Recently, it has become known in Israel that the United Nations has a video showing the kidnapping, including the faces of the Hizbullah operatives who carried it out. Israel has demanded a copy of the video, and the UN initially denied any such thing existed. In the last couple of days, though, they have offered Israel an edited version of the video, with the faces of the Hizbullah operatives deleted.
Ever since 1975, when the UN General Assembly passed its "Zionism equals racism" resolution, it has been blindingly obvious that the UN is nothing more than an organization meant to embody worldwide anti-Semitism. The UN itself barely bothers to conceal this truth from anyone who wants to see it. In assembly after assembly, in every UN forum that convenes, Israel is left alone, utterly abandoned by every country in the world as its name is repeatedly dragged through the dirt.
In fact, during and after the 1991 Gulf War, there were more resolutions passed against Israel than there were against Iraq. Throughout the 1990s, there were more resolutions passed against Israel than there were against Iraq and all the Balkan states combined. In fact, the only country that has consistently remained at Israel's side through this onslaught is Micronesia, one of the smallest and most inconsequential member states of the UN.
For years, Arab states have, with the encouragement of the United States, Canada, and other supposedly peace-loving countries, sought to insert UN forces between themselves and Israel. At first, this was generally considered a good idea. Canadian then-foreign minister Lester B. Pearson was awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize for conceiving the idea of UN peacekeeping forces, and correctly so.
But ever since the mid-1970s, UN forces have acted more as a protector of Arab terrorists and war mongers than as a guarantor of peace. The role of UNIFIL forces in PLO, Amal, and Hizbullah terrorist operations in Lebanon is so well documented that whole books have been published about it. For decades, UNIFIL, UNRWA, and other agencies have allowed terrorists to launch deadly attacks against Israel from UN camps. Of course, Israel is then vilified in the world media when they retaliate against these camps.
UNRWA has knowingly inflated the numbers of Arab refugees simply in an effort to win political and territorial concessions from Israel for non-existent refugees, many of whom own villas in other countries and live quite comfortably notwithstanding UNRWA financial aid.
Every time Arab political leaders desire some insurance against Israel, they demand - and usually receive - another UN force running around Israel. There are UN Disengagement Observer Forces that have been here since 1974, observing a disengagement that took place more than a quarter-century ago. There are UN police forces and UN Truce Supervisory Forces insuring equally irrelevant agreements that have long been assigned to history.
And most recently there is the Temporary International Presence in Hevron, established following the 1994 incident at Machpela Cave. This force nominally needs to be approved every six months by Israel in order for it to remain in place. But for all practical purposes, it will become another monument to the lack of Jewish sovereignty in our homeland.
All these forces have engaged in protecting terrorists who carry out outrages against Israel. None have actually prevented a single terrorist atrocity from being committed. Most recently, the cold-blooded murder of 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass was carried out in broad daylight, in full view of TIPH forces out for their afternoon stroll in the city.
Now, there is mounting evidence that UNIFIL was involved in the kidnapping of the three soldiers in October. After all, they first denied the existence of the video, and then offered Israel an edited version. This raises several serious questions that the UN will be unable to answer without condemning themselves.
First, who took the video in the first place? I am sure that Hizbullah had better things to do with their time than to hold a video camera and say "cheese". Since there is a tape, and since the UN has it, it would not be far-fetched to assume that UN forces actually took the video themselves. That would mean that instead of ensuring the sovereignty of the recognized international boundary, UN forces actively abetted a terrorist organization in infiltrating that border and launching an attack that resulted in the taking of hostages.
It is high time that the State of Israel recognize the United Nations for what they truly are: an arm of the global community intent on harming the Jewish State. UN forces should be summarily evicted from Israel. As active combatants against Israel, they pose a distinct danger to Israeli national interests and to the pursuit of peace in the Middle East.
Copyright 2001. Yehuda Poch is a writer living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
