The Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution aiming to ameliorate the plight of civilians in Gaza, as the United States vetoed the measure despite affirmative votes by the other 14 members of the 15-nation organ.
“There are moments when silence is more eloquent than language,” observed Algeria’s representative — “today is one of those”. However, he added: “But silence cannot defend the dead; it cannot hold the hand of the dying; it cannot confront the machinery of injustice.” Therefore “we must speak — loudly”, he proclaimed — not to state a position, “but for the sake of memory, of morality and of the human spirit”. Today’s resolution — even in its obstruction — is a mirror that “reflects the agony of multilateralism” and “reveals why the Israeli occupier continues its crimes”, he said.
Today, the Council’s elected members stood with clarity, conviction and courage — “they are the proud bearer of moral legitimacy, they are the true compass of the world’s conscience”, he stressed. He underscored that the Council should have acted to impose a ceasefire in Gaza — “for the killing of Palestinian children to not become a mere pastime”; “for starvation not to be legitimized as a weapon”; and “for future generations to not grow up scorning international law”. Stressing that today’s vote “is not a conclusion”, he quoted a recent statement by his country’s President: “Algeria will not abandon Palestine.”
That statement immediately followed the Council’s failure to adopt today’s resolution. That draft text, introduced by the representative of Slovenia on behalf of the 10 elected members of the Council, would have demanded a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the lifting of all restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. However, it was defeated by a vote of 14 in favour to 1 against (United States), with no abstentions. (As a permanent Council member cast a negative vote, the text was not adopted.) Läs pressmeddelande