EIGHTY YEARS OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE PALESTINIAN QUESTION
By
Professor Abdullahi Danladi
The United Nations was born in 1945 with lofty ideals: to preserve peace, defend the oppressed, and uphold justice among nations. Eighty years later, its record on Palestine exposes not just failure, but hypocrisy. Palestine remains the wound of the Muslim Ummah, and the inaction of the UN is a betrayal of the very principles it claims to uphold.
From its earliest days, the UN abandoned justice in Palestine. In 1947, through Resolution 181, it partitioned the land, granting the greater portion to a settler minority while denying the rights of the indigenous majority. The result was the Nakba of 1948 during which over 700,000 Palestinians were expelled, their homes stolen, their villages erased. The UN passed Resolution 194, promising the right of return, but that promise has been buried for over seventy-five years. Allah warns in the Qur’an:
“And do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly or send it [in bribery] to the rulers in order that they might aid you to consume a portion of the wealth of the people in sin, while you know [it is unlawful].” (Qur’an 2:188)
What is Zionist colonization if not this very crime;
land seized unjustly, sanctified by political power, while the victims are silenced?
The Security Council has passed dozens of resolutions—242, 338, 2334—yet none have been enforced. The reason is clear: the veto system makes a mockery of justice. More than forty times, the United States has vetoed resolutions against the illegal state of Israel, shielding occupation and aggression. This is not neutrality; it is complicity. The Prophet ﷺ said:
“Help your brother, whether he is the oppressor or the oppressed.” They said: O Messenger of Allah, we help him when he is oppressed, but how do we help him when he is the oppressor? He replied: “By preventing him from oppression.” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)
If this is the standard of Islam, then how far has the UN strayed? Instead of preventing oppression, it enables it. Instead of restraining the aggressor, it rewards him.
The contrast is glaring. The UN supported independence across Africa and Asia, freeing nations from colonial rule. But for Palestine, it has offered only words, empty resolutions, and symbolic gestures. Even the 2012 recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state was hollow with only a flag raised in New York, while Gaza burns and the West Bank remains occupied.
The Qur’an reminds us:
“And what is [the matter] with you that you fight not in the cause of Allah and [for] the oppressed among men, women, and children who say, ‘Our Lord, take us out of this city of oppressive people and appoint for us from Yourself a protector and appoint for us from Yourself a helper?’” (Qur’an 4:75)
Are the cries of the people of Gaza and the West Bank not the very echo of this verse? Are they not the oppressed who call upon Allah for deliverance, while the world’s most powerful institution looks away?
Eighty years after its creation, the Palestinian question exposes the naked truth about the UN: it is not the guardian of justice, but a hostage to power. Its credibility has collapsed under the weight of its hypocrisy. For the Ummah, Palestine is not just land, it is honor, faith, and a test of our commitment to Allah’s command:
“And prepare against them whatever you are able of power and steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy…” (Qur’an 8:60)
If the UN will not deliver justice, then the responsibility returns to the Muslim Ummah and the free peoples of the world. Without justice for Palestine, the UN cannot speak of peace. Without freedom for Palestinians, it cannot claim to defend human rights. Without ending this historic oppression, it will be remembered not as the protector of the oppressed, but as the graveyard of broken promises.
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