On 29 November, the United Nations will observe the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People for the 25th straight year.
Analysis: The Palestinian people have suffered for many decades. To demean their situation is heartless, but to single out their cause for unequalled international attention is not justified.
No other people has a UN International Day of Solidarity.
The 29th of November marks the day in 1947 that the UN passed its partition plan for Mandatory Palestine, endorsing the creation of two states, one Jewish and one Arab. While the resolution received support from the local Jewish population, the Arab states rejected the compromise. Following Israel’s declaration of independence, the surrounding Arab countries attacked the newly established Jewish state. These states then perpetuated the situation of the Palestinians as part of their rejectionist strategy towards Israel.
In 1977, the Arab states took advantage of their parliamentary strength in the UN General Assembly to push through a resolution to establish 29 November as an International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians. As a result, the UN offices in New York, Geneva, Vienna, and Nairobi are placed at the disposal of speakers from the League of Arab States, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and to two unique UN committees, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices in the Occupied Territories. If history is any guide, Israel will be accused of the most heinous of crimes: genocide, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and this year, terrorism will certainly be added to the list.
The Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians promotes hatred, not peace. It all happens under United Nations auspices and is paid for by the United Nations.