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North Korea criticizes U.S. influence in Israel and the Middle East

North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un (L) meets with to Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) during the Russia - North Korea Summit on September 13, 2023. File Photo by Kremlin POOL/UPI
North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un (L) meets with to Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) during the Russia - North Korea Summit on September 13, 2023. File Photo by Kremlin POOL/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 11 (UPI) -- North Korea has criticized the influence of the United States in Israel and the Middle East as world leaders cozied up to Iran on Sunday in the wake of Israel's war in Gaza.

Yang Myong-sung, secretary-general of the DPRK-Arab Association, released a statement published by the North Korean Foreign Ministry in which he said international condemnation of the United States for its unwavering support of Israel has grown.

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"International condemnation is mounting against the United States and the West for unilaterally supporting the inhumane genocidal behavior of the Israeli Jewish revivalists," Yang said.

Yang pointed to what he called "double standards" in how the United States responded to the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza. Concerns of such "hypocrisy" have been raised by world leaders in the global south since October 7, when tensions between Hamas and Israel escalated.

"This is a righteous condemnation of the U.S. and the West's reluctance to condemn the innocent Russia as an 'aggressor' in the context of Ukraine, while turning a blind eye to Israel's beastly crimes," Yang said, before referring to Israel as a "poisonous mushroom" planted by the West.

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He characterized the United States and the West as using Israel to "maintain dominance" in the Middle East by fomenting contradictions between Jewish and Arab people.

"It was the U.S. and Western countries that engineered the draconian decision to partition Palestine and establish an Arab state and a Jewish state at the second session of the U.N. General Assembly in November 1947," Yang said.

"And it was the U.S. and Western countries that handed over tons of armaments to the Jewish revivalists after the creation of the State of Israel to fuel their territorial expansion ambitions."

Yang accused the United States of condoning "mass murder" by providing Israel with weapons including white phosphorus bombs and bunker-buster missiles. The Washington Post reported in December that Israel used white phosphorus in Lebanon, provided by the United States.

Meanwhile, countries from North Korea to Saudi Arabia offered congratulatory messages on Sunday to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to celebrate the birth of the country's republic after the toppling of the monarchy in 1979. Though a small measure, the moves show solidarity between Muslim nations and supporters historically at odds with one another as the war in Gaza continues.

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