Reject Israel’s defiance of international law

ISRAEL’S decision to hoist its flag over a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East facility is a gesture dripping with arrogance, a theatrical display meant to show that rules, norms and the UN itself can be brushed aside at will.

It is a message broadcast in broad daylight: we can do this, and no one will stop us. That confidence does not exist in a vacuum. Years of political cover from the United States, supercharged under Donald Trump’s administration, have emboldened Israel to believe it can violate international norms with impunity.