Guatemala calls the UN to recognize Israel's right to defend itself

While Israel faces an unprovoked war, following the infiltration of terrorists from the Gaza Strip on October 7 who perpetrated a ruthless massacre of 1400 people and left 3,000 wounded, the Guatemalan Foreign Minister has made an urgent call to the United Nations General Assembly to recognize Israel's right to defend itself.

The sheer cruelty of Hamas terrorists who brutally murdered 1.4oo civilians including elderly (some Holocaust survivors), women, children, babies and men has left Israelis shaken, broken and angry to the bone. We have been finding strength and resilience in each other to deal with trauma and multiple challenges, including bringing back the 230 hostages back from captivity in Gaza, identifying and burying our dead, treating the wounded, supporting the survivors and the displaced while reservists are massively being drafted to serve in the IDF.

The UN called the 10th Extraordinary Emergency Session of the General Assembly and adopted a resolution calling for an "Immediate, Sustained Humanitarian Truce" and cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hamas. The adopted resolution failed to unequivocally condemn Hamas terror attacks on October 7, 2023, failed to condemn taking hostages, failed to demand the safety and humane treatment and failed to call for their immediate and unconditional release.

By a recorded vote of 120 in favor to 14 against, with 45 abstentions, the Assembly adopted the resolution titled "Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations", clearly looking out for Gazan civilians while disregarding Israeli civilians, both the 230 hostages and millions of civilian population running to bomb shelters because of continuous rockets and shelling from Gaza.

On a sane and moral world view, Israel, as a victim of a horrendous terror attack, that is still suffering an ongoing nightmare for 230 hostages and their families from 25 countries, (including the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, Germany, Austria, Ukraine, Thailand, Canada, Argentina and Mexico) would be treated with empathy by at least these nations. Instead only Austria, Croatia, Czechia, Fiji, Guatemala, Hungary, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Tonga, Paraguay and the United States voted against the resolution.

Gilad Menashe Erdan, Israel's representative said the world has witnessed that

"the United Nations no longer holds even one ounce of legitimacy or relevance". This Organization was founded in the wake of the Holocaust for the purpose of preventing atrocities. ?Israel just endured the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and according to a majority of the so-called “Family of Nations”, Israel has no right to defend itself.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield , representative of the United States, said that two key words were missing from the draft resolution: Hamas and hostages.

?“It is outrageous that this resolution fails to name the perpetrators of the 7?October terrorist attack. These are omissions of evil. Their exclusion gives cover to Hamas’ brutality, and the United States-Canada amendment is straightforward in calling for a condemnation of the Hamas terrorist attack and for the immediate and unconditional release of hostage. One-sided resolutions […] will not help to advance peace.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, Mario Bucaro Flores , reiterated his condemnation of the terrorism of Hamas and Hezbollah against the Israeli population and voted in against the resolution since it does not include Israel's right to protect its citizens.

As the granddaughter of a diplomat, I have learned that in times of war, raising one's voice for justice and humanity requires courage and morality. And these two virtues are clearly present in the Guatemalan foreign minister's brave speech:

“We present our deepest condolences to the numerous victims, we sympathize with their families and DEMAND THE RELEASE of the hostages, including babies, children, women and the elderly.” Mario Búcaro, Guatemalan Foreign Minister

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala did not stop at expressing solidarity with the victims and their families but reiterated his condemnation, in the strongest terms, of the terrorist attacks committed by Hamas against the State of Israel and its civilian population.

“Hamas confuses the Palestinian cause with the justification of terrorism and this is a serious moral and strategic error for the Palestinian cause and the efforts that have been carried out internationally to achieve peace in the territory.”

He continued to condemn the attacks of another terrorist group, Hezbollah, which simultaneously attacks Israel from Lebanon towards the towns on the northern border.

In my opinion, the words that other world leaders have not been willing to proclaim:

“For the United Nations to effectively exercise its responsibility in the prevention and resolution of conflicts that affect international peace and security, be it the Security Council or the General Assembly, balanced resolutions must be adopted that take into account all the elements that arise in a situation, including, in this case, the right to self-defense of the State of Israel, protecting the Israelite people in their self-preservation.”

I don't think anyone outside Israel, except the Jewish community in the diaspora can understand the anguish of seeing crowds in European capitals shouting for the elimination of your country. Our desire is to live in peace with our neighbors. But with increasing incitement and blood libels from the media and social networks, anti-Semitism that was seemingly hibernating has now reared its violent head again, demonizing the Jewish state.

The Guatemalan foreign minister rightly mentioned:

“Today more than ever, it is valid to remember the words of Golda Meir “if the pro-Palestinian groups laid down their arms today, there would be no more violence. But if the Israelis laid down their arms today, there would be no State of Israel.”

Bucaro's courageous and unpopular statement while addressing the General Assembly:

“It is essential to remember that every State has the sovereign right to protect its citizens and guarantee their security. And this element is absent in the draft resolution presented to the General Assembly, for this reason, Guatemala will proceed to vote against it and we urge other Member States to consider doing the same.“

I have personally known Mario Búcaro for more than 15 years, from the time I lived and worked in Guatemala. We collaborated together on humanitarian aid projects when he was the CEO the NGO Operation Blessing in the central American country. Together we visited orphans, supported hundreds of SMEs led by women, inaugurated drinking water wells for Guatemalan communities and other projects for the development and well-being of Guatemala. Since then I have known Mario's and his family's high moral compass.

In 2018, when he was appointed Guatemalan ambassador to Israel, Mario led the countries in recognizing the holy city as the capital of Israel and changing the headquarters of the embassy to Jerusalem, just a couple of days after the U.S. embassy was inaugurated there. Mario and his family experienced first-hand that the state of Israel has continually made efforts seeking peace with its neighbors.

It is my hope that other Latin American countries take the example of Guatemala, condemn terrorism and rethink their alliance with democracy, peace, humanity, development and with the state of Israel, which has demonstrated many times and in many ways, through Mashav Aid from Israel , the International Development Cooperation Agency and humanitarian aid operations, its friendship with Latin American people.

For my Spanish speaking colleagues, find Guatemalan Foreign Minister speech on the Israel-Hamas war below.

10th Extraordinary Emergency Session of the United Nations General Assembly, October 26, 2023