Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Russian intervention in Georgia, progress in the war on terror and the current world economic crisis were some of the issues discussed at the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly held in New York last month.
The deliberations at the meeting were colored by the ongoing conflicts in different parts of the world.
The address by the US President George W. Bush left no one in doubt about his country’s plummeting economic and political condition.
Nobody would fail to notice that the continuing occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, besides a chaotic economic system, has begun to take its toll on the US economy.
Iranian president underscored in his speech Tehran’s determination to go ahead with its nuclear programs.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the member countries, particularly the ones that possess nuclear technology, not to hesitate to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and thus make the world a safer place to live in. He also expressed deep concern at the reluctance of countries such as the US and Israel to sign the NPT. Some countries including Egypt made it clear that they would sign the treaty only if Israel was willing to dispose of all its nuclear warheads.
The United States and other Western powers, apparently, adopt double standards in the matter of nuclear tests. While they support Israel’s nuclear ambitions and want to make it the dominant power in the Middle East, they would not permit any Arab or Muslim country to acquire any amount of nuclear capability. Arab and Muslim countries are not ready to accept such double standards.
The Western double standards are clear in the matter of the South Ossetia too. They charge Russia with interfering in the internal affairs of Georgia by colonizing South Ossetia. At the same time, the West approves of the Israeli occupation and annexation of Palestinian territories.
The occupation of Palestine is a far more serious issue than the Russian intervention in Georgia. Nobody takes seriously the recent US statements that the Palestinian-Israeli dispute is going to be settled before the turn of the year.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said in his speech in the General Assembly that his country was negotiating with the Palestinians to arrive at a comprehensive peace settlement and that both the parties had agreed to establish a Palestinian homeland.
Contrary to his assurances, Israel is currently executing plans to annex more of the Palestinian territories and expand or construct new Jewish settlements and build expressways.
In order to avoid any loss of more Arab lands to Israel, the Arab bloc in the UN demanded that a special session of the Security Council be convened. As was only to be expected, the US and Britain strongly opposed this demand. They argued that the Arab complaint against Israel could be discussed in the next meeting of the Security Council.
It is high time that the world powers demanded that Israel stop its clandestine nuclear tests just as they demand Iran and North Korea to dismantle their nuclear facilities.
The situation also warrants a strong UN stand against colonization and stockpiling of weapons of mass destruction even if the offending party is a member of the Security Council. Then only people would listen to Ban Ki-moon’s call for global peace and the world would become free from wars.
