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(Washington, D.C., Nov. 15, 2019)— B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
We are outraged by today’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) committee vote to move forward the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). UNRWA is a corrupt, politicized agency that uses its bloated budget, which is intended to provide humanitarian aid, to incite hatred. UNRWA’s history of supporting incitement is long. The U.N. has confirmed that terrorist groups used UNRWA-run schools to store rockets and fire them at Israel during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge. Textbooks in use at these schools contain anti-Semitic portrayals of Jews and perpetuate the lie that Jews have no historic ties to Israel. The agency has even employed members of the terrorist group Hamas. This year, a leaked ethics report described a culture of corruption, nepotism, discrimination and misuse of funds at the agency. In 2018, the United States stopped supporting the agency because of the Palestinians’ failure to make progress on a peace plan. The Belgian, Dutch and Swiss governments suspended aid to UNRWA in response to corruption allegations. We call on the rest of UNRWA’s donors to immediately cease their donations until the agency meaningfully addresses its corruption and incitement issues. B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org (Washington, D.C., Oct. 7, 2019)--On the latest episode of the B’nai B’rith podcast, CEO Daniel. S. Mariaschin talks with B’nai B’rith Director of United Nations and Intercommunal Affairs David Michaels about B’nai B’rith’s work to hold the U.N. accountable to its own founding values and aspirations, during the opening of the 74th U.N. General Assembly (UNGA).
Michaels and Mariaschin discuss how in meetings with world leaders, our staff and volunteer leaders emphasize the need to stand together against Iran’s belligerent behavior and support for terrorism; the systemic anti-Israel bias at U.N. bodies, such as the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC), and its on-the-ground bureaucracies, such as the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA); continuing Palestinian hostility to a peace deal and engagement in terrorism; and anti-Semitism worldwide. Michaels says that important progress has been made in certain areas; for example, some Sunni Arab states have become more open to behind-the-scenes cooperation and engagement with Israel. However, many challenges remain, including the continued spread of pro-Palestinian propaganda within the U.N. Click here for Episode 57 of the B’nai B’rith Podcast. B’nai B’rith International has advocated for global Jewry and championed the cause of human rights since 1843. B’nai B’rith is recognized as a vital voice in promoting Jewish unity and continuity, a staunch defender of the State of Israel, a tireless advocate on behalf of senior citizens and a leader in disaster relief. With a presence around the world, we are the Global Voice of the Jewish Community. Visit www.bnaibrith.org   B’nai B’rith International is disappointed the European Parliament has passed a resolution that will allow European governments to label products made in the West Bank, a policy that will cause great economic and political harm to the Jewish state.
The resolution, which passed by a vote of 525-70, is an affirmation of the discriminatory goals of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Such a misguided policy is destructive to the peace process and gives momentum to opponents of Israel who seek to delegitimize the Jewish state by weakening its economy and isolating it politically. We call on European governments to reject this biased and counterproductive resolution.  B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
B’nai B’rith International condemns the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) for its disgraceful endorsement of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and is repulsed by its accusations against Israel of “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide.” BDS is a campaign to isolate Israel economically and politically through boycotts and other discriminatory tactics. Its aim is to delegitimize and ultimately cripple the Jewish state. Its focus on one and only one state— Israel—demonstrates the highly sinister intentions of the movement, which ignores human rights violations committed by the world’s worst abusers while raining fusillades on the Jewish state. At UE’s national convention in mid-August the union adopted a resolution making it the first union in the United States to take a pro-BDS position. In the resolution, UE called on the United States to end its aid to Israel and aligned itself with overseas labor unions that also oppose the Jewish state. The resolution goes on to make absurd claims, fraudulently asserting that Palestinian citizens of Israel “survived ethnic cleansing,” and that members of the government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have called for the stripping of citizenship and expulsion of Palestinians. The text further characterizes Israel’s defensive military operation in the wake of Hamas’ attacks on Israeli civilians in 2014 as “genocide.” While leveling outlandish falsehoods at the only democracy in the Middle East, the resolution does not once mention the terror organization Hamas and the violent fanaticism Israel faces everyday. The UE is perpetuating a one-sided, distorted view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In doing so, it is spreading hatred, endangering the security of the Middle East’s only democracy and harming the cause of peace in the region.  B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
B’nai B’rith International delivered a statement on March 23 at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), speaking under the biased anti-Israel item 7 to address the body’s just-deferred “Commission of Inquiry” report on Israel’s conflict with Hamas during the summer of 2014. B’nai B’rith representative to the U.N. in Geneva Klaus Netter normally speaks under UNHRC agenda item 4, under which all countries except Israel are considered, but instead spoke under item 7 as the commission’s conclusions had previously been expected to be released in that context. Netter admonished the council for the selection of an outspoken critic of Israel, William Schabas, as the chairman of the inquiry. Schabas resigned following the revelation that he had served as a paid consultant to the Palestine Liberation Organization. Netter explained: “We are speaking under this item, because we had expected that the report of the ‘Commission of Inquiry’ on last year’s conflict in and around Gaza would be submitted by today. Its submission was delayed on account of the most unusual resignation of the commission’s chairman, who had neglected to report his previous consultancy relationship with one of the parties to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Never in the council’s nine-year history—or indeed in the 60-year history of its predecessor [Human Rights] Commission—had such an embarrassment occurred. It should serve as a warning in future selections of commission members and special rapporteurs.” Netter concluded by putting the Palestinian-Israeli conflict into perspective in the broader context of unrest in the Middle East, highlighting the council’s obsession with Israel and its willful ignorance of the incomparable atrocities being committed in Syria: “The number of victims in all past Israel-Arab hostilities constitute a small portion of the 200,000 victims caused by the Syrian conflict next door, but this relationship is hardly reflected in the number of resolutions coming before the council this week.” A batch of rote anti-Israel motions and reports—more than those targeting any other country—are expected to be approved by the body, whose own members include serial rights violators. Image via Flickr  B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
B’nai B’rith International lauds the jury in a New York federal court for handing down a historic verdict in the battle against terror, finding the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) liable for terrorist attacks that killed 33 Americans and injured more than 450 during the Second Intifada. The plaintiffs included 10 American families whose relatives were killed or injured from 2002 to 2004. They argued that the PA and PLO provided direct and ancillary assistance to the perpetrators of these terrorist attacks, as well as financial compensation to those imprisoned and to the families of those who died. The U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York jury awarded the plaintiffs $218.5 million in damages, a figure that triples to $655.5 million under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act. In an era of rising terrorism, this verdict sets a legal and moral standard for the often onerous pursuit of justice against perpetrators. Moreover, this verdict is a symbolic victory for the families of those Americans killed by the PA and the PLO in the past, such as the U.S. Ambassador to Sudan Cleo Noel, Jr., who was taken hostage and shot by PLO militants in 1973. No sum of money can ever heal the pain and suffering of the victims’ families, but this decision, for the first time, has brought a measure of justice to those seeking redress for these murderous acts.  Adele Biton B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
B’nai B’rith International mourns the loss of 4-year-old Adele Biton, who died yesterday due to complications from pneumonia, two years after she was critically wounded in a Palestinian terror attack. Biton’s death should further highlight the fact that stone-throwing is not a peaceful protest, as is sometimes portrayed in the media, and can lead to deadly consequences. In a 2013 attack near Ariel, Israel, Palestinian attackers threw stones at a truck, causing the driver to slam on the brakes. Adele, her mother Adva Biton, and two sisters were in the car behind the truck. They were also hit by the stones and Adva lost control of the vehicle, striking the truck in front of them. Adele was critically injured in the attack and sustained major neurological injuries as a result. Adva is adamant that because of the injuries Adele incurred during the attack, her body was unable to deal with pneumonia, resulting in her death. B’nai B’rith’s thoughts and prayers go out to Adele’s family during this trying time.  B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
B’nai B’rith International commends the United States and Australia for voting today against a Palestinian resolution submitted to the United Nations Security Council on Monday that would have imposed an arbitrary deadline and terms for settling the Palestinian-Israeli issue. By bringing its list of demands to the United Nations and attempting to force Israel to acquiesce through a third party, the Palestinian Authority (PA) sought to exploit the world body to advance its political agenda. B’nai B’rith has vocally objected to any PA attempt to deliver an ultimatum for Israeli compliance with its objectives. This latest circumvention of negotiations with Israel is no different. In typical PA fashion, the resolution blatantly failed to ensure Israel’s security and identity as a Jewish state. We applaud the United States and Australia for their commitment to push back against these efforts in defense of a genuine and constructive path to peace. The two votes against, combined with five abstentions from Lithuania, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Korea and the United Kingdom denied the Palestinians the minimum of nine votes needed to adopt the resolution. The countries that voted in favor of the one-sided resolution—in contravention of longtime international insistence upon direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations—were Argentina, Chad, Chile, China, France, Jordan, Luxembourg and Russia. Peace can only be achieved through meaningful, bilateral negotiations. The PA’s continued internationalization of the conflict with Israel has only exacerbated the situation. Those countries that genuinely seek a peaceful resolution of this conflict must impress upon the Palestinians to cease exporting and enflaming the conflict by joining new multinational bodies, beginning with the International Criminal Court, in an effort to deploy them as political weapons against Israel. |
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