The UN Security Council’s Statement on the Qatar Strike
The United Nations Security Council today issued a consensus statement criticizing the recent strikes on Qatar, though the statement did not mention Israel specifically. The Security Council “underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.”
Participating in this statement was the Russian Federation. The moral and virtuous state of Russia is known always to respect the territorial integrity of other countries and never to violate their sovereignty. The Russian military seizure of Crimea in 2014 of course exemplifies Russia’s commitment to territorial integrity. As a spokesman for the Russian government, Aleksanderovichskivov Bogdanovichovovov noted: “Crimea has always belonged to Russia, so no violations of any other nation’s sovereignty took place. We simply enhanced the territorial integrity of Russia in this peaceful maneuver.”
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and continued strikes against Ukrainian civilian targets, though sometimes seen as violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territory, are likewise misunderstood. “There is no Ukraine,” said a representative of the Russian foreign ministry, “so there can be no issue of its territorial integrity.”
The United States also participated in the consensus statement. Now when Osama bin Laden was found in Abbottabad, Pakistan in 2011, US special forces raided the compound, killing bin Laden and several others. Pakistani government officials condemned the USA for violating Pakistani sovereignty. However, the USA justified its action on the grounds that bin Laden was an imminent danger and pointed to the doctrine that other countries can act when the host country is “unwilling or unable” to address a terrorist threat.
Of course that is very different from the Qatari government hosting Hamas. “We are ‘willing and able’ to address the threat Hamas poses,” said one Qatari official, “We just don’t feel like doing it now.”
United States officials also distinguished the Israeli strike on Qatar from their operation against bin Laden. “Bin Laden had been in hiding for over eight years and was pretty much dormant,” said a representative from the US State Department, “Whereas Hamas is actively holding hostages and fighting a war with Israel. That’s a major difference, and that’s why we participated in the statement.”
China, another security council member that signed on to the statement, is beyond reproach. There have been reports that China regularly violates Taiwan’s airspace and cuts underwater communication cables. The Philippines claim that China violates their sovereignty by repeated incursions into the South China Sea, some of which have involved collisions and hostilities. However, the Chinese government has dispelled these suspicions by stating, “This is all false news.” Therefore, we need not pay any attention to such calumnies, which obviously reflect prejudice and sinophobia.
Another reason to take seriously the Security Council statement is the UN’s long history of impartiality and of never expressing an anti-Israel bias.
We should therefore take heart that, going forward, the UN will defend the territorial integrity and sovereignty of any country in which Hamas freely operates, thereby continuing to further its mission of making the world a safer place. http://gty.im/2234545908 http://gty.im/2234545908
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Postscript. Clearly all the above is meant as satire. No one could take seriously the possibility that the USA, Russia and China would actually criticize the violations of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of other countries that host terrorists.
