Jakarta (Antara Babel) - A noted political figure has said the existence of the United Nations (UN) may be questioned if it is unable to stop Israel's military aggression and violence on Palestinians.
"The UN must not only end atrocities but also be able to bring Israel to the international tribunal," Hajrianto Tohari, the deputy chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), said in an e-mail received by Antara here on Tuesday.
He considered Israel's aggression on the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip similar to genocide.
The Israeli aggression that has claimed the lives of hundreds of children and women hurt modern civilization that highly respects human rights, he said.
The former general chairman of Indonesia's second largest Islamic organization Muhammadiyah from 1993 to 1998 said that the UN and superpowers such as the US and the European countries who have till now presented themselves to the world as defenders of human rights have shown their incapability to stop the Israeli aggression.
"Now, it is already late for the UN to send troops to put an end to the genocide in Gaza," he said.
"Western countries especially the US and the European countries as the world's superpowers and the UN should be ashamed of silently observing the humanitarian tragedy happening before their own eyes, while they actually have the power to stop it," he said.
In view of that, Hajrianto urged the government to ask the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Non-Aligned Movement to appeal to the UN to immediately take significant action to stop the Israeli aggression.
He said if the OIC whose members include Turkey and Saudi Arabia maintained silence, it would similarly lose its raison d'etre in the international political fora.
According to latest reports, five Palestinians have died and 20 others wounded following shelling at a location near Khan Yunis Islamic University.
In the last 21 violent attacks on Gaza so far, the total fatalities have reached 1,067, according to emergency service spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra as reported by AFP.
