congress has recommended a resolution to President Bush, making ways for the transfer of American Embassy compound in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The American Congress thinks, it is the most powerful institution in the world aligned with Ariel Sharon to dictate the leaderless and divided Arab world. They seemed to have missed the truth that God is most powerful, and God has His own ways and means to bring change and honor to those who believe in Him and stand for Islam. There is no declared war between Muslims and America. Islamic civilization has lot in common with the West as it has contributed to their Renaissance and industrial development, and Muslims long for peace with American people and other civilized nations of the globe. But in reality, violence cannot stop violence just like fire cannot extinguish fire. American government is pursuing violent policy behavior against Islam and Muslims just to appease the Zionists and facilitate to Sharon a more long lasting political powerhouse. Several Security Resolutions clearly stipulate any Israeli move would be in violation of the International Law to change the status quo of Jerusalem presently under the Israeli occupation. The Security Council Resolution 476 of 1980 clearly states:

“All legislative and administrative measures taken by Israel; the occupying power, which purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem constitute a flagrant violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

American and Israelis have planned such a move for years while the UN and Arab governments remained silent spectators. Would the UN act to stop such an absurd movement contrary to its own commitment? Through planned networking, Israelis have glued the American political elite to its political ambitions and military conquests of the Middle East. Would the American intellectuals and policy makers ever be free to think rationally on their own about themselves and the world around them? There will be swift global concern if the days of the UN lifeline are numbered.

Some Western military strategists are busy in planning new psychological and strategic scheme of things with the active blessings of the US, to create new tensions, new problems, while diverting focus from the atrocities of Israelis and the extremism of Hindu India. They foresee and need different battlefronts – a series of newly manufactured conflicts so that the humanity could be framed to believe on the daring contentions of America and Britain. Under this scenario, urgent warnings are being issued by the President Bush and his all seasons readily available subservient British Prime Minister Tony Blair, to the Middle Eastern leaders, the UN Secretary General, and to the Iraqi dictator who use to be a close friend of the US. There are new strategies at work to ensure continued domination of the dull and ignorant so called Muslim leaders and particularly, the oil producing Arab leaders. Most Arab states have no public institutions and accountability system to realize and understand the vital implications of changing global political and strategic realities and their immediate impacts on the ground.

The survival of the deprived humanity, the United Nations, international peace and harmony are everybody’s concern and priorities. Throughout the world, the educated and responsible intellectuals must address the question of how to CHANGE the UN? Or preferably, how to construct a New World Organization responsible to the humanity, and not to the states? How could the UN be freed from the clutches of the so-called superpowers? How voices of reason and honesty be heard at the forums of the international organization? Is the UN Charter, the Council, the General Assembly and other major components are relevant and useful to preserve the human dignity and freedom, world peace and security?

People and nations could deal with the principles of peace and freedom and delivery of justice, only if they have the freedom and means to deliver peace and justice to the deprived humanity. In an age of conflict making and conflict-keeping, the relevance and effective role of the UN is very much questionable. The UN and its Security Council are terribly non – representative and irrelevant to the 21st century world of political and human realities. Those claiming to be superpowers are indeed powerless entities obsessed with fear of the future. A NEW United Nations must be built to ensure human freedom, survival and security. The UN as is, it seems that it is in desperate need of change, to define its own freedom and justice, its Preamble’s ideals, and the real world priorities in order to safeguard the humanity from the scourge of another unwanted global war. How could a United Nations Organization without having its own freedom and justice, be able to offer security and sense of freedom to its clients? Freedom and Justice delayed, are freedom and justice denied.

The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong

Muslims and the West by Mahboob A. Khawaja

The Failure of Political Islam by Olivier Roy, Carol Volk (Translator)

Terrorism and U.S. Foreign Policy by Paul R. Pillar, Michael H. Armacost

Colonizer and the Colonized by Albert Memmi, Susan G. Miller (Designer), Jean-Paul Sartre (Designer)

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