By Juan Larrosa, September 29, 2025
Last week, the United Nations held its annual meeting in New York, which I believe was significant for several reasons. The first is that a global consensus is gradually emerging to openly and unequivocally condemn the Israeli government’s military offensive against the Palestinian people. The situation in that region is atrocious and has already been described by many as genocidal. The suffering of Palestinians has been immeasurable: years of war, psychological terror, inhumane conditions, lack of food, and the looming risk of famine.
This, of course, does not preclude criticizing the terrorist practices of Hamas, which have also inflicted enormous harm on the people of Israel. However, what the Israeli government is currently carrying out in Palestine is inhumane and must be condemned without ambiguity. That is precisely what happened at the UN over the weekend, where several countries openly recognized the Palestinian state. A symbolic moment was when delegates from numerous nations walked out of the chamber during Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech—a visible repudiation of his government and its actions.
The event, however, also highlighted the weakness of the UN itself. An institution that, after World War II, sought to guide international and military policy with varying degrees of success is now experiencing a dramatic decline in power. We saw this with Donald Trump: defiant, calling for closed borders and changes in international policies on migration and trade, extending his speech well beyond the allotted time without consequence. This reflects how U.S. foreign policy increasingly overshadows the UN’s multilateral framework.
This brings us to today’s crossroads: on the one hand, there is widespread condemnation of Israel’s military offensive; on the other, the UN’s growing loss of influence. The problem is that the offensive continues, with no serious political cost for Israel, while the international body appears unable to halt the violence.
And this is not good news. Because a world built on dialogue, multilateralism, and democratic practices will always be preferable to one where a handful of powerful nations make decisions that affect the majority.
This text was originally read on the NTR Radio newscast broadcast on September 29, 2025, and hosted by journalist Sergio René de Dios Corona.