A Video History of U.N. Outbursts

There may be some friction over climate change at the United Nations, but it’s nothing compared to controversies from even the recent past.

Khrushchev Bangs His Shoe

Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the recently freed journalist who threw his shoes at George W. Bush, was by no means the first to express his opinion via footwear. In 1960, Nikita Khrushchev pounded his shoe on his desk in outrage over comments by a Filipino diplomat regarding Soviet foreign policy. Khrushchev's granddaughter later wrote in an article that the event remains a point of embarrassment for the family, and that the sequence of events surrounding "the case of Khrushchev's shoe" remain in question. Still, one thing is for certain: Khrushchev had a flair for theatrics. Here is a video of him and other Soviet delegates interrupting a speech by England's Prime Minister Harold Macmillan by banging their fists furiously on a table.

Israeli Ambassador Tears Resolution in Half

The United Nations is no stranger to the Israel-Palestine conflict. In 1975, after numerous resolutions condemning Israeli forays into Palestine, the U.N. passed Resolution 3379, which unequivocally stated that "Zionism is a form of racism and racial discrimination." Chaim Herzog, serving as the Israeli ambassador to the U.N., (and who would later serve as president), stepped to the podium and delivered a powerful speech against the measure that culminated with him tearing the document into pieces. The resolution was revoked in 1991, yet the discord between Israel and the U.N. continues: Just last week, the U.N. released a report alleging war crimes and possible crimes against humanity committed by both Israel and Palestinian groups during the most recent three-week clash.

John Bolton’s Uneasy Ambassadorship

Many viewed George W. Bush's appointment of John Bolton as ambassador to the U.N. as a slap in the face to the organization. Here was a man who in 1994 openly criticized the U.N., saying "the United States makes the U.N. work when it wants it to work," and that if 10 stories of the U.N. building disappeared "it wouldn't make a bit of difference." Needless to say, the Bolton era was not the greatest moment for U.S. international relations.