(Jerusalem Post) Richard Schifter - * The sense in Israel that the Jewish state's standing at the UN is, at long last, improving is truly puzzling. On the ground, in the halls and daily operations, nothing has changed. * The UN General Assembly continues to pay more attention to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict than to any other country-specific issue. The world's worst atrocities and humanitarian crises are ignored, but time is always available for Israel-bashing. * Between December 1 and 8, the UN General Assembly repeated its annual ritual of adopting 17 resolutions directed at Israel by the same large margins. * Some of these anti-Israel resolutions authorize an anti-Israel propaganda apparatus that flies the UN flag, is paid for by the UN, and operates worldwide. Leadership of this propaganda apparatus is vested in the Division for Palestinian Rights, located in the UN Secretariat. This UN-sponsored anti-Israel propaganda effort has encouraged the divestment and academic boycott campaigns. * It is vitally important to recognize the damage caused by the very existence of the UN's anti-Israel propaganda apparatus - which leads the worldwide effort to delegitimize the Jewish state - and to support the American efforts to eliminate that apparatus. The writer, former Deputy U.S. Representative in the UN Security Council, also served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights.
2005-12-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive