A UN Security Council draft resolution that sought to condemn the latest Israeli military offensive in the occupied Gaza Strip and demand Israeli soldiers pull out the territory was vetoed by the United States on Saturday. The draft received 10 votes in favor, the US vote against, and four abstentions. Britain, Denmark, Japan, and Slovakia all abstained.

US Ambassador John Bolton said the resolution was “biased against Israel and politically motivated.” He continued to tell the Security Council that the resolution “does not display an evenhanded characterization of the recent events in Gaza, nor does it advance the cause of Israeli-Palestinian peace to which we aspire and for which we are working assiduously.”

Mr. Bolton obviously does not think that keeping innocent civilians from being killed would advance peace in the region. In reality, the US hinders the peace process by enabling Israel to be above the law, and supplies them with the weapons they need to commit such atrocities.

This was the second US Security Council veto this year concerning Israeli operations in Gaza. The first concerned Israel’s disproportionate military offensive against the Palestinian people over the capture of a single Israeli soldier. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the latest resolution was “very one-sided.” Then again, the oppression and death was also very one-sided. “It’s good that it wasn’t accepted by the Security Council,” Regev said.

Palestinian UN observer Riyad Mansour said he was disappointed with the failure of the UN to pass the resolution. “You have conveyed today two wrong messages,” he told the Security Council. “For Israel, you have conveyed to them they can continue to behave above international law. For the Palestinian people, you have conveyed that justice is not being dealt with in a proper way.” Nassir Al-Nasser, Qatar’s UN ambassador, said; “Any lukewarm reaction or response on our part gives the impression we are shirking from our humanitarian responsibilities.” Earlier this week, Palestinians called out for the UN to do something when 18 Palestinians were killed in their sleep. The international community has failed them yet again.

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