United Nations Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace Nickolay Mladenov indulged in another round of moral equivalence on Monday as he appealed to Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist organization to “step back from the brink” of war during an address in which he also asked Israel “not to shoot children.”
Speaking to the United Nations in an address on Sunday just a few hours after some 200 rockets, missiles and mortar shells had rained down on Israeli civilians in the southern region, Mladenov appealed to both sides of the Israel-Gaza border to step back from the confrontation:
“For the last decade Palestinians in Gaza have lived through 3 conflicts. Israelis across the fence have lived with a constant threat of rocket attacks for the last decade. This cycle has to stop. It has to end.
I want to begin today by appealing first of all to Palestinians in Gaza. I know the difficult conditions you live in. I know it is very difficult to believe the international community or anyone who comes and tells you that your lives will be improved.
But I appeal to all Palestinians, to all parents of all children in Gaza today to step back and keep the protests peaceful.
I appeal to the Palestinian factions to not provoke incidents at the fence, to stop the firing of rockets and mortars, to stop the incendiary kites and to give peace a chance.
I appeal to Israel, to be very restrained in its responses to the situation in Gaza. I appeal to snipers not to shoot children.
I appeal to everybody to step back from the brink!
But last if not least, I appeal to my colleagues in the international community not to forget the people of Gaza, not to forget the Palestinians who have lived for generations without a state. And to work with us, the United Nations, and with everyone else who is trying to resolve the situation right now. People in Gaza have had enough wars.”
Mladenov warned that the alternative is “another confrontation.” Everybody, he said, needs to take a step back, adding that he is “not interested in “coming up with projects just for the sake of projects in Gaza…not interested in going to donors and asking them to continue funding initiatives here in Gaza only to provide more food and more water to people without a political perspective for the future. I am interested in building that perspective.”
Mladenov didn’t point out that the so-called “child” who was shot and killed on Friday at the border was actually a 15-year-old trained Hamas terrorist who tried to murder an Israeli deputy battalion commander, attacking him with a live grenade as he attempted to breach the security fence in order to infiltrate into Israeli territory to carry out terror attacks. The IDF officer was taken to Barzilai Medical Center in serious condition.
He also didn’t mention the ceaseless theft of the precious resources already generously donated to Gaza by the enclave’s vicious Hamas rulers for use in building their military infrastructure, and starting new wars against Israel.