Yesterday, the United Nations opened its 80th General Assembly session. But in the last years, Gaza exposed an institution that looks less like humanity’s hope and more like the League of Nations in its final days: paralysed, complicit, irrelevant. On its current trajectory, the UN may not live to see its 81st birthday, and worse, the Israeli genocide will not be stopped. Its survival now rests on whether the Secretary-General steps up and leads with courage.
👉Join us on September 18th online to push the UN to send a protection force to Gaza 👈
The United Nations is complicit & paralysed
It is no mystery: the UN is failing to fulfil its mission of protecting peace and security. Israel has murdered over 63,888 Palestinians in Gaza and created a famine that is already impacting over 514,000 people. Beyond this, the UN is broken from the inside. Events unfolding this September alone show the depth of the problem.
https://youtube.com/shorts/gyTapN1Vji8?si=7yxCAR4wiVAkrMJb
A genocide-enabler, Germany’s Annalena Baerbock, presides over the General Assembly’s 80th session, which began yesterday and lasts one year. As foreign minister from 2021 to 2025, she repeatedly defended Israel’s war crimes as self-defence, rejected ceasefires, and oversaw her country’s supply of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Israel, making Germany its second-largest arms provider. This was a direct violation of the UN’s own conventions against complicity in genocide.
Just a few days back, the Trump administration denied and revoked visas to Palestinian representatives who planned to attend the Assembly, violating the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement between the United Nations and the United States.
Besides those telling signs, and amidst the soon-to-unfold parade of heads of states flying to New York to deliver two-minutes speeches and pose for photo ops, it seems that once more at this coming UN General Assembly no plan of action will be tabled to stop the genocide. Some countries speak of the belated recognition of Palestine, while others prepare endless debates about the so-called two-state solution: while the future of Palestine is a fundamental topic, it is often an excuse for countries to hide behind rhetoric while failing to take meaningful action to stop Israel’s genocide. Meanwhile, the leadership to prevent the famine from reaching641,000 people by the end of September is still missing.
Despite the appalling status quo, past failures must not stop the United Nations from doing better hereafter. This General Assembly, we must witness more than words without consequences, and it must start with the Secretary-General himself.
The UN has the power to stop Israel’s genocide: send a protection force to Gaza
🎥 Watch this video recap of what the UN can do 🎥
While it is true that the United States has systematically vetoed any meaningful resolution at the United Nations, this cannot be an excuse: countries and the United Nations Secretary General too conveniently forget that they have the power to act.
The UN Chief - António Guterres - carries enormous influence thanks to his office, but often fails to leverage it. He failed to call out the Chinese Communist regime for its treatment of the Uyghurs, among many other embarrassing silences. Now, he can break the cycle. Guterres must name and shame every country complicit with Israel’s genocide - starting with the most powerful one, the United States - demanding explanations in front of the General Assembly and creating a strong political cost for those willing to support the worse of crimes. He must create a coalition of countries willing to act, protecting the International Courts investigating those grave crimes and their staff from unwarranted attacks, and coordinating responses. Bottom line, Guterres must now choose courage.
Frankly, he should do even more, joining a freedom flotilla or an aid boat, or simply flying to Gaza, and literally put his body on the line to stop the genocide. Of course, Israel has not been shy to murder civilians, humanitarian workers, UN staff and journalists, but murdering a sitting Secretary General would surely be much harder to do. Leadership can emerge in the most challenging situation, and the world has a clear shortage of it. Empty statements alone cannot stop a genocide.
Obviously, the responsibility does not lie only on his shoulders. Each and every country has the chance to step up and stop hiding behind the US’ vetoes. Under the “Uniting for Peace” resolution, whenever the Security Council is blocked from taking action to uphold international peace and security because its five permanent members cannot agree, the General Assembly has the authority to step in. In such cases, it must take up the issue without delay and can recommend collective steps to UN member states - including, if necessary, the use of armed force. As United Nations experts Albanese and Fakhri, and former human rights lawyer Mokhiber, the General assembly, argued, the Assembly, at Palestine’s request, should mandate a protection force to protect civilians and aid relief. Member states must also impose sanctions, embargoes, and mechanisms for justice. The Secretary-General could and should rally support to make this happen.
It’s time for the Secretary General to lead with courage
Gaza is sadly one of the few major crises plaguing the world: from Ukraine to Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the loss of innocent lives throws a long shadow on humanity’s hope for peace. The lesson is clear: the UN’s greatest weakness today is not only its outdated structure, but the lack of courage in those entrusted with leading it. On the eve of the UN’s 80th birthday, the Secretary General must abandon the safety of backroom diplomacy. History will not remember his carefully balanced statements. It will remember whether he stood with humanity in its darkest hours.
The time for caution has passed. The UN can still be saved, but only if its leaders, starting with the Secretary General, finally choose courage. Let’s push them to do so: on September 18th, join us for an event online on the need to send a multinational protection force for Gaza! Register here 🔛 https://www.atlasmovement.org/townhall_protectionforcegaza.