A letter from renowned ecologist Dr S Faizi to the President of UN General Assembly:
MEDIA RELEASE
My letter to the UN GA President on the need to address the Israeli attacks on the UN system, using the relevant provisions of the GA Rules of Procedure to keep Israel off UN meetings.
President
United Nations General Assembly
New York
Copy:
Secretary General
United Nations
New York
Chairperson
Group of 77
New York
Your Excellency,
Namasthe from Kerala and congratulations on your election as the new President of the GA.
As a UN environmental negotiator and as a person writing and speaking regularly about the critical role of the UN system I submit to your attention the need to act within the UN Charter, within the powers vested in the General Assembly, upon the constant attacks on the UN system by Isreal, unprecedented in the history of the UN.
This is not about the genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Palestine, not about the unprecedented level of massacre of children surpassing even Hitler’s lethal record, not about the genocide of over 200,000 humans as confirmed by the outgoing IDF chief, not about the killing of over 1500 health workers, destruction of nearly all hospitals of Gaza, not about the forced starvation on a defenceless people unknown in any other wars, not about the killing of over 200 journalists, not about 1.9 million people- 90 percent of the population- displaced in the most brutal manner, not about the constant dehumanising propaganda against the victims, not about the glaring breach of legally binding treaties like Rome Statute, the Fourth Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocol I, the Genocide Convention etc, not about the July 2024 ICJ decision holding the Israeli occupation of Palestine illegal, not about the ICC arrest warrants issued for Israeli leaders in November 2024.
Nor is this about the unparalleled record of attacks on neighbouring countries, unknown even in the history of colonial invasions, like the assassination of Yemen’s political leaders on 31 August, bombing of Tunisia, assaults on the Global Sumud Flotilla, and most recently, the bombing of Qatar, marking the seventh sovereign country targeted by Tel Aviv since October 2023.
I am writing about the direct attacks on the UN by one of its own member countries. This is not only a grave case of a member country persistently violating the Principles contained in the UN Charter, it is for the first time that the UN system has been so violently and repeatedly attacked in its 80 year old history. I am listing below seven cases of unpardonable attacks on the UN system by Israel in the recent time:
1. Israeli UN Ambassador shreds UN Charter:
In May 2024, Israel’s UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan denounced the UN Charter by shredding it on the podium of the GA hall, in full view of the community of nations. A country that denounces and insults the Chater cannot have a place in the Organisation. Even a rural club or a tiny NGO would have a member on its roll instantly removed if and when that member denounces its statutes.
2. Call to destroy the UN headquarters:
Again, in August 2024, the Israeli UN Ambassador called for the destruction of the UN headquarters. He said the UN headquarters in New York should be “closed and wiped off from the face of the earth”. How can a body afford to have on board a member who wants it to be closed down and its hq destroyed.
3. Declaring UN Secretary General persona non grata:
In October 2024, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz declared UN Secretary-General persona non grata and banned him from entering the country. This is a declaration of hostility towards the UN, and no organisation, intergovernmental or even a modest voluntary organisation would hold within its membership an entity that is so openly hostile to it.
4. Labelling a UN body as terrorist:
In July 2024, Israel’s Knesset, by law, designated UNRWA a terrorist organization. And in October 2024, further legislation banned UNRWA operations in Israel and Gaza. UNRWA was asked to vacate its East Jerusalem headquarters and even banned them from contacting Israeli officials. Israel again created history of the worst kind for the UN.
5. Killing of UN staff in Gaza:
Since October 2023, over 360 UNRWA staff have been killed in Gaza by Israeli military (as of July 2025), including the summary execution of staffer and his family in March 2025. This is a first in the eight-decade history of the UN.
And add to this the deliberate destruction of UN-run schools and hospitals by Israeli forces in the Occupied Territories
6. Attacks on UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Palestine and other UN officials:
Israel has repeatedly vilified the UN Special Rapporteur Ms Francesca Albanese and banned her from entering the country since her 2022 appointment.
Israel has also denied visa for the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza in July 2025. Similar restrictions have affected staff from OCHA, UN Human Rights Office, and other UN agencies, preventing them from pursuing their statutory mandates.
7. Attacks on UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL):
According to credible news reports Israeli forces have conducted numerous attacks on UNIFIL amid cross-border tensions with Hezbollah, since October 2023. Incidents include tank fire injuring two peacekeepers at a UN observation post in Naqoura (October 2024), gunfire hitting the perimeter of a peacekeeping base (May 2025), and Israeli drones dropping four grenades near peacekeepers clearing roadblocks in Marwahin (September 2025). Blatant, uncivil attacks on UN peace keepers raise questions about the future of the very idea of UN peace keeping.
Your Excellency, the world has only one United Nations. Although it has issues it remains the only hope connecting humanity in a democratic manner and attempting to resolve global issues upholding the principles of democratic multilateralism. The UN cannot afford to have an enemy within. The criminal acts against the UN by Israel provide compelling grounds for the suspension of the country from the UN as per Article 5, and/or expulsion under Article 6. However, the skewed composition of the Security Council would not allow this to happen, especially considering that the SC had the misfortune to witness over 40 vetoes on resolutions critical of Israel since 1970, in the same manner as certain veto wielding countries were blocking mandatory UN actions to overcome the scourge of Apartheid during the time of the racist South Africa.
The community of nations overcame that crisis in the democratic General Assembly using Rules 27, 28 and 29 of the Rules of Procedure. As a young man I was active in campaigning against the Apartheid South Africa- using the UN GA boycott resolution- but I don’t recall any attacks on the UN system by the brutal Apartheid system even as the GA passed boycott resolutions against them. Israel represents an extreme form of apartheid. Its attacks on the UN system are an unpardonable affront to the community of nations.
Such a country cannot meet the requirements to admit its delegation to the sessions of the GA and other bodies of the UN. Therefore the Credentials Committee can and should deny the credentials of this rogue misfit, in the event of its positive recommendation the GA can deny the credentials under Rule 28 of the RoP. This was how the UN was saved from the shame of having the apartheid South Africa on board. This was also the way by which Taliban and the Myanmar junta are also kept out of the UN fora, circumventing opposition in the SC to their suspension under Article 5 of the UN Charter. Credentials granted can also be withdrawn with the required majority as per Rule 114 of RoP.
I fervently hope that you will use your influence to guide the member states to arrive at an outcome that will see this criminal country not sharing stage with the rest of the world in the UN fora. I am also sharing this with delegations of some countries that particularly stand for a robust UN for the sake of our shared humanity.
Assuring you of my highest consideration
Sincerely
S Faizi
S Faizi PhD
Ecologist
UN Environmental Negotiator
Trivandrum, India
91-9497012590
