The United Nations Secretary-General issued a statement Saturday to condemn “bigotry” against Muslim and Jewish people in hopes world leaders will follow.
Antonio Guterres posted a video statement to X, formerly known as Twitter, regarding the Israel and Hamas conflict, which has split heads of state globally. Immediately following Hamas firing missiles into Israel, the leaders of Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Ukraine, India, and the United States declared their support for Israel. Meanwhile, Qatar and Saudi Arabia’s heads of state promised support to Palestine.
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Dehumanizing language that incites violence is never acceptable.
I call on all leaders to speak out against Antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry and hate speech of all kinds. pic.twitter.com/KN9obz0XNt
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 14, 2023
“I call on all leaders to speak out against antisemitism, anti-Muslim bigotry, and hate speech of all kinds,” Guterres said. “This is a time for the international community to come together around protecting civilians and finding a lasting solution to this unending cycle of death and destruction.”
Countries like the U.K., France, and the U.S. have witnessed protests defending both Israel and Palestine. Hateful chants have been captured on various videos throughout social media. As a result, France has banned pro-Palestine protests in light of antisemitic sentiments shared in previous demonstrations. London Metropolitan Police likewise reported 105 antisemitic incidents and 75 antisemitic offenses, an uptick that was almost 10 times greater than the year before
“There’s been a quite frankly disgusting rise in antisemitic incidents over the past few days; that’s not right,” Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters Friday. “We will absolutely not tolerate people inciting hatred or violence or racist activity.”
Within the halls of Congress, tensions have risen. Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) claimed a sign posted outside his Washington office declaring his support of Israel was stolen Thursday. According to Williams, the sign, which depicted the Israeli flag and read: “I stand with Israel,” disappeared sometime Wednesday night. He first posted a photo of the sign outside of his office in the Capitol earlier that day to X, formerly known as Twitter.
Rep. Rashida Talib (D-MI) has a Palestinian flag displayed outside her office. She now faces a censure resolution and an appropriation amendment declaring that funds will not be used on any foreign flags for display.
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This most recent violence arose after Hamas fired thousands of rockets and also sent dozens of fighters into Israel a week ago. In light of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, some 2,900 have died, among them 27 American citizens. There are also more likely to be among the 150 taken hostage.
Israel last received rocket fire in January, when the Islamic Jihad in Gaza fired two rockets toward Israel after a raid refugee camp by Israeli troops resulted in seven Palestinian gunmen and two civilians killed. These two rockets caused no casualties. Israel responded with air strikes on Gaza at the time.
