As I approached security to enter the United Nations headquarters on the opening day of the General Assembly’s high-level debate on 24 September, I noticed on the grounds for the first time a striking sculpture of St. George and the Dragon.
I paused before continuing to the security tent, taking in the might of St. George upon his horse, slaying a dragon whose mid-section was composed of pieces of U.S. and Soviet nuclear missiles. Entitled, “Good Defeats Evil,” by Zurab Tsereteli, a Georgian-Russian artist, the work brings with it the promise of peace as the world continues to spiral deeper into global conflicts. Created to commemorate the 1987 Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Short-Range Nuclear Missiles, the sculpture is a particularly poignant piece as Lebanon — the capital of which St. George is the patron saint — is pulled further into the conflict in the Middle East.
Listening to world leaders at the debate — including those from the United States, Turkey, Jordan, South Africa and Qatar — it became increasingly clear the world’s eyes remain on Gaza, with great fear for what is to become of the region as the conflict approaches the one-year mark.
António Guterres, U.N. secretary-general, referred to the situation in Gaza as “a non-stop nightmare that threatens to take the entire region with it” and pointed to Lebanon as an example of the escalation.
“Lebanon is at the brink,” he said. “The people of Lebanon, the people of Israel and the people of the world cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.”
To date, the U.N. estimates more than one million people have been displaced across Lebanon due to the conflict. In Gaza, 90 percent of the population, about 1.9 million people, have been displaced since 7 October.
King Abdullah II of Jordan, concerned with the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, rejected the notion of Jordan as “an alternative homeland.”
“We will never accept the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime,” he said.
He also focused on the dangers of impunity, stressing that it places “the very legitimacy” of the U.N. at risk, threatening “global trust and moral authority.”
In pursuit of such accountability and to prevent further atrocities, South Africa brought a case against Israel to the International Court of Justice (I.C.J.), the main judicial body of the U.N., in December 2023, “seeking an order to prevent Israel from committing genocide against the people of Gaza,” said Cyril Ramaphosa at the General Assembly.
“The court’s opinion bears a moral imperative to us all,” said King Abdullah II, referring to the I.C.J.’s advisory opinion that Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories violates international law.
“The obligation it carries is one that our nations cannot afford to ignore — for the sake of our world, as well as the future for Palestinians and Israelis alike. Because both peoples deserve to live their lives in dignity, free of violence and fear. And the only way to achieve that is a just peace.”
In his address to the General Assembly on 28 September, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state of the Holy See, emphasized the importance of action and willingness in the pursuit of peace: “As Pope Francis affirms, ‘The need for peace challenges us all, and demands that concrete steps be taken.’ Peace is only possible if it is wanted. The establishment of peace is contingent upon the existence of a collective desire for its realization. The pursuit of peace is a collective responsibility.”
With 7 October fast approaching, marking one year of the Israel-Hamas conflict, I cannot help but think back to St. George and the atomic dragon, and the treaty that inspired the sculpture. U.S. and Soviet leaders agreed to the “double global zero,” eliminating a class of weaponry entirely.
As Lebanon is pulled further into conflict, as missiles launch and fall around the world, “Good Defeats Evil” serves as a reminder that there is another path forward, that peace is attainable.