Palestinian officials, human rights activists, and leaders discussed, in a seminar, the role of the United Nations in the Palestinian cause and its new vision after the recent Israeli occupation's aggression on Gaza in May 2021.

The seminar, titled 'The Position of the UN during and after the Aggression of May 2021', was organized by the Council of International Relations in Palestine in cooperation with the PALM Strategic Initiative Centre.

Michael Lynk, Specialist Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the 1948 Occupied Palestinian Lands, confirmed, via Zoom, that the growth of the Israeli occupation's settlements in Occupied Palestine is part of the endless occupation of the Palestinian lands. He also noted that the Israeli occupation's continuous practice of this method amid the absence of the international society's deterrence will endanger the Palestinian cause and increase the occupation's appetite to take over more lands and implement the annexation plan. Hence, this threatens the two-state solution.

He said that the United Nations adopts resolutions that might guarantee peace and human rights for all nations around the world. He pointed to seven resolutions of the UN Council that are related to ending the Israeli occupation's violations against the Palestinians. Mainly, the council issued a resolution to prohibit the demographic displacement of the Palestinians with settlers, considering it a war crime and a threat to the two-state solution. He also urged the Israeli occupation to stop its settlement activities and demanded to establish penalties for non-compliance. However, the Israeli occupation did not take any practical steps towards complying with those resolutions. 

In his speech via Zoom, Syed Hamid Al-Bar, Malaysia's former Minister of Foreign Affairs, supported the position of Lynk and said that the world is encountering a state of the Israeli occupation's rebellion as it neglects all international laws.

He also noted that the establishment of the Israeli occupation at the expense of the Palestinian existence shows the United Nations' hypocrisy of preserving the Palestinians' rights. He described the United Nations as anti-democratic and noted its significant failure of achieving peace.

Al-Bar talked about the Israeli occupation's rejection of the two-state resolution. This is presented in the continuous settlement expansion and violations against the Palestinian people. He also said that the absence of legal accountability for such crimes and violations of international law allows it to go extreme in its attacks.  

He demanded the United Nations to be more balanced in its engagement with the Israel-Palestine conflict, confirming the importance of reforming the United Nations to restore the wasted values. He also supported the Palestinians' right to self-determination and resistance.

Nafez Al-Madhoun, the former Director General of the Legislative Council, pointed that the United Nations' weakness to force the Israeli occupation to implement the international resolutions is apparent in 3 points. First, the imbalance in the decision-making mechanism; the right of veto always stands in front of any resolution taken against the Israeli occupation's crimes and hinders any development of the Palestinian cause. Second, the implementation mechanism. Moreover, the follow-up to the implementation of those resolutions. 

Al-Madhoun confirmed that the United Nations does not have an obvious view of the Palestinian cause. He noted that it is unable to implement its resolutions because its policies are based on bias towards the Israeli occupation, making the two-state solution impossible.  

He also spoke about the significance for the United Nations to have new mechanisms to implement its resolutions so they did not remain merely fine words.

The attendees agreed on the points made in the seminar to activate the UN Council and its resolutions to deter the Israeli occupation and its crimes against the Palestinians.