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| Philippe Lazzarini |
For six years, Philippe Lazzarini was the voice of Palestinians at the United Nations, leading its dedicated refugee agency, UNRWA. Attacked, discredited and rebuffed along with his agency, he never stopped fighting as their cause became inaudible after 7 October 2023, when the Israeli army set about the systematic destruction of Gaza. Lazzarini, a Neuchâtel native, has published a book this week titled Témoin de Gaza: ce qui ne s’efface pas (A witness of Gaza: what cannot be erased). In it, he recounts his nearly daily experience from the closest possible vantage point of the events and the key players in this global tragedy.
Le Temps: You were head of UNRWA until only a few months ago, and you are already publishing a book. Why publish now? Is it about settling scores?
Philippe Lazzarini: No, it should not be seen as any desire for revenge. It is an account grounded in facts. As the people around me have often said, I was a privileged witness to an extraordinarily dark chapter of history over these last three years. It is a story that needs to be shared. On a personal level, one of the aims was also to give myself a soft landing. It would have been very abrupt to finish on 31 March and then suddenly find myself on 1 April with no project, dwelling on these past years. I am taking advantage of the fact that events are still very fresh to bring some clarity to my own mind.
Did going back over this recent history also make you rediscover painful episodes?
All the scenes from Gaza have followed me and haunted me over these past years, so I did not rediscover them through writing. What may have come to light, however, is the scale and hypocrisy of the international community’s inaction. I obviously knew about them – I was confronted with them – but when you put all the pieces of the puzzle together, you realise how significant they are.
We knew everything, and we all knew what the implications would be, not only the human implications in Gaza and for the rest of Palestine and the region, but also the consequences for the future interpretation of international law, for Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, and International Court of Justice rulings. It is a profound weakening of our multilateral system. Of course, I talk about this and describe situations. But once the book was finished, I asked myself: why did we wait so long?
Do you think, however, that things are changing?
What is sure is that more and more voices are speaking out. The enormous gap between public opinion and elected officials still exists, but it is narrowing....READ MORE https://genevasolutions.news/peace-humanitarian/if-i-had-resigned-i-would-have-handed-them-that-victory-on-a-plate-says-former-unrwa-chief-philippe-lazzarini