In light of the bullying tactics used by the United States against members of the United Nations (UN) recently, strong action must be taken against the US.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that vote in favour of a UN resolution condemning his decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Before the vote took place, Trump stated that “They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us” and added that, “Well, we're watching those votes. Let them vote against us. We'll save a lot. We don't care."

His warning came after Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said that she was “taking names” of the countries that vote against America in a meeting called to censure Trump’s decision on Jerusalem.

Such arrogant and bullying attitude should not be accepted by anyone. UN, as the global organisation to promote peace and justice, should not allow nations such as US and its close ally Israel to remain as members of the organisation.

Article 1 of the United Nations Charter 1945 clearly stipulates: “The purpose of UN amongst others is ‘To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace.”

Based on the recent bullying tactics against UN members, it is clear that the spirit of the UN charter has been violated by the US and has certainly not been followed and respected by Israel many times previously.

The failure of the US to respect other UN members and its continued support for the barbaric and inhuman actions carried out by Israel should have resulted in their expulsion from the organisation itself.

Article 6 of the UN Charter 1945 clearly states: “A Member of the United Nations which has persistently violated the Principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the Organization by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.”

This expulsion suggestion might seem difficult to be implemented, especially against powerful countries such as the US and its ally Israel.

However, by initiating this step, it will at least send a strong signal to both countries that their bullying tactics as well their disrespectful attitude towards other nations are becoming intolerable and should immediately be stopped.

DR MUZAFFAR SYAH MALLOW is senior lecturer, Faculty of Syariah & Law, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM).

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.