The Role of United Nations - Shanzy Khan

The United Nations has been nearly side-lined on the question of Palestine. When they have issued numerous resolutions, such as UN Resolution 242 the so-called "land for peace" resolution requiring Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 borders and return all nab land in back for peace with its Arab neighbors, the US has vetoed any such effective actions by the UN. More over, the 1948 UN Resolution 181 allowed for both Jews and Arabs to live in Israel, which goes counter to claims of some groups that Israel should not exist. Ergo, the Palestinian people as well as Israelis do not see much hope in the UN helping. Recently, Kofi Annan has been involved in talks, but only when the US has permission. At the starting of the present intifada, at the end of 2000 there was a UN resolution to look into the violence. This payoff in US ambassador, Richard Holbrooke describing the resolution as biased and that the Security Council ended its usefulness. Yeah, because it hammer Israel then the US did not like that. Because it did not keep up the Israeli positions, it ended its "usefulness" to the US interests. But that was in the surrounding of there being a unanimous vote at the UN to condemn the Israeli actions with the US abstaining. Later the 1967 war, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which notes the "inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force," and calls for Israeli withdrawal from lands snatch in the war and the right of all states in the area to peaceful existence within secure and recognized boundaries. The syntactic construction of the French version of Resolution 242 says Israel should withdraw from "the territories," whereas the English version of the text calls for withdrawal from "territories." (Including English and French are official languages of the UN.) Israel and the United States use the English version to argue that Israeli withdrawal from some, but not all, the state occupied in the 1967 war satisfies the requirements of this resolution.

For some years the Palestinians rejected Resolution 242 because it does not acknowledge their right to national self-determination or to return to their homeland. It calls just for a just settlement of the refugee problem. By vocation or remembrance of every state in the area, Resolution 242 entailed unilateral Palestinian recognition of Israel without recognition of Palestinian national rights. The most important task of the United Nations is to preserve international peace and security.  The Organization may interrogate any dispute or situation to determine whether it is likely to endanger international peace and security. At some period of the dispute, the council may recommend appropriate procedures or methods of adjustment, and, if the parties fail to settle the dispute by peaceful means, the council may recommend terms of settlement. The aim of grouping security, whereby aggression against one member is met with resistance by all, underlies chapter 7 of the Charter, which grants the Security Council the power to ornament coercive measures—ranging from diplomatic, economic, and military sanctions to the use of armed force—in cases where attempts at a peaceful settlement have failed. Such approximate were seldom applied during the Cold War, however, because tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union prevented the Security Council from agreeing on the instigators of aggression. By choice, actions to maintain peace and security often took the form of preventive diplomacy and peacekeeping. In the post-Cold War period, appeals to the UN for peacekeeping and related activities increased dramatically, and new threats to international peace and security were confronted, including AIDS and international terrorism. The UN has made useful contributions in maintaining international peace and security, promoting cooperation among states and international development. Nowadays,  people of the world still face the two major issues of peace and development. The United Nations can sport a pivotal and positive role in this regard. Power the part of United Nations in the new century and promoting the establishment of a just and reasonable international political and economic order goes along with the top of history & is in the attention of all nations. In order to power the role of the United Nations, efforts should be made to uphold the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The control of the Security Council in maintaining international peace and security must be preserved and role of the United Nations in development area should be strengthened. To the part of United Nations, it is essential to ensure to all Member States of the United Nations the right to equal participation in international affairs & the valid & attention of the developing countries should be safeguarded.