Former Bayan Muna representative Carlos Zarate rebuked the United States’ latest veto of a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, calling it a “shameful act of complicity in genocide.”
The former lawmaker said the latest US veto is “blatant hypocrisy,” selectively enforcing international law.
“The US veto is not just a diplomatic maneuver; it is a death sentence for thousands of Palestinian civilians trapped under Israel’s brutal bombardment,” Zarate said.
Washington vetoed the call for an “immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza while the 14 remaining countries on the council voted in favor.
The US is one of five veto-wielding permanent members of the council, along with China, France, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom that all voted in favor of the resolution.
Despite existing UN-brokered ceasefire agreements, the Israel State has relentlessly pounded Gaza, raising the average daily death toll to 52.
“While the US preaches peace in Ukraine and elsewhere, it bankrolls and shields Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, where over 54,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been slaughtered since October 2023,” Zarate said.
The human rights lawyer said Washington’s veto is “the height of moral bankruptcy.”
The Bayan Muna leader lambasted the Donald Trump administration for violating its own arms transfer policies, which prohibit sending weapons to forces likely to commit war crimes.
“The US sends billions in weapons to Israel while pretending to advocate for humanitarian pauses. These pauses are a cruel farce—they only delay more killings while aid remains blocked,” he revealed.
Zarate said a ceasefire in Palestine is the only solution, but the US veto ensures that the bloodshed continues.
Zarate urged the international community to bypass US obstructionism by escalating pressure through boycotts, sanctions, and mass protests.
“The Global South must unite to isolate Israel and its enablers. The UN’s credibility is at stake—if the Security Council cannot act, the General Assembly must demand accountability under the Genocide Convention.”
He also challenged the Marcos Jr. administration to “send a clear message to Israel by extending its solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
“As a nation that has suffered colonial oppression, we cannot stay silent. The Philippine government must cut ties with Israel and demand justice for Palestine. The US veto exposes whose lives it values—and whose it discards,” he concluded. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
