Focuses on Poverty, Inequality, Intolerance and Discrimination in the Hemisphere
 
Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro Lemes addressed the B’nai B’rith Diplomatic Encounter Series luncheon on May 22 on the subject of the OAS and human rights in Latin America.
 
Almagro spoke about how diversity can be our strength, but that it can create marginalization. He emphasized that we must strive to prevent and stop discrimination: “An environment with stronger democracies and rule of law, also offers better protection for human rights, greater security and more prosperity for all. More rights means greater protection for religious freedoms and all minority communities.”
 
Anti-Semitism incidents have been increasing at an alarmingly high rate globally, and the secretary general noted that in Latin America “the phenomenon of anti-Semitism is still real and present” and “hate speech must be repudiated.”  
 
In the Q&A part of the program, Almagro was asked about embassy moves to Jerusalem by the United States, Guatemala and Paraguay and if he thought other nations would follow. He said: “at the end of the day, Jerusalem is the capital for Israel.” The secretary general also discussed the situation in Venezuela and his call on member states to impose further sanctions against the Maduro regime in order to force a resolution to the political and humanitarian crisis.
 
B’nai B’rith CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin introduced the event by speaking about the history of Latin American Jewry, which began with the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, but increased tremendously at the end of World War II. Mariaschin also spoke of B’nai B’rith’s strong relationship with Latin America dating back to the 1920s. B’nai B’rith has given tens of millions of dollars in humanitarian relief aid to several Latin America countries. B’nai B’rith was also the first Jewish organization to be accredited as a non-governmental organization at the OAS.
 
“The importance of Latin America today is unquestionable — to B’nai B’rith and the world. The Americas face many pressing challenges together, including the global economic crisis, the fight against drug trafficking and drug consumption and the rise of transnational terrorism. B’nai B’rith has long advocated for the promotion of human rights, trade liberalization, a more humane immigration policy and more extensive cooperation in the fields of security and development. We pledge our continued support to build upon the framework established by the OAS to confront these issues of mutual concern together,” Mariaschin said.
 
Almagro focused on a “more rights for more people” theme throughout and stressed the importance of stopping discrimination to help people thrive.
 
Through the B’nai B’rith Diplomatic Encounter Series, which launched in 2002, diplomats and professionals meet to talk about some of the most topical domestic and foreign policy issues.

Council Resolution Condemns Israel While Creating Another Biased Probe

B’nai B’rith International’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva Klaus Netter addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) today in defense of Israel. The UNHRC held a special session that again singled out Israel for condemnation even as it established yet another biased probe to “investigate” Israeli self-defense efforts against terrorists and rioters across the Gaza border.
 
In his speech, Netter said: “Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza with severe brutality, brags — in Arabic — about the true nature of the events happening at the fence between Gaza and Israel. They acknowledge that many, indeed most, of the dead are Hamas terrorists. They take video of themselves breaching the fence with machetes yelling about slaughtering the Jews — Jews who live hundreds of meters away from the fence in peaceful farming communities in Israel.
 
The rest of the world, however, is fed outright lies by Hamas, and based on the proceedings today, it is clear that many in the international community continue to make the very harmful mistake of believing the lies.”
 
During the session, 29 countries voted in favor of a one-sided resolution setting up a new “commission of inquiry” to scrutinize Israel, even after the UNHRC decided in advance that Israel was responsible for violating “international law in the context of large-scale civilian protests.” We commend the United States and Australia for voting against the reckless and unjust measure; 14 additional countries abstained.
 
Click here to read Netter’s full remarks. 
Click here to see Netter’s intervention (begins at the ​1:03:11 mark).

​B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is scheduled to hold a special session on Friday to single out Israel for defending itself from rioters at, and terrorists pledging to breach, the Gaza border over the course of weeks.
 
We condemn this convening — in the latest example of singular UNHRC attention to Israel — of a Council special session to scrutinize the Middle East's beleaguered sole democracy. Israel has been the focus of more such sessions than any other country in the world.
 
The outcome of this session has been established in advance: It will recklessly and unjustly excoriate Israel, not its attackers, thus handing the fanatic terrorists of Hamas the propaganda victory they had sought by pushing Palestinians, both combatants and noncombatants, to threaten, provoke and assault Israel and by forcing the very conditions some Gazans have been violently "protesting." 
 
Israel has a fundamental right and obligation to defend its civilians and its borders, and it has done so with exceptional care and restraint. Hamas, for its part, has repeatedly been caught lying about Palestinian actions and casualties. Yet Hamas itself could not help but acknowledge that the vast majority of the most recent casualties were operatives of the jihadist group.
 
To suggest, then, that the premeditated Gaza riots are attributable to the U.S.'s long-overdue, and rightful, opening of its embassy in Jerusalem is insulting.
 
Israel completely and unconditionally withdrew from the Gaza Strip well over a decade ago — only to be subjected to yet more indiscriminate terror from Gaza. The takeaway is self-evident: Merciless Palestinian extremists seek not any limited territory but to eradicate Israel, as they often openly proclaim.

B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
Today the United States Embassy in Israel officially moved to its new location in Jerusalem. This groundbreaking move not only recognizes 70 years of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, but also the more than 3,000 years that it has served as the heartbeat and capital of the Jewish people.
 
Israel has long been the only country in the world whose choice of a capital is not internationally recognized. The lack of that recognition has been a willful denial by the international community of the thousands-year connection of Jews to Jerusalem and an injustice.
 
Ambassador David Friedman provided opening remarks at the ceremony in Jerusalem: “On this exact day 70 years ago, at almost this exact time, David Ben Gurion declared Israel’s independence. Just 11 minutes later, President Harry Truman caused the United States to be the very first nation to recognize the reborn State of Israel. He later regretted that he waited so long. 70 years since that memorable event, almost to the minute, the United States finally takes the next step. A step awaited, voted upon, litigated and prayed for, for all these years. Today we open the United States Embassy in Jerusalem, Israel.”
 
Several world leaders and officials attended the official events marking the embassy move in Jerusalem and in Washington, D.C. B’nai B’rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin represented B’nai B’rith at the White House, and B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Chairman Haim Katz attended the ceremony in Israel.
 
We welcome the decisions of those countries that are following the United States and moving their embassies to Jerusalem, and hope many others will soon follow.

B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have sent a letter to President of Paraguay Horacio Cartes expressing appreciation for his moving Paraguay’s Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.
 
In the letter, Saltzman and Mariaschin note: “Jerusalem, a city of eternal historical and religious connection to the Jewish people, has always been Israel’s capital. Placing an embassy in a state’s capital city should, under normal circumstances, be an uncontroversial recognition of reality. When it comes to Israel, however, there are many in the international community who prefer that normal conventions of international diplomacy be ignored.”
 
And they continue: “We strongly commend you for standing up to this pressure not to relocate embassies to Jerusalem. Your decision was just and correct and will strengthen the cause of peace.”
 
Click here to read the full letter.

B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International welcomes President Donald J. Trump’s announcement of steps to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
 
Trump outlined several deficiencies in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement: “…even if Iran fully complies, the regime can still be on the verge of a nuclear breakout in just a short period of time. The deal’s sunset provisions are totally unacceptable.”  
 
We have long-criticized these and other substantive omissions in the JCPOA.
 
As the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, with influence in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and across the Middle East, and with its continued, public commitment to Israel’s destruction, it is obvious that Tehran does not have peaceful aspirations for its nuclear program.
 
Iran has long made clear its intentions for regional hegemony not only in the Middle East, but in Latin America as well. The JCPOA has done nothing to curb Tehran’s radical behavior and acts of violence.
 
B’nai B’rith is encouraged that the president recognized the deal’s many weaknesses. We urge our European partners to join the United States in pressuring Iran to curb its nuclear activity. The reimposition of sanctions would send a clear message that the existing agreement cannot stand, and an Iran with nuclear weapons will not be tolerated.

B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International strongly condemns Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for declaring that the Jewish people caused the Holocaust due to their “social behavior.” Abbas gave a speech yesterday at the National Palestinian Council in Ramallah, and referred to his remarks as a “history lesson.” Characterizing his inaccurate remarks as a lesson in history demonstrates a dangerous disregard for the undisputed and undeniable facts surrounding the systematic murder of Europe’s Jews.
 
Nazis and their collaborators are solely responsible for the Holocaust.
 
Abbas’ anti-Semitic and anti-Israel rhetoric is the height of maliciousness, and no one can expect to arrive at an agreement with a leader who peddles such anti-Semitic tropes. Abbas perpetuating vile conspiracy theories and falsifying ​history does nothing for the Middle East peace process. It does, however, elevate hatred to a new level.