Two days ago, the body of a young woman, who was known for her beautiful, cheerful face and her athletic allure, was removed from under the rubble of the United Nations headquarters in Haiti. A young woman who had not yet reached the age of big achievements and high positions, but had reached that of ambition, of self-confidence, of faith in the future, of adventure and of working “on the field” towards a long journey as a UN employee, a young woman thirty-one years of age. Senior UN employees and senior staff members at the UN building were very sad for people like Hédi Annabi, the Tunisian who brilliantly represented the UN and the Arabs in positions that are a source of pride at the UN. Hédi served in Haiti as the Head of the UN Mission there, after spending years in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and having for long periods of time assumed the highest positions as an Arab at the United Nations. Because he had done the best at his job and been known to be a perfect professional, the sorrow was mixed with a feeling of tremendous loss. Tears were shed for Hédi as they were for his many companions, over whom the United Nations building in Port-au-Prince collapsed on the day the earthquake brought disaster to the people and residents of Haiti. The third floor of the UN building in New York shook with emotion the day people heard about the graceful, bright-faced girl who worked at the UN documents distribution office for journalists. On the day Alexandra Duguay (from Canada) left UN Headquarters a few months ago, she celebrated her going to Haiti with a party at the UN correspondents' club attended by perhaps all correspondents. She spread a red carpet in front of the club's entrance, decorated the gloomy hall with flowers and colors, prepared the music, and said goodbye to the third floor with that smile that gets stuck between eyelashes and takes over hearts. May God help Alex's mother. May God help the relatives of all the victims, wherever they may have come to perform civil service or to serve in a peacekeeping operation in Haiti. But first and foremost, may God help the people of Haiti in this catastrophe which was brought by nature and killed 75 thousand people, leaving behind it 250 thousand wounded and more than 300 thousand homeless. Most of the world shuddered in horror at the sight of the dead bodies piled up amid inconceivable destruction. Aid flowed in, and governments as well as NGOs gathered behind campaigns, some of them unprecedented and attracting the contribution of young people in colleges and schools, alongside that of those who traditionally lend a helping hand. Humanitarian organizations used creative approaches when needed, and were able to raise millions of dollars, for example, from an SMS through mobile phones that made it easier for people to donate by simply pressing five digits. It is only natural for the efforts of the peoples and countries of North America, South America and the Caribbean to have more impetus than those of the peoples of African and Arab countries, since Haiti is their neighbor. And clearly Europe is better trained to offer aid during emergencies than are Arab or Muslim countries. Yet this does not refute the fact that some of these countries have fallen short in a manner that has attracted attention and aroused criticism. Perhaps some of these countries did not market what they had given in secret well because they believed they were doing a good deed and did not need to advertise it to market themselves. Perhaps the bureaucracy of some other countries did not respond with the swiftness necessary to meet urgent and pressing needs, the same as the rest of the civilized world whatever the reason. Nevertheless, such shortcoming has aroused remarks and criticism, and it was completely inadequate. Some Arab countries have felt collective responsibility in such a situation, thus acting fast and giving as much as they could. Lebanon heard the pressing call for aid of the United Nations and sent a private plane carrying medicine and tents, as well as a medical team. Lebanon, that small country always at the mercy of the regional and international balance of power and falling victim to the outbidding of its local leaders, has behaved in a manner that deserves to be appreciated and commended for its humanitarian feeling, as well as for its sense of responsibility for the Lebanese diaspora. Indeed, in the case of Haiti, there are about eight thousand Lebanese on this disaster-stricken island, added to the fact that Lebanon being a member of the Security Council makes it bear special collective responsibility, which it has exercised well. The first Arab country that responded to the Haiti tragedy was Qatar, which sent a relief team comprising 26 members, including soldiers, administrators and doctors, to set up a field hospital and offer assistance to those in need, this alongside the resolve to send a team to assess the needs of the post-disaster rehabilitation period. Jordan lost three of its sons who worked as part of a battalion of the Stabilization Mission in Haiti comprising 950 Jordanians. A plane belonging to the Jordanian Royal Air Force headed to Haiti carrying what was needed to set up a military field hospital, in addition to tons of medicine, food and clothes, followed by a second military plane carrying medical teams and equipment. Morocco responded by donating the equivalent of two million dollars in medicine. Bahrain donated a million dollars and so did Kuwait. The United Arab Emirates has set in motion the planes of its airlift to help the victims of the earthquake and provide tents, this alongside donating money, clothes, food and medicine through charities, equivalent to two million dollars. Even the Palestinians in Gaza sent what they could in terms of money, clothes and food which they donated to the Red Cross to help Haiti. Egypt sent instructions to provide assistance but did not implement them. Syria presented its condolences and its sympathy. Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu called upon Muslim countries to redouble their assistance to Haiti, praising those who had taken the initiative and hinting at the other countries, which have the ability but failed to respond quick-wittedly to the necessity of helping. The country most prominent in providing assistance to Haiti, as a government and as a people, is without a doubt the United States. Within just two days, 10 thousand American soldiers arrived in Haiti, contributing to the removal of dead bodies from under the rubble and to supporting the government, devastated by the earthquake which has destroyed its institutions and infrastructure. US forces took control of security to prevent the tragic situation from worsening as a result of the overwhelming chaos and despair. They have supervised airport activity, regulating the landing of one hundred planes a day in that small airport, and have sought to coordinate the influx of government planes as well as that of humanitarian organizations to extend assistance. In spite of this, the United States has been the target of blame and suspicion, as it was attacked by the media in Venezuela and Qatar for example for the size of its military presence, using the term of American “occupation” of Haiti. It was also criticized by countries and organizations that wanted their planes to land immediately, accusing it of acting for political ends. The United Nations has also received criticism, especially Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who some media outlets said had failed to deal with the Haiti earthquake like former US President George W. Bush had failed to deal with Hurricane Katrina. Some of the media found Ban Ki-moon to be unusually bureaucratic and to lack the sense of swift action necessary during emergencies. He was especially criticized for his slowness and his lack of awareness of the scale of the incident during the first 24 hours of the greatest disaster to befall the UN, resulting so far in the death of around 30 people while the fate of an additional 300 UN employees is still unknown. Others, especially among diplomats, looked at the issue from the perspective of two aspects: the United Nations' capabilities and Ban Ki-moon's future. Many diplomats considered that it was not possible for the United Nations to do more than what it did under extremely difficult conditions in a country devastated overnight. Indeed, the United Nations does not have the capabilities of the United States despite the fact that the Stabilization Mission in Haiti comprises seven thousand soldiers and a thousand policemen, the number of whom the Security Council unanimously decided this week to increase by an additional 3500. The United Nations is officially in charge of the task of coordinating efforts, but the coordination mechanism in an emergency such as this is not entirely cohesive. Thus the United States for example would not be able to extend its aid to Haiti through the UN mechanism, which is generally burdened with too much bureaucracy. This is alongside the American side clarifying that US military presence there is a bilateral issue not under the authority of the UN. This is in terms of the aspect of capabilities. As for the aspect of Ban Ki-moon's future as Secretary-General, Haiti might be the most important turning point in his future, if he wishes to run for a second term – considering that the deadline for candidacy being in 2011 already puts him under observation. The horrific event in Haiti has set forth numerous complaints about Ban Ki-moon, not just from the media but also governments, among them those of France and Russia. The impact of such complaints has multiplied under the general wilting of the United Nations in recent times and the likeliness of its increase because of the remodeling of the main building, and what it involves in terms of the consequences of the transitional period and the splitting of the organization. Yet there is also the possibility of Ban Ki-moon overcoming such complaints if he manages well the phase following the catastrophic earthquake that has stricken the island of Haiti, and of what this island will require after removing the dead bodies from under the rubble. The tragedy of Haiti has multiple reasons and dimensions. It was the fate of those who fell victim to the earthquake that it struck exactly at 4:53, only seven minutes before the end of government working hours. This was what fate decided and this is how the catastrophe befell the country and its people first and foremost, also reaching the UN family.
