UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- During the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) ending Monday, drama unfolded both inside and outside the chambers, with one of the most striking being Colombian President Gustavo Petro finding his U.S. visa cancelled upon returning home.

Unlike French President Emmanuel Macron trudging on foot for half an hour due to blocked streets in New York City and U.S. President Donald Trump sparring with a rogue teleprompter, this was no laughing matter.

Before his visa cancellation, Petro told one of several pro-Palestinian demonstrations on New York streets that soldiers should not point their guns at humanity, comments that the U.S. State Department described as "reckless and incendiary."

In response, the Colombian president accused the United States of violating the norms of diplomatic immunity on which the functioning of the United Nations (UN) and its General Assembly is based, and that its headquarters should be moved out of New York.

He also pointed to the U.S. State Department's decision to deny visas to officials of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Mahmoud Abbas, the PA president, in his remote address condemned Israel's actions in Gaza as "war crimes" and rejected any notion that Palestinians would abandon their land.

The crisis in the Gaza Strip dominated the rostrum. From North to South in speech after speech, world leaders have recognized Palestinian statehood, slammed Israel for the military campaign that has killed 65,000 people and displaced more than a million, and called for an end to the suffering of Palestinians.

Still, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, delivering a speech to an almost empty hall, vowed to press ahead with the Gaza City campaign. On Monday, while unveiling a Gaza plan together with Trump, Netanyahu vowed to eliminate Hamas as a threat with or without international support.

Conflicts from Gaza to Ukraine, shrinking humanitarian budgets, and rifts over climate action have made clear how elusive common solutions remain. The high-level UN week was not "going to offer us clear answers to all the UN's problem," said Richard Gowan, the UN director for the International Crisis Group, but it might give a more acute sense of exactly how difficult the situation is.

UN AT CROSSROADS

As the United Nations observes its 80th anniversary, the mood at the venue was far from celebratory. Raging conflicts, unilateralism and Cold War thinking are resurfacing, international rules and order are under strain, and a once-effective multilateral system is faltering.

Speaking from the UN rostrum, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mauritania Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug highlighted the widening global divide and described two coexisting worlds: one advancing rapidly through artificial intelligence and the fourth industrial revolution, and another trapped in poverty and marginalization. This, he said, presents a difficult test for humanity.

Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand warned that unilateralism and protectionism weaken international institutions and rule of law -- the very bedrock of the post-war order.

Buttressing these remarks, Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf said that in today's turbulent world, multilateralism is being manipulated by unilateral action and self-serving conflicts. "We must restore the United Nations as the beating heart of an international system based on the rule of international law," Attaf said.

"Humanity has once again come to a crossroads," Chinese Premier Li Qiang told the Assembly.

He posed a series of piercing questions:

"Anyone who cares about the state of affairs in the world would want to ask: Why couldn't we humans, having emerged from tribulations, adopt a greater sense of conscience and rationality, and treat each other with kindness and coexist in peace?"

"How could we, in the face of deplorable incidents such as humanitarian disasters, turn a blind eye to atrocities that trample blatantly on fairness and justice and sit on our hands?"

"How could we, when confronted with unscrupulous acts of hegemonism and bullying, remain silent and submissive for fear of might?"

"How could we let the ardent passion and dedication of our forefathers in founding the UN simply fade into the pages of history?"

Outside, more than 190 flags rippled in the breeze, while the sculptures "Let Us Beat Swords into Ploughshares" and "Non-Violence" stood as enduring calls for peace. Inside, staff from every corner of the globe -- different faces, voices, and colors -- worked side by side toward humanity's shared future.

"What I saw got me thinking," Li said. "Those people, objects and scenes that embody peace, progress and development are exactly why we choose to commemorate victory."

HARBOR OF HOPE

Tom Fletcher was the British Ambassador to Lebanon before he became the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator in 2024.

"I saw the work of the UN on the ground, ending conflicts, saving lives," he told Xinhua. "It was in the time when many refugees were arriving from Syria and the United Nations was doing this essential work in the field."

"At that point, I looked at it and thought, this is an organization we have to get behind," he said.

"I have spent the most part of my life working in and around the UN," said Rabab Fatima, the UN under-secretary general and high representative for the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and the small island developing states.

"I come from a graduating least developed country," said Fatima, referring to her home country, Bangladesh. "I'm quite aware of the expectations that there are on the United Nations."

The UN remains the best hope for developing countries, whether they be a small island developing state, a landlocked developing country, or a least developed country, she said.

They sit at the same table with many big powers, development partners and partners from the South, Fatima said. "The United Nations plays a very important role, both as a convener, of bringing everybody together, and also a catalyst for action within and among nations."

"The United Nations is the world's most universal, representative and authoritative intergovernmental organization that plays an irreplaceable and key role in global governance," Chinese premier Li said.

Li's promise to uphold UN ideals and carry forward the spirit of multilateralism, along with other Chinese efforts during the high-level week -- from pledging to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to foregoing new special and differential treatment in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations -- showed that China will be a bulwark against the erosion of the values upon which the United Nations was founded.

"Over the years, President Xi Jinping has put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative, sharing China's wisdom and solution for navigating global transformations and overcoming pressing challenges," Li said.

"I think there is ... a commitment to multilateralism, a commitment to a world in which we do work together to meet these global challenges," said Fletcher.

"We have to start from those fundamentals which our founders set out," Fletcher further said. "They feel even more relevant right now."

"We have to hold fast and defend what we have to defend," he added. "We also have to innovate and think afresh and be creative about meeting those challenges."