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(Washington, D.C., May 27, 2021)--We condemn in the strongest terms the latest action by the United Nations Human Rights Council against Israel, which makes a mockery of the body’s very purpose.
The council held an emergency “special session” today to allege human rights violations during the recently intensified hostilities between Hamas and Israel—specifically those committed supposedly by Israelis, not against Israelis, during fighting in which Palestinian terrorists again indiscriminately attacked and upended the lives of millions of civilians. The council—notorious for already singling out Israel alone for scrutiny and censure under a permanent agenda item, and for far more resolutions condemning Israel than any other country—has now held nine special sessions on the Jewish state. Nearly one-third of all special sessions have thus focused on Israel. With a vote of 24 in favor, 9 against and 14 abstaining, the council adopted a resolution—principally sponsored by Pakistan on behalf of the bloc of Islamic states—establishing an “ongoing independent, international commission of inquiry” to probe rights violations before and since April 13, a date chosen to highlight Palestinians’ attributing of the recent hostilities to Israeli policing on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. In an extraordinary, widely unrecognized effort to preserve peace, Israel has long maintained Muslim administration of the Mount—Judaism’s single holiest site, but where the al-Aqsa Mosque is situated. Nonetheless, the compound has repeatedly been used to attack Israelis and for incendiary preaching against Jews. An alarming spate of intercommunal violence in Israel began with assaults against identifiable Jews, some recorded and promoted on social media, by Arab youth in Jerusalem. The Human Rights Council has established multiple commissions of inquiry to reaffirm prior condemnations of Israel by the body, in which Israel’s adversaries enjoy an automatic majority. Before the special session, B’nai B’rith wrote to member states to urge them to refuse to cosponsor or support today’s resolution. We strongly commend Austria, Bulgaria, Cameroon, the Czech Republic, Germany, Malawi, the Marshall Islands, the United Kingdom and Uruguay for their principled vote against the motion. “The arrogance and presumptuousness of today’s action are as predictable as they are damaging to the cause of human rights,” B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin said. “By obscenely blaming the victim, council members have rewarded the terrorism of Hamas, which is bad for Israelis, for Palestinians and for peace. They have again told terrorists that they can attack civilians from among civilians and actually win propaganda points from the international community. The council now seeks, on an ‘ongoing’ basis, to strengthen both unjust claims of discrimination inside Israel itself and dangerous Palestinian efforts to have counterterrorism hindered by the International Criminal Court.” “Today’s resolution urges states to ‘refrain from transferring arms’—presumably so that Israel cannot be defended—and does not even make mention of Hamas, the jihadist group that controls the Gaza Strip and is committed openly to Israel’s destruction. Rather than actually supporting a ceasefire, let alone pushing to disarm and dismantle Hamas, the council has incentivized more of its atrocities—which have included rockets falling on Palestinians and on delivery points for humanitarian aid.” In a statement submitted to the council, B’nai B’rith U.N. and Intercommunal Affairs Director David Michaels said, “Four thousand rockets fired at Israel from Gaza. Some claim Gaza is ‘occupied,’ but Israel completely withdrew from it over 15 years ago. Some complain about a blockade on Gaza, but imagine how much more destructive Hamas would be with no such measures.” “What country would accept the existential threats and violence that Israel endures? If terrorists attack France, the United States, Britain, Spain, India or Germany, the world unites in solidarity and support for defeating the terrorists… But when the targets are Israelis, in Jews’ sole ancestral homeland—the Middle East’s only democracy—this body focuses blame on Israel. Israel, which takes unparalleled steps to avoid civilian casualties.” Michaels concluded, “This council does not take interest when Israeli Jews are attacked, only when they respond. This council repeatedly signals that human rights apply to all but Israelis.” 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 bnaibrith.org. (Washington, D.C., April 15, 2021)--B’nai B’rith leaders on multiple continents have concluded weeks of virtual meetings with United Nations ambassadors in which they advocated for equal and just treatment of Israel by the world body.
Meetings with dozens of senior diplomats from around the world were held during the main yearly session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the current Executive Board session of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which continues through April 21. The B’nai B’rith representatives met with delegates from Argentina, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Senegal, Togo, the United Kingdom and Uruguay, among numerous other countries. We appreciate all those countries that continue to afford exceptional access to B’nai B’rith for constructive and candid discussions of geopolitical affairs, human rights and the core values and policy priorities of the Jewish community. B’nai B’rith—which pioneered Jewish engagement with the U.N. upon the body’s very founding in 1945, and which remains the only major Jewish organization with a dedicated Office of United Nations Affairs and representation at key U.N. forums worldwide—brings international Jewish activists to Geneva and Paris each year for vital advocacy. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has renewed its dynamic outreach using modern technology. In their meetings, the B’nai B’rith leaders urged ambassadors, during the era of the Abraham Accords and normalization treaties between Israel and an increasing number of countries, to promote peace and coexistence by rejecting rote bias against Israel in U.N. settings. The ambassadors were urged to help expand the widening circle of partnership between the Jewish state and its Arab neighbors. At UNESCO, diplomats were particularly encouraged to continue recent progress in eschewing politicization of the body. At the UNHRC, beyond private bilateral meetings, B’nai B’rith delivered formal public interventions—defending Israel’s record of distributing COVID-19 vaccines, opposing the misuse of the International Criminal Court to stigmatize Israeli counterterrorism efforts, speaking out against both racism and anti-Semitism and raising awareness of the tainted legacy of a 2001 U.N. conference in Durban, South Africa. That event, the World Conference against Racism, itself notoriously became a scene of anti-Semitic outrages, with an outcome document singling out Israel alone for implied characterization as racist. B’nai B’rith mobilized the largest multinational Jewish delegation at the original Durban conference, as at the 2009 Durban Review Conference, and it will remain in the forefront of combating anti-Zionism when the U.N. plans to commemorate Durban’s 20th anniversary later this year. 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 bnaibrith.org. (Washington, D.C., March 24, 2021)--B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
B’nai B’rith condemns the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for its passage of four anti-Israel resolutions—more than those targeting any other country in the world—as part of its rote, institutionalized discrimination against the world’s only Jewish state and the Middle East’s only democracy. Three of the resolutions fell under the council’s Item 7—the only permanent agenda item dedicated to excoriating a single country, Israel—while the fourth was moved to a different item in a ploy to attract more support. The resolutions’ subjects were the Syrian-claimed Golan Heights, Palestinian self-determination, Israeli settlement communities and “accountability” for purported rights violations. The latter resolution gratuitously singled out Israel—which has led the world in inoculating its residents of all backgrounds, and which under bilateral agreements is not responsible for Palestinian health care but has provided assistance nonetheless—for a call to “ensure non-discriminatory access to vaccines” for COVID-19. Over recent weeks, B’nai B’rith leaders around the world have conferred with numerous ambassadors and other diplomats at the council and made official interventions before the body. One such intervention, noting the forthcoming 20th anniversary of the U.N.’s World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, asserted that “delegitimization, demonization and double standards do not amount to criticism, they amount to bigotry.” B’nai B’rith had brought the largest multinational Jewish delegation to the Durban conference, which became notorious for manifestations of anti-Semitism but remains celebrated by the UNHRC. No council member boasted a perfect record on the unjust anti-Israel resolutions. However, we commend those countries—including Cameroon, the Czech Republic, Malawi, the Marshall Islands and the United Kingdom—that mostly opposed the motions. Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Togo and Ukraine were also among those that opposed or abstained on key resolutions. We decry those countries, particularly likeminded states such as Argentina, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland and Uruguay, that failed to consistently stand up for principle and fairness at the council. B’nai B’rith will continue to lead Jewish communal engagement at the U.N., as it has since 1945. 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 bnaibrith.org. (Washington, D.C., June 22, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
B’nai B’rith International condemns the five anti-Israel resolutions adopted by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), one on June 19th and the other four today. The UNHRC regularly singles out Israel by passing numerous resolutions that solely and falsely allege Israeli misdeeds. We again condemn the maintenance of agenda Item 7, which makes Israel the only country separately and exhaustively scrutinized at every council session. We wholeheartedly commend Australia for voting against each anti-Israel resolution, and the Marshall Islands for voting against four of the five resolutions. We encourage all member states to consistently vote against anti-Israel resolutions and to clearly endorse the elimination of the discriminatory agenda item. One of the five anti-Israel resolutions, entitled, “Ensuring accountability and justice for all violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,” only mustered 22 votes in favor; more countries voted against or abstained. We are particularly outraged that a democracy such as Switzerland, even though it does not enjoy council membership, chose to be one of the main co-sponsors of the biased “ensuring accountability” resolution. 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., Feb. 12, 2020)—B’nai B’rith International President Charles O. Kaufman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
We are deeply appalled by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) shameful release of a blacklist of companies with business interests in Israeli territory captured during the defensive Six-Day War of 1967, which includes portions of Jerusalem. The thoroughly discredited U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) had mandated OHCHR to create the database. The list was released today with no notice to the companies affected. OHCHR does not have the competency to compile such a list, nor does it have the jurisdiction. It, and the UNHRC, are mandated to deal with actions by states, not businesses. When it comes to Israel, however, a special standard is always applied at the U.N. There are plenty of other situations where territories are disputed, however, the only blacklist that exists targets Israel and it is likely that no other country will be targeted with a similar list. The list, which targets some of the largest and most important corporations in Israel, including the largest banks and telecommunications companies, is clearly meant to serve as a clearinghouse of information for anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns targeting Israel. One hundred and twelve companies are affected; the vast majority – 94 – are based in Israel, but there are others headquartered in the United States, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Thailand and Luxembourg. The U.N.’s single-minded obsession with Israel is completely unjustified. Instead of helping facilitate peace between Israel and the Palestinians, the world body continues to provoke tensions. Peace can only come from direct engagement between the two sides, not from discriminatory dicta issued by third parties. It is time for those who see the hypocrisy in these kinds of actions to stand up and speak out. 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 was responsible for delivering two statements on June 29 at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, both relating to the council’s recent report on the 2014 Hamas-initiated Gaza conflict.
The first, delivered by B’nai B’rith representative to the United Nations in Geneva Klaus Netter, admonished the council for its refusal to even acknowledge the terrorist group Hamas by name in its resolution launching the investigation, let alone fully recognizing its true intentions to destroy Israel. Netter said: “Human rights mechanisms such as this Council often see their role as to name-and-shame human rights abusers. Unless the abuser is Hamas. In that case, the Council will ignore-and-obscure. We must ask: What it will take for this Council to pronounce the name ‘Hamas?’” Netter noted: “There is no moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas. As recently confirmed by a group of international military experts, Israel far exceeded the obligations of International Humanitarian Law in its counter-terrorism operations last summer. Hamas, on the other hand, dug tunnels into Israeli territory with the sole aim of carrying out horrendous terrorist attacks against Israeli farming communities near the border.” In his statement, Netter focused on the lack of acknowledgement that Israel was defending itself against the “ruthless terrorist organization” that is Hamas. Click here to read Netter’s intervention: http://bit.ly/1g2xdHs Separately, in cooperation with JINSA (the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs), Geoffrey Corn, a professor of law and the U.S. Army’s former senior expert on the Law of Armed Conflict, spoke under Agenda Item 7 about the flaws inherent in the report on the Gaza conflict. In his intervention, Corn raised a number of objections to the validity and accuracy of the report. At one point, he focused on how Hamas terrorists hid fighters and weapons among the civilian population of Gaza: “Specifically, it omits assessment of how an enemy’s systemic failure to distinguish himself from civilians, and in fact deliberately exploit the perception of civilian status, impacts the reasonableness of attack judgments.” Click here to read Corn’s intervention: http://bit.ly/1InXBGL To watch these interventions, see Chapter 49 (02:03:18, Netter) and Chapter 53 (02:11:55, Corn) here: http://webtv.un.org/watch/item7-general-debate-34th-meeting-29th-regular-session-of-human-rights-council/4328108187001  B’nai B’rith International has issued the following statement:
In the wake of the naming of partisan “experts” to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) “independent, international commission of inquiry” on Gaza, B’nai B’rith International reaffirms its clear expectation of bias on the part of the probe. The UNHRC selected William Schabas of Canada, Doudou Diène of Senegal, and Amal Alamuddin of Britain. B’nai B’rith considers the commission itself illegitimate as it was born of a UNHRC resolution that stridently excoriated Israel in advance of the “inquiry” it launched and didn’t so much as mention Hamas by name. It was specifically designed to scrutinize not years of cross-border terrorist attacks against Israelis, but rather Israel’s defensive response to them. Any suggestion that there is equivalence between terrorism and a state defending its civilians from that threat is both outrageous and unacceptable. Naming individuals with prior, public positions harshly critical of Israeli policy reinforces strong anticipation that the Gaza probe’s conclusions are foregone. Schabas, for example, was quoted in 2013 as saying, “my favorite would be [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu within the dock of the International Criminal Court.” Alamuddin—who is engaged to actor George Clooney—has now said she is unavailable to sit on the UNHRC commission. Nonetheless, she specified in a statement that she was “horrified” by what she called the “crimes” committed in the “occupied Gaza Strip.” Gaza, however, saw all Israeli military personnel and civilians depart in 2005, and it has been the origin of relentless, criminal violence against the civilians of Israel by Palestinian terrorist groups led by Hamas. Her intended appointment reveals not only the inherent bias of the UNHRC commission and its dispatchers, but also a deplorable attempt to garner publicity for yet another exercise in anti-Israel bias. |
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