I honestly do not know what the United Nations is supposed to mean anymore.
We were taught that the UN exists to protect peace, uphold international law and prevent the kind of suffering that the world promised itself would never allow again.
But then I look at Gaza.
People are being killed. Families are being destroyed. Children are growing up surrounded by rubble, hunger, fear and death. And somehow the most powerful international institution on earth keeps finding itself trapped in meetings, statements, votes and diplomatic language.
At some point, you have to ask a very simple question.
What is the fucking point?
The UN does not lack information. They know what is happening. Their own officials have repeatedly described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as catastrophic. They have spoken about civilians being killed, people being displaced and the destruction of homes and infrastructure. (United Nations)
So this is not about not knowing.
They know.
They watch.
They speak.
And people still die.
That is where my frustration with the UN begins.
I think the UN has lost its spine.
Not because every person working there is evil. Not because every UN agency is useless. There are people inside the system who are actually trying to help civilians and speak about what is happening.
The problem is the institution itself.
When politics becomes more important than human life, an institution built around peace starts becoming a theatre.
Look at the Security Council.
In June 2025, a Gaza ceasefire resolution received fourteen votes in favour. Fourteen out of fifteen. It still failed because the United States used its veto. (The United Nations in Palestine)
Then it happened again in September.
Fourteen countries voted for another Gaza ceasefire resolution. One country voted against it. That one vote was enough to kill the resolution. (United Nations)
This is where I genuinely struggle to take the phrase “international community” seriously.
Because apparently fourteen countries can say yes and one powerful country can say no, and that is enough.
How is that supposed to represent the will of humanity?
And this is the part I find most disgusting.
The UN keeps talking about international law, human rights and the protection of civilians. But when those principles collide with the interests of powerful states, suddenly everything becomes complicated.
Suddenly there are diplomatic concerns.
Suddenly there are strategic interests.
Suddenly there are endless negotiations.
Suddenly we need another meeting.
Another statement.
Another vote.
Another expression of concern.
Meanwhile, Gaza is not a meeting room.
People do not die diplomatically.
A child does not become less dead because the Security Council failed to reach consensus.
And I am sorry, but I do not want another beautifully written statement about “deep concern” while people are being buried.
I want action.
That is what international institutions are supposed to be for.
Instead, the UN often looks like an organisation that is extremely brave when speaking about principles and extremely careful when those principles might upset powerful countries.
To me, that looks less like international leadership and more like political bootlicking.
The powerful countries set the limits, and everyone else is expected to operate inside those limits.
And Gaza has exposed that weakness in the most brutal way possible.
The UN can document suffering.
It can condemn suffering.
It can hold meetings about suffering.
It can publish reports about suffering.
But if it cannot meaningfully stop the political machinery that allows the suffering to continue, then what exactly are we expecting ordinary people to believe?
That someone somewhere is concerned?
People in Gaza do not need the world to be concerned.
They need the world to give a damn.
There is a massive difference.
I do not think the UN is completely useless. That would be dishonest. UN agencies provide humanitarian assistance, document violations and keep international attention on crises that powerful governments would sometimes rather ignore.
But that is exactly why the weakness of the political system is so frustrating.
The people inside the UN can see the disaster.
The reports exist.
The evidence exists.
The warnings exist.
The words exist.
What is missing is the political courage to make those words mean something.
And that is why I think Gaza is not only a tragedy for Palestinians.
It is also a test of the international system.
And honestly, the system is looking fragile as hell.
Because if international law depends on who has the strongest allies, then it is not really international law.
If the protection of civilians depends on which country is being protected diplomatically, then human rights are not universal.
And if one powerful country can repeatedly use its veto to block action supported by almost everyone else in the room, then maybe the problem is not simply one failed resolution.
Maybe the structure itself is broken.
I do not want a UN that only speaks after people are dead.
I want an international system that has enough spine to act while people are still alive.
Because otherwise, what exactly are we celebrating?
Another resolution?
Another speech?
Another flag?
Another room full of diplomats pretending that humanity is being protected?
I would rather have fewer speeches and more courage.
Less diplomacy for the sake of diplomacy.
Less protecting powerful states from embarrassment.
And more protecting human beings from being killed.
Because if the United Nations cannot stand up when ordinary people are being slaughtered, then eventually people will stop asking whether the UN is failing.
They will start asking whether it was ever built to protect them in the first place.