That time Arafat brought a gun, and other shocking moments from UN General Assemblies

The United Nations General Assembly is the world's largest annual diplomatic event, with leaders from nearly 200 countries mingling at the UN headquarters in New York. For one busy week, big names (and egos) are given a platform to address the world, and the usually calm UN nerve centre in Manhattan becomes a diplomatic circus. Trump unexpectedly makes world leaders laugh US President Donald Trump, always the showman, last year made his counterparts burst out laughing … but not when he was expecting it. Trump went into rally mode in his second General Assembly address since being elected, boasting that his administration had “accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.” Laughter erupted around the chamber. Trump appeared to be momentarily thrown off balance, before saying: “Didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK.” Trump later claimed people had been laughing with him, not at him, and his then UN ambassador Nikki Haley said delegates were “amused by his honesty”. Bibi ‘bombs’ speech with cartoon diagram In 2012, Israel's embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's serious warning about the dangers of allowing Iran to obtain nuclear weapons was undercut by his use of a prop: a cartoonlike drawing of a round bomb. Bibi, as he is widely known in Israel, illustrated his point that the international community must set a red line to stop Iran enriching uranium by drawing a literal red line at the top of the drawing of the bomb, just under the fuse. Commentators poked fun at Bibi as the drawing quickly spread through social media – but as The Jerusalem Post pointed out, it got people talking about Netanyahu’s speech. “Gimmick or not, the chart served one purpose – and it served it successfully – getting people's attention,” the paper's veteran diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon wrote. Khrushchev bangs his shoe on the table One of the most famous and possibly mythical moments surrounding the General Debate is Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev banging his shoe on the table in fury. As the story goes, the year was 1960 and the leader became enraged by a discussion of the independence of the Soviet Union's satellite states in Eastern Europe. In response, he whipped off his shoe and banged it on the table. The president of the assembly reportedly broke his gavel as he tried to call Khrushchev back into order. But some witnesses said he simply brandished his shoe, according to political scientist and Khrushchev biographer William Taubman. A UN staffer claimed he couldn't have removed his shoe himself because the size of his stomach prevented him from reaching it. He maintained that it came off when a journalist stepped on the heel, and then passed it to Khrushchev in a napkin – at which point he did indeed bang the slip-shoe, Taubman said. When Khrushchev's son Sergei asked NBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for a tape of the event several years ago, neither could unearth any evidence. So the mystery remains, but the myth endures as one of the most-cited moments of creative diplomacy at the debate. Arafat brings a gun into the UN building Yasser Arafat, the former leader of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), became the first representative of a non-member organisation to mount the podium at the General Assembly in 1974. Arafat called for Palestinians' right to sovereignty, all the while openly sporting a holster. “Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter's gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand,” he said as he concluded the famous address, after which the PLO's right to self-determination was recognised. Arafat reportedly had to remove his gun from the holster before getting on stage. Hugo Chavez calls George W Bush the devil In 2006, then Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez drew gasps when he compared then US President George W Bush to the “devil” in front of the international body. “The devil came here yesterday,” Chavez said, 24 hours after Bush had spoken from the same podium. “And it smells of sulphur still today,” he added before performing the sign of the cross. He went on to warn that the US was the greatest danger facing the planet, threatening the survival of the human species. Gaddafi camps out on Trump territory Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was executed after he lost power in a 2011 armed revolt, created some drama trying to find a spot to pitch his famous Bedouin tent in 2009. Local New York politicians denied a request by the Libyan delegation to set up the tent in the city's famous Central Park. Gaddafi then tried to set up camp on Donald Trump's estate in Bedford, New Jersey, but the future president of the United States gave Gaddafi the boot. Gaddafi rented Trump's 113-acre estate called the Seven Springs to host his pavilion, but then Trump himself asked Gaddafi to take his tent down, ABC News reported. Fidel Castro gives longest-ever speech Leaders are advised to talk for 15 minutes only, but this is a “voluntary” time limit which is routinely ignored, meaning that sometimes the day's events end up dragging on late into the night. Former US President Barack Obama would usually speak for around 40 to 50 minutes. Gaddafi managed to stretch his speech to 96 minutes in his 2009 address, causing his personal translator to collapse from exhaustion. But the undisputed champion of the extended General Debate speech is Cuba’s late leader Fidel Castro, who spoke for a record 269 minutes in 1960.

That time Arafat brought a gun, and other shocking moments from UN General Assemblies

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The United Nations General Assembly has hosted its fair share of dramatic performances over the years

Trump unexpectedly makes world leaders laugh

The United Nations General Assembly has hosted its fair share of dramatic performances over the years