If I were Kofi Annan, I would resign

Abdillah Toha, Executive Director Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Studies (IN-SEP), Jakarta

If I were the UN Secretary General, I would submit my letter of resignation to the UN Security Council immediately. This I would do after I finally decided recently to disband the UN Fact Finding Mission, which was to investigate the alleged massacre and gross human rights violations in the Jenin refugee camp by the Israeli occupying force. The Israeli government has decided to block the mission and has refused to give cooperation to the team by the nearly unanimous decision of its cabinet.

I would tell the Security Council that this was perhaps the peak Israeli defiance to the UN resolution on Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the one hand, and clear evidence of impotency on the part of the United Nations to enforce its decision when it comes to Israel. I would also say that, as Secretary General I felt humiliated by the decision of a small country of several million people, who dared to challenge the world organization representing billions of people.

I would refresh the memory of the members of the Security Council that out of more than 80 resolutions on Israel since 1948, only two or three resolutions have been accepted by Israel. The others were disregarded as the rest of the world watched helplessly. If one adds the number of resolutions vetoed by America, then the total resolutions would be far above 100. These resolutions would have broadened the record by affirming the right of Palestinian self-determination, by calling on Israel to abandon its repressive measures against the Palestinian intifada, by sending UN Observers into the occupied territories to monitor Israel's behavior and, most serious, by imposing sanctions against Israel if it did not abide by the Council's resolutions.

Such a list of resolutions passed and resolutions vetoed is unparalleled in UN history. The list in itself forms a stunning indictment of Israel's unlawful actions over a period of 54 years and of America's complicity in them. Israel is the only country in the world today, which occupied foreign land. When it comes to resolutions affecting other countries, the UN has been very efficient and strict in its enforcement. Iraq is just one example where the prolonged embargo and sanctions have continued to date, never mind the suffering of its innocent children and the sick. East Timor is another example where the UN has acted efficiently and swiftly to "protect" the interests of East Timorese.

I would also state that, judging from past history, I do not believe the Security Council would be capable of supporting its Secretary General to implement its decision on Israel. Resolution 1402 for a complete and immediate withdrawal from the occupied territories was defied openly, and now a new resolution on the Fact Finding Mission was blocked after the team was already on its way to Jenin, despite Israeli's initial promise to cooperate.

Israel was not happy with the composition of the team arranged by the Secretary General and considered the team unqualified. Israel says it will only cooperate with a UN investigation if the following demands are met: Military and terrorism experts should be made full members of the investigating team: The Israeli government should decide whom the investigators could talk to and which documents it could review: The investigation should not reach any conclusions; The evidence it gathers cannot be used in any war crimes prosecution; The UN team must also examine the activities of Palestinian "terrorists" in the camp over recent months. In other words, Israel would only approve of the Mission only if the outcome of the investigation is favorable to them.

I would utter my disbelieve at how a respectable world body like the UN could be rendered powerless by Ariel Sharon, a man who believes in military solutions to political problems, and in fact sees that politics are subordinate to the military.

How an American president could refer to a hard line right wing Zionist, who is openly racist and violent as "a man of peace". A soldier-politician whose career has been dogged by persistent accusations of war crimes, and who once said to the daily Davar, Dec. 17, 1982: "Let them tremble, let them call us a mad state. Let them understand that we are a wild country, dangerous to our surroundings, not normal, that we might go crazy if one of our children is murdered, just one! If anyone even raises his hand against us we'll take away half his land and burn the other half, including the oil. We might use nuclear arms. "Even today I am willing to volunteer to do the dirty work for Israel, to kill as many Arabs as necessary, to deport them, to expel and burn them, to have everyone hate us. ... And I don't mind if after the job is done you put me in front of a Nuremberg Trial and then jail me for life. Hang me if you want, as a war criminal".

I would regretfully remind the Security Council that the impotency of the United Nations, especially when dealing with Israel, has downgraded and reduced its credibility in the Middle East and the world generally. Resolution after resolution on Israel have been more vetoed than approved by America, Israel's staunchest ally, especially in the last two decades. And when it is endorsed by the United States, it is often not implementable.

The United Nations has become something like the extension of the American Foreign Office. When it suits the interests of the U.S. then, rightly or wrongly, the UN becomes effective. Otherwise, the United Nations is not more than a convenient tool of the super power. I would strongly suggest that in view of this, the world should now rethink seriously the role and future of the UN.

The non-political arms of the UN perhaps should be maintained, but its political body should be revamped by restructuring completely the Security Council to represent the true and just picture of the world communities or at the least by abolishing its veto system. Failing that, perhaps the UN should be disbanded altogether, and a new and more equitable world organization should be established with head quarters in Paris, Tokyo, or Switzerland.

I would end my note of resignation by saying that I would no longer be willing to be part of a world body which has been tarnished with uneven handedness in its treatment of its members. I would not also be part of an unjust world politics that is controlled by the interests of one or a few of its members. In my late age as it is, I wish to devote the remaining years of my life assisting and defending the majority of the world population who are oppressed and under privileged. Thereby, I would be able to say to my children and grand children that I had made a big mistake when I accepted the job of the UN Secretary General, but had finally decided to resign and devote the rest of my life to rectifying my mistakes.