(National Post-Canada) - Anne Bayefsky Last week Israel's second-class status at the UN was again demonstrated by the defeat of the Israeli candidate for the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. This follows the defeat of the Israeli candidate for the UN Human Rights Committee in September 2002; the defeat of the Israeli candidate for the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in August 2002; and the defeat of the Israeli candidate for the UN Racial Discrimination Committee in January 2002. By contrast, Egypt has members on all six UN human rights treaty bodies. Israel was finally accepted into the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) in May 2000, but WEOG, driven by states such as France, refuses to admit Israel to its Geneva operations, meaning that Israel is the only UN member forced to sit out consultations on draft resolutions and UN Geneva-based business of all kinds.
2003-02-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive