At the UN Security Council Special Session on the Recognition of the
Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights has largely isolated the US. The Syrian envoy berated the German ambassador.
In one, at least, the UN Security Council is by and large in agreement. The American recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory is a one-sided violation of international law, a breach of binding UN resolutions.
German UN Ambassador Christoph Heusgen said that security concerns, however urgent they may be, did not justify annexation. South Africa’s UN Ambassador Jerry Matjila said: „This unilateral action does nothing to help find a long-term peaceful solution to the conflict in the Middle East.“ The Security Council had scheduled the emergency meeting at the request of Syria.
Previously, US UN Representative Jonathan R. Cohen at the special session in New York and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington had made it clear that the US government understood the recognition of Israel’s annexed Golan Heights as Israeli territory in 1981 as a piece of peace make it more likely in the Middle East. The move eliminates ambiguity about how to proceed, Pompeo said.
„Abyssal Cynical“
The situation escalated in the two-hour UN Special Session, after Heusgen, among others, had described Syria’s request for the special session as cynical. The Syrian regime is torturing its own people, killing and breaking international law by committing war crimes, he said. To blame others for violating international law is downright cynical, Heusgen said.
The Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari then verbally abused the German representative. He said Heusgen had brought shame on Germany. In addition, the Syrian reminded of Nazi Germany, which was responsible for the deaths of 85 million people. Syria, on the other hand, is a founding member of the UN.
In turn, Israeli UN Ambassador Danny Danon justifies US recognition of the Golan Heights, saying that the Golan will forever belong to Israel. The Syrian ambassador, the Israeli, should be ashamed. „Where were they when their government gassed children when their government threw barrel bombs at their own people,“ the Danon told the Syrian representative.
