Pakistan has managed to drag itself into an embarrassment of its own making at the UN, leading to a burn that’s now going viral on social media. Seven words delivered in less than four seconds is all it took — “Pakistan is another state sponsor of terror” — something India has underlined for decades.
But the stage and the drama turned the moment into an internet phenomenon.
It was a lawyer working for UN Watch, an independent body overseeing the United Nations, who delivered the punchline. Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, was speaking about Qatar allegedly “harbouring terrorists”. The UN council was hearing his points on Israel’s recent bombings in Doha that killed some leaders of the Palestinian group Hamas.
Neuer accused Qatar of being a state sponsor of terror and said it should not have given shelter to Hamas leaders. “If you don’t want targeted bombings against terrorists in your capital, why do you harbour terrorists in your capital?” Neuer, who is Canadian, argued.
To make his point about alleged hypocrisy, he said that UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and French President Emmanuel Macron had condemned Israel for hitting targets inside Qatar. “But when the US killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, the UN chief at the time celebrated that ‘justice has been done to such a mastermind of international terrorism’. France called it a ‘victory for all democracies’,” Neuer said.
As he continued, Pakistan’s representative raised a point of order – an objection – and argued that the arguments violate the sovereignty of countries. “We reject unfounded accusations and allegations,” the Pakistan rep said. Earlier, Pakistan condemned Israel’s actions in Qatar as “unlawful and heinous”.
But the chairperson ruled that Pakistan’s express objection was merely about procedure and “not substantive”.
That’s when the drama peaked.
The council president gave UN Watch another four seconds, precisely.
Hillel Neuer barely took three of those to say: “Mr president, Pakistan is another state sponsor of terror.” And he finished.
He shared the clip on his X handle, which had got over 2 million views in less than three days till September 12 night.
A debate raged in the comments and replies at his argument.
