Middle East Global Impact

Jon Barber

Does the United Nations consistently uphold its founding principles of fairness, truth, and equity when addressing events in the Middle East, particularly those involving Israel?

If the UN were a school, would it resemble a principled faculty and student body standing up to a disruptive pupil? Or would it look more like a coordinated effort to isolate, target and violently bully one student?

The UN’s Founding Vision

Established in 1945, the United Nations was built on a charter that promised:

•            Truth through transparency, cooperation, and factual reporting

•            Justice via peaceful conflict resolution and respect for international law

•            Equity by treating all nations equally and defending human rights without discrimination

This charter serves as a form of constitution for the institution, based on the principles of peace, dignity, and freedom for all.

UN Resolutions on Israel

Since the 1967 Six-Day War, the UN has repeatedly condemned Israel’s presence in the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem. The General Assembly and Human Rights Council have issued numerous resolutions criticizing Israeli settlement activity and military operations.

Despite frequent U.S. vetoes, the Security Council passed two landmark resolutions:

•            Resolution 242 (1967): Called for Israeli withdrawal from “occupied territories” and affirmed the right of all states to live in peace.

•            Resolution 338 (1973): Demanded a ceasefire during the Yom Kippur War and urged implementation of Resolution 242.

These resolutions remain central to the UN’s diplomatic framework regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Is the UN’s Approach Truthful?

To assess the UN’s fairness, we must examine the truth of historical and moral claims to the land of ancient Canaan by both modern-day Israel and the Palestinians.

The Jewish Historical Claim

According to Judeo-Christian scripture, the land of Canaan was eternally promised by God to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Genesis 12:3; 17:8) sometime between 2000 and 1800 BCE. Abraham’s offspring, the Israelites, after centuries of slavery in Egypt, conquered the land under Joshua (15th–13th centuries BCE). Jewish sovereignty was later consolidated under Kings David and Solomon (1010–931 BCE).

Despite exiles—Babylonian (586–516 BCE) and Roman (70 CE onward)—Jewish communities maintained a continuous presence in the land. Archaeological evidence, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, and historical accounts, including those of Josephus, affirm this enduring connection.

The Palestinian Narrative

Palestinians assert a deep-rooted cultural and familial bond to the land, expressed through traditions like olive farming and local heritage. Their identity is largely Muslim, with only a small Christian minority remaining. While the Qur’an does not explicitly mention Jerusalem (Al-Quds), some interpret indirect references to the Temple or Israel.

The term ‘Palestinian’ traces back to the Philistines (similar etymology) a people who vanished from history after Babylonian conquest in 604 BCE. The name ‘Palestine’ was revived by Roman Emperor Hadrian in 135 CE to erase Jewish ties to Judea following the Bar Kokhba Revolt. He renamed Jerusalem ‘Aelia Capitolina’, banned Jews from the city, banned Jewish practices such as circumcision, and erected a temple to Jupiter on the ruins of the Second Temple.

Throughout history, the land was ruled by various empires, but no distinct Palestinian nation-state ever emerged. Under the British Mandate (1923–1948), ‘Palestinian’ identity cards were issued to both Jews and non-Jews. Jews were therefore considered ‘Palestinians’. In the mid-20th century, Jewish agricultural and industrial development attracted workers from neighboring countries, sparking tensions and adding substantially to the indigenous non-Jewish population.

The Palestinian identity, established in the 1950s–70s, reflects a mix of indigenous non-Jews and immigrants. It was politically mobilized by Yasser Arafat and others, often through terrorism aimed at entirely displacing Jews – genocide.

The Jewish people demonstrate a clear, ancient, and continuous connection to the land of Canaan. Their claim is rooted in scripture, history, nation state and archaeology. The Palestinian claim, while emotionally resonant, lacks the same depth of historical, legal, scriptural, archaeological and moral substantiation.

If the UN’s mission is to uphold truth, then its decades-long promotion of the Palestinian narrative, often at the expense of Jewish historical legitimacy, raises serious questions about its impartiality.

Is the UN’s Approach Just?

The Palestinian narrative asserts that the Zionist movement, culminating in the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, was fundamentally rooted in the displacement of the indigenous Arab population. From this perspective, Israel’s creation was not merely a geopolitical milestone but a deliberate act of ethnic cleansing. The Nakba (‘catastrophe’) is said to have involved the forced expulsion or flight of over 700,000 Palestinians, the destruction of villages, and policies designed to prevent refugee return, a perceived injustice that continues to shape Palestinian identity and grievance.

Israel’s establishment was sanctioned by the United Nations Partition Plan of 1947. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan, despite receiving a smaller portion of land than was envisioned in earlier promises like the Balfour Declaration. In contrast, Arab leaders rejected the partition and launched a military campaign against the nascent Jewish state. Over the following decades, they rejected a dozen formal offers of sovereign territory, suggesting not a pursuit of coexistence, but a desire for exclusive control and often the elimination of Jewish presence altogether. This sentiment has been echoed in public calls for Jewish genocide by various actors.

Upon declaring independence in 1948, Israel was invaded by five large and established Arab armies. Historical records show that many local Arab leaders at this time encouraged their populations to temporarily evacuate to other lands, anticipating a swift military victory that would eradicate the Jewish state. Against overwhelming odds, Israel survived. Meanwhile, 850,000 Jews were forcefully expelled or fled from Arab countries, losing homes, businesses, and centuries-old communities. Unlike Palestinian refugees, these Jewish refugees received no international compensation or sustained support.

Israel has since faced repeated attacks from neighboring states and terrorist organizations. While the UN frequently accuses Israel of aggression, the historical record indicates that Israel has consistently acted in self-defense, never initiating war. In some cases, defensive wars resulted in territorial gains, such as the Golan Heights. Under international law land won in such defensive wars may be retained by a state that was the victim of aggression. Thus, claims of ‘illegal occupation’ are viewed by many as legally and morally flawed.

Is the UN’s Approach Equitable?

From 2015 to 2023, the UN General Assembly passed approximately 141 resolutions against Israel, accounting for 67.5% of all country-specific resolutions, more than double the number targeting the other 194 nations combined. This is staggering, considering Israel comprises just 0.12% of the global population.

Israel is the only true democracy in the Middle East, and the only country in the region where Christians, Jews, and Muslims can all worship freely. Meanwhile, the remaining 99.88% of the world’s population, including numerous barbaric dictatorships and authoritarian regimes, receives less than one-third of the UN’s rebuke. Statistically, Israel is condemned over 560 times more than its population share would suggest.

Despite recent accusations of genocide by some UN member states, Israel’s military has been praised by Western commanders, including Colonel Richard Kemp (UK) and Generals Flynn, Mattis, and Petraeus (USA), for its exceptional ethical standards, including efforts to minimize civilian casualties through precision strikes and advance warnings.

How can such radically conflicting assessments coexist? The answer may lie in the grossly disproportionate and politicized condemnation of Israel as a rogue state within the UN system. The extreme over-reach of the condemnation puts into question it’s veracity. Could it be, rather, that Israel is doing the minimum necessary to defend itself against a determined, multi-front, openly genocidal enemy, including Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, and others, while being vilified by the UN for surviving?

Conclusion

The United Nations has failed to demonstrate that its case against Israel is truthful, just, or equitable. Its approach appears to lack foundation, due process, and impartiality. This may stem from the fact that most UN member states are not democracies, lacking traditions of judicial fairness or human rights protections. Yet even democratic nations often align with the UN’s skewed narrative, perhaps because repetition breeds belief, or because political expediency overrides principle.

Israel today resembles a student in a school relentlessly bullied by peers, teachers, and administrators, yet not only surviving, but thriving. The question remains: will truth, justice, and equity ever regain their rightful place in the global discourse and the chambers of the United Nations? If not, then we must conclude that the UN has no future as an arbiter of events in the Middle East, and a fair alternative must be sought out.

References

United Nations Charter & Resolutions

•            UN Charter (1945) – Founding principles of truth, justice, and equity

https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/full-text

•            UN Resolution 242 (1967) – Post-Six-Day War framework

•            UN Resolution 338 (1973) – Ceasefire and reaffirmation of 242

Jewish Historical Connection

•            The Bible (Genesis 12:3; 17:8) – Divine promise of land to Abraham

•            Josephus, Flavius – The Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews

Penguin Classics edition or Loeb Classical Library

•            Archaeology and the Dead Sea Scrolls

Schiffman, Lawrence H. – Reclaiming the Dead Sea Scrolls

VanderKam, James C. – The Dead Sea Scrolls Today

Palestinian Identity & Historical Context

•            Hadrian’s renaming of Judea to “Palestina”

Goodman, Martin – Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations

•            British Mandate identity cards

https://www.britannica.com/place/Palestine/British-rule

•            Origins of modern Palestinian nationalism

Khalidi, Rashid – Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness

Rubin, Barry – The Arab States and the Palestine Conflict

Islamic References to Jerusalem

•            Qur’anic references and interpretations

Le Strange, Guy – Palestine Under the Moslems

UN Partition Plan & Arab Rejection

•            UN Partition Plan (Resolution 181, 1947)

Wikipedia: UN Partition Plan for Palestine

Britannica: UN Resolution 181

NYT Archive: UN Partitions Palestine

•            Arab Rejection of Partition Plan

Arab Committee Rejects UN Partition Plan – CIE

JCPA: Rejection of UN Partition Plan

Nakba & Palestinian Refugee Displacement

•            Nakba and 1948 Palestinian Exodus

Wikipedia: 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight

UN News: UN marks 75 years since Nakba

Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries

•            Jewish Exodus from Muslim Lands

Wikipedia: Jewish exodus from the Muslim world

Israel Hayom: UN report on Jewish refugee losses

Algemeiner: Forgotten Jewish Refugees of 1948

Defensive Wars & Territorial Legitimacy

•            Israel’s Defensive Wars and Territorial Claims

Times of Israel Blog: Legitimacy of Israel’s claims

BESA Center: Strategic value of occupied territory

UN Resolutions Against Israel

•            Resolution Statistics (2015–2023)

Wikipedia: UN Resolutions Concerning Israel

Jewish Link: UN condemned Israel more than all other countries

Times of Israel: UN bias in resolutions

Praise for IDF Ethics

•            Colonel Richard Kemp on IDF Conduct

Times of Israel Interview with Col. Kemp

Col. Richard Kemp: Morality of IDF Maneuvers