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Board membership costs $1 billion for lifetime membership, making this an exclusive "pay to enter" club where democracy and rights are not criteria...
Since taking office, Donald Trump's administration has worked relentlessly to undermine the role of the United Nations, particularly its efforts to protect universal human rights. Now, the US president is seeking to create a new international organization, called the "Peace Board," of which he himself would be the perpetual chairman.
While many countries have been invited to join, those that have accepted constitute a “dark gallery” of leaders and governments with troubling or scandalous human rights records. The list includes Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both of whom have international arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as authoritarian leaders from China, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
The US itself was one of the founders of the UN in 1945, after the crimes of World War II, with the aim of preventing the recurrence of genocide and gross human rights violations. But the US relationship with the UN has always been complicated. During the Trump administration, this relationship turned into open hostility. He accused the UN of an “anti-American” agenda and blocked dozens of its vital programs, including the Population Fund and the World Health Organization.
Trump has called for the removal of words like “gender,” “diversity,” and “climate” from official UN resolutions, calling them “wake-up calls” or politicized. In the Security Council, he has used his veto power to block initiatives he doesn’t like, but in the General Assembly, U.S. influence is limited.
Now, through the “Peace Board,” Trump aims to create his own version of the Security Council. According to its founding charter, this board will be “an international body for stability, legitimate governance, and lasting peace.” But the word “human rights” is completely absent — a detail that aligns with the line of China and Russia, which have worked for years to minimize the role of human rights in the UN system.
Participation on the board costs $1 billion for permanent membership, making this an exclusive “pay to enter” club where democracy and rights are not criteria. Only Hungary and Bulgaria from the EU countries have agreed to participate. Meanwhile, France declined the invitation and President Macron was threatened by Trump with increased tariffs on French wine and champagne.
Canada was also invited, but Trump withdrew the offer after Prime Minister Mark Carney's strong speech in Davos, where he denounced the use of economic force by great powers against smaller countries and called on middle powers to unite to defend the international order.
Initially, this board was intended to administer Gaza, after two years of a devastating Israeli offensive that, according to unclear figures, has left over 70,000 Palestinians dead. Gaza is not mentioned in the charter. But in Davos, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, organized a side event, where he announced the “Executive Board for Gaza”, without Palestinian participation. This board includes Tony Blair, several American negotiators and representatives from Turkey and Qatar. Kushner’s vision for Gaza included “skyscrapers” and beaches filled with tourists, but not the people who now live in the ruins.
Instead of giving Trump a global stage and funding to marginalize the UN, democratic countries should defend the international institutions that guarantee human rights and the international order. They should oppose Trump’s unjust sanctions against International Criminal Court judges and UN rapporteurs. They should demand justice for crimes in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, and everywhere else where peace is being killed by diplomatic silence.
Any less would pave the way for a dangerous victory for Trump and a world led by clubs where the strong rule and the victims are trampled upon. / Adapted from “Al Jazeera”
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