{"id":281139,"date":"2024-11-25T12:00:20","date_gmt":"2024-11-25T12:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=281139"},"modified":"2024-11-23T08:32:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T08:32:24","slug":"in-14-1-un-security-council-vote-lone-us-veto-kills-gaza-cease-fire-resolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/11\/in-14-1-un-security-council-vote-lone-us-veto-kills-gaza-cease-fire-resolution\/","title":{"rendered":"In 14-1 UN Security Council Vote, Lone US Veto Kills Gaza Cease-Fire Resolution"},"content":{"rendered":"
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U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood raises his hands to veto a draft resolution during a UNSC meeting at the U.N. in New York City on 20 Nov 2024.\u00a0 (Photo: Michael M. Santiago\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

The U.S. government, said one human rights lawyer, “proves once again to the world that it is fully committed to the continuation of the genocide in Palestine.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

20 Nov 2024 <\/em>– The Biden administration faced fierce criticism tiday after using its veto power at the United Nations Security Council to block a resolution<\/a> demanding an immediate, unconditional, and permanent cease-fire in Israel’s assault on the Gaza<\/a> Strip.<\/p>\n

The vetoed measure also called for all parties to implement a U.N. Security Council (UNSC) resolution<\/a> passed in June\u2014which would lead to the release of all hostages\u2014and to enable Gaza civilians’ immediate access to basic services and humanitarian assistance.<\/p>\n

Jess Peake, who directs the International and Comparative Law Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, condemned<\/a> the U.S. decision as “absolutely unforgivable” while Nina Turner<\/a>, a senior fellow at the Institute on Race, Power, and Political Economy, declared<\/a> that “this is absurd.”<\/p>\n

Mai El-Sadany, executive director of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy in Washington, D.C., called it<\/a> “yet another shameful abuse of the UNSC veto by the U.S. to perpetuate a war that violates U.S. law and U.S. international legal commitments.”<\/p>\n

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“Today’s message is clear to the Israeli occupying power\u2014you may continue your genocide… with complete impunity.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Human rights attorney Craig Mokhiber, who last year resigned<\/a> as the New York director for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights over the United Nations’ response to Gaza, said<\/a> Wednesday that “the U.S. has just vetoed another cease-fire resolution in the U.N. Security Council, and, in doing so, proves once again to the world that it is fully committed to the continuation of the genocide in Palestine<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Mokhiber also called for action at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where there is no U.S. veto power.<\/p>\n

“Even as we seek accountability for Israeli perpetrators, we must also seek accountability for complicit U.S. actors,” he said. “Israeli\/U.S. impunity threatens the entire world. And the U.N. must now move to take concrete action in the UNGA.”<\/p>\n

The 14-1 vote at the UNSC marked the fourth time the United States has blocked a Gaza resolution since Israel<\/a> began its retaliation for the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack. All five permanent members of the Security Council\u2014the U.S., the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China\u2014have veto power. The other seats are filled on a rotating basis and lack that authority.<\/p>\n

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