NEWS
There is a “Human Rights Day”, but there are no human rights in the World!
08.01.24, Monday
Today is December 10, Human Rights Day. Following the two major world wars initiated by Western countries, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of people, the “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, aimed at guaranteeing human rights and expanding freedoms, was adopted by the UN on December 10, 1948.
In the first article of the Declaration, it states “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” In the third article, it is mentioned, “Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of person.” While the second article asserts that everyone possesses these rights without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin.
Although the concept of human rights has developed and expanded theoretically since that day, the world has not turned into a better place in terms of human rights in practice. None of these principles have been able to put an end to the persecutions neither in Arakan, nor in East Turkistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, nor in other parts of the world until today.
Pirate Israel, established with the occupation of Palestine in 1948 when the Declaration was adopted, has been violating all the principles of the Declaration for 75 years. In a theoretical ground where the idea of human rights has matured, and different generations of rights have been developed, Gaza has been experiencing the most brutal attacks of the century for the past two months. The brutality and massacres in Gaza have already taken the form of a genocide supported by the US, EU, and the UK. In two months, over 17,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 7,000 children and over 5,000 women. Thousands of people are under the rubble. The fate of thousands of children and adult males over 15 who were detained by Israeli forces is also unknown.
Crimes against humanity in Gaza are not only committed with bombs. The entry of electricity, water, fuel, food, and medicine into the city is blocked. Civilian residences with immunity in war, schools, hospitals, ambulances, universities, and even buildings under the control of the UN, housing innocent civilians, are bombed. All of these are war crimes, crimes against humanity. The genocide in Gaza is happening in front of the eyes of the world, primarily the UN and the international community, and today it is World Human Rights Day! But there are no human rights. Unfortunately, today Gaza confirms the words of Ismet Özel, “Human rights are Jewish rights. Human rights are the conditions necessary for a Jew to live comfortably anywhere in the world”. Moreover, this genocide is being carried out with the open support of the US, France, and the UK, which have the privilege of veto in the UN Security Council. While Israel ignores 24 different decisions of the Security Council, it relies on the support of these countries and the 5-member structure of the UN left over from the era of exploitation.
Yes, today is World Human Rights Day. A time where the United Nations cannot even ensure the most fundamental right at the top of the human rights hierarchy, the right to life. How are human rights possible in a world where usurpers, murderers, and colonialists determine the rules?
We know that in an environment where a billion people are hungry and thirsty, where labor is exploited, where a few wealthy families hold more than half of the world’s wealth, and where the genocide of the century is taking place before our eyes, the ideologies and understandings that nourish this system have nothing meaningful to offer to our world. Expecting respect for human rights from an order where injustice forms the basis of the global system is meaningless. With its current mentality and structure, this order cannot build a just world or ensure human dignity, honor, rights, and law.
As Memur-Sen, we reject the ideological and dualistic order prevailing in human rights and reaffirm our commitment to working for a just world.