United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan was outraged. This could not be tolerated. “Perhaps,” he thought out loud to an aide, “perhaps an emergency Security Council meeting is in order!” With that, Annan stormed out of the sitting room.
Back in his office at the United Nations building, the secretary general, still furious, shouted to his secretary, “Get me Prime Minister Sharon on the line!”
“Sir, it’s now almost three in the morning in Jerusalem.”
“First of all, young lady, it’s Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem! The United Nations recognizes only Tel-Aviv as Israel’s capital. Second of all, I don’t give two feathers how late it is. Wake him up! Now!”
Flustered (she’d seen him angry before, especially regarding Israel, but never this furious), she quickly dialed the prime minister’s private number.
It rang only once. “Shalom,” a male voice answered.
“Sorry I’m calling at such a late hour,” Annan’s secretary apologized, “but this is an urgent call from the UN secretary general. He must speak to the prime minister immediately.”
“I’m sorry, but the prime minister had a very long and tiring day. He just went to sleep fifteen minutes ago.”
“Hold a minute, please.” Nervously the secretary knocked on her boss’s door. “Mr. Secretary General, the prime minister’s aide says he can’t wake him up because he just went to sleep.”
Punching the red button on his telephone console, Annan hissed into the receiver.
“Get Sharon on the phone! Now!”
The young bodyguard in Jerusalem smiled. “And what is the purpose of this disturbing call?”
Fuming, the secretary general responded in measured yet deliberate tones.
“Get me the prime minister. Tell him the Security Council is about to convene.”
On the New York side of the phone connection, the shuffle of slippers was heard, followed by the tired, raspy voice of Prime Minister Sharon.
“Your Excellency! How nice of you to call! What do I owe this pleasure to?”
“Listen carefully, Mr. Prime Minister. I heard about and I read a report regarding the Israeli army’s action against a caravan of Palestinian refugees living in Yisa-har, near Nablus. I read how you stormed them at night, without warning, and the brutality you employed to dislodge them from their legitimate living quarters. I understand that one poor Palestinian woman was beaten severely and suffered a broken hip. Your goons also arrested 19 innocents.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Secretary, if I’m blunt, but just what are you talking about?”
“Mr. Prime Minister, I suggest you stop playing games and listen carefully. The action you took today in dislodging the residents of that village is illegal under the United Nations Charter for The defense of Disadvantaged Refugees, the Geneva Convention, and every other decent law designed to protect people, their homes and belongings. My sources tell me your army brought in those heinous Caterpillar bulldozers and then your soldiers proceed to crush the huts these poor people were living in. Your soldiers shot without cause and in general created a very frightening situation.”
“But, Mr. Secretary,” the prime minister attempted to break into the non-stop monologue. “You misread…”
“Mr. Sharon! You promised again and again that you would ease off in preparation for the elections in the PA. You promised over and over that the ‘disengagement’ will proceed as scheduled. You promised that all obstacles are to be removed in order to facilitate a smooth election process. Needless to say, the unprovoked action you took against that little village near Nablus was uncalled for and creates much harm. I want you to know that I called for an emergency Security Council session to discuss and debate both your unconscionable provocation and the dire consequences it may trigger.”