Click here to view the letter in French.

Letter (Translated to English):

Mr. Jean-Noël BARROT
Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs
37 Quai d’Orsay
75007 PARIS

Paris, March 28, 2025

Mr. Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs,

We call on you to oppose, in the name of France, the renewal of Ms. Francesca Albanese’s mandate as Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories within the United Nations Human Rights Council.

As the renewal of Ms. Albanese’s mandate, scheduled for April 1, 2025, approaches, we express our deep concern regarding the stated intention to maintain this appointment within an institution that must embody the universal principles of neutrality, impartiality, and respect for international law.

Since taking office in May 2022, Ms. Albanese has been the subject of numerous criticisms from major democracies, including France and Germany, for statements deemed unacceptable. On February 10, 2024, following the national tribute paid by President Emmanuel Macron to the “victims of October 7” — an attack the President described as “the largest antisemitic massacre of our century” — Ms. Albanese publicly challenged this description, stating that the victims “were not killed because they were Jewish.” This reaction reflects a form of relativism in the face of the horror of October 7. Denying this is a mistake, and justifying the attack by invoking context serves to minimize its severity.

These statements are part of a pattern of controversial positions, often marked by radical rhetoric, inappropriate comparisons, and a stance perceived as systematically hostile to the State of Israel, undermining the credibility and legitimacy of her UN mandate.

In early November 2023, less than a month after the most significant antisemitic massacre of our century, she co-authored a statement titled: “Time is running out for Gaza, warn UN experts, who demand a ceasefire to prevent genocide,” thus promoting the idea that a “genocide” of the Palestinian people is underway — an example of accusatory inversion reminiscent of Hamas rhetoric. In November 2022, she participated in a conference organized by the “Council on International Relations – Palestine,” an entity associated with Hamas, recognized as such by multiple sources and chaired by Basem Naim, a senior Hamas member.

In 2021, during the Brussels International Conference on UNRWA, Ms. Albanese accused Israel of committing “serious human rights violations and holding millions of civilians captive.” Also in 2021, in a tweet, Ms. Albanese referred to Israeli territory as the “historic homeland” of the Palestinians.

Ms. Albanese has repeatedly accused Israel of practicing apartheid and even organized a conference on June 15, 2021, entitled “Israel Apartheid Exposed: What’s Next?”

In January 2015, Ms. Albanese posted on Facebook a comparison between Gaza and the Warsaw Ghetto, equating Hamas “resistance” with the Jewish resistance in Warsaw.

During the Gaza conflict in 2014, she shared on Facebook a letter claiming that “America and Europe, one subdued by the Jewish lobby, and the other by Holocaust guilt, stand aside and continue to condemn the oppressed — the Palestinians — who defend themselves with the only means they have (wayward missiles) …” Also in 2014, Ms. Albanese wrote on Facebook, in criticism of the BBC: “The Israeli lobby is clearly in your veins and your system, and it will be remembered that you stood by Big Brother in this Orwellian nightmare once again triggered by Israel’s greed. Shame on you, BBC.”

Moreover, concerns have been raised about potential conflicts of interest, undisclosed financial contributions, and Ms. Albanese’s participation in events organized by groups close to Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States, Canada, and several other countries.

We remind you that according to the Human Rights Council’s HRC 8/PRST/2 declaration, any mandate renewal must be carried out in strict compliance with the Code of Conduct for Special Rapporteurs. The body of evidence accumulated so far — including her public statements, positions, and institutional and personal affiliations — clearly demonstrates a breach of the requirements for independence and neutrality.

Therefore, Mr. Minister, we ask you to bring these concerns to the attention of Ambassador Jürg Lauber, President of the Council, and to the members of the Human Rights Council.

In an especially sensitive international context, where the fight against antisemitism and for respect for international humanitarian law remains a priority, renewing Ms. Albanese’s mandate would send a regrettable message to victims, human rights defenders, and states committed to credible multilateralism.

We therefore solemnly call on you, Mr. Minister, to oppose, in the name of France, the renewal of Ms. Francesca Albanese’s mandate. The moral and institutional integrity of the United Nations is at stake.

Remaining at your disposal, please accept, Mr. Minister, the expression of our highest consideration.

[Footnote]
1 Notably at Sciences Po, where she gave a talk at the invitation of Students for Justice in Palestine (affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood)

Signatories:

• Caroline Yadan, MP for the 8th constituency of French citizens abroad
• David Amiel, MP for the 13th constituency of Paris
• Antoine Armand, MP for the 2nd constituency of Haute-Savoie
• Thibault Bazin, MP for the 4th constituency of Meurthe-et-Moselle
• Maud Bregeon, MP for the 13th constituency of Hauts-de-Seine
• Stéphane Buchou, MP for the 3rd constituency of Vendée
• Pierre Cazeneuve, MP for the 7th constituency of Hauts-de-Seine
• François Cormier-Bouligeon, MP for the 1st constituency of Cher
• Nicole Dubré-Chirat, MP for the 6th constituency of Maine-et-Loire
• Anne Genetet, MP for the 11th constituency of French citizens abroad
• Olivia Grégoire, MP for the 12th constituency of Paris
• Michel Herbillon, MP for the 8th constituency of Val de Marne
• Emmanuelle Hoffmann, MP for the 4th constituency of Paris
• Sébastien Huyghe, MP for the 5th constituency of Nord
• Phillippe Juvin, MP for the 3rd constituency of Hauts-de-Seine
• Brigitte Klinkert, MP for the 1st constituency of Haut-Rhin
• Amélia Lakrafi, MP for the 10th constituency of French citizens abroad
• Jean Laussucq, MP for the 2nd constituency of Paris
• Vincent Ledoux, MP for the 10th constituency of Nord
• Mathieu Lefèvre, MP for the 5th constituency of Val-de-Marne
• Constance Le Grip, MP for the 6th constituency of Hauts-de-Seine
• Sylvain Maillard, MP for the 1st constituency of Paris
• Christophe Marion, MP for the 3rd constituency of Loir-et-Cher
• Stéphane Mazars, MP for the 1st constituency of l’Aveyron
• Nicolas Metzdorf, MP for the 1st constituency of Nouvelle-Calédonie
• Paul Midy, MP for the 5th constituency of l’Essonne
• Laure Miller, MP for the 2nd constituency of Marne
• Joséphine Missoffe, MP for the 14th constituency of Paris
• Sophie Panonacle, MP for the 8th constituency of Gironde
• Jérémie Patrier-Leitus, MP for the 3rd constituency of Calvados
• Natalia Pouzyreff, MP for the 6th constituency of Yvelines
• Stéphanie Rist, MP for the 1st constituency of Loiret
• Charles Rodwell, MP for the 1st constituency of Yvelines
• Anne-Sophie Ronceret, MP for the 10th constituency of Yvelines
• Jean-François Rousset, MP for the 3rd constituency of l’Aveyron
• Laetitia Saint-Paul, MP for the 4th constituency of Maine-et-Loire
• Freddy Sertin, MP for the 6th constituency of Calvados
• Liliana Tanguy, MP for the 7th constituency of Finistère
• Jean Terlier, MP for the 3rd constituency of Tarn
• Prisca Thévenot, MP for the 8th constituency of Hauts-de-Seine
• Annie Vidal, MP for the 2nd constituency of Seine-Maritime
• Corinne Vignon, MP for the 3rd constituency of Haute-Garonne

The post 42 French Parliamentarians Oppose Renewal of Francesca Albanese appeared first on UN Watch.

An open letter from UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer to French President Francois Hollande.

January 15, 2017
Dear President François Hollande,
In your speech thjs afternoon, after you cited the wars in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen, and the struggle against the Islamic State, you sought to justify the focus of today’s Paris summit on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by saying the Middle East cannot “regain its stability” unless we address “the oldest of its conflicts.”
Are you not aware that today’s Middle East wars in the name of Jihad, and internecine conflicts such as the Sunni-Shiite schism, are 1300 years older than the Arab-Israeli conflict?
Do you really believe that increased world focus on the Israeli-Palestinian issue will cause Syria—a country that has disintegrated from Bashar Assad’s genocidal bombings of his Sunni population, backed by Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia—to somehow “regain stability”?
Do you really believe that what Israel does or doesn’t do will affect the Islamic State’s genocidal massacre, abductions and rape of Yazidis and Christians in Iraq?
Do you believe it will affect the proxy war in Yemen between Wahhabist Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, in which Saudi-led airstrikes have killed more than 10,000 people?
Are you not really saying, in effect, that all of today’s Middle East wars—their death, destruction, and displacement of millions of refugees, many of whom are fleeing into Europe—can somehow be pinned on the Jewish state?
If not, then why did your country decide to call today’s event a “Middle East” peace conference—when, in fact, it was only about one of the region’s many conflicts (and, in the past six years, the least bloody and consequential of them all)?
In doing so, are you not echoing the U.N.’s frequent resort to euphemism, in its debates, reports, and web-pages, which claim broadly to address “the Middle East,” when in fact they focus only on actions by Israel?
Sincerely,
Hillel C. Neuer
Executive Director
UN Watch

The post No, President Hollande, focusing on Israel won't bring "stability" to Syria, Iraq or Yemen appeared first on UN Watch.

UNDP’s Wahid Borsh, 38, abused position to build jetty for Hamas naval forces, hide Hamas weapons, prioritize homes for Hamas members

Second aid official to be indicted, after World Vision’s Gaza chief exposed as Hamas agent

Video: i24 news report and interview of UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer
UN aid worker indicted for aiding Hamas; UNDP chief Helen Clark must “draw conclusions”
UN Watch, August 9, 2016 – Following today’s indictment of a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) aid worker in Gaza for supporting Hamas terrorist activities, UN Watch is calling on UNDP chief Helen Clark, a candidate to be the next UN Secretary-General, to draw conclusions, and for Ban Ki-moon to urgently establish an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the subversion of UN and other international humanitarian aid funds by Hamas. More
UNDP has history of pandering to Hamas UN Watch, August 9, 2016 – UNDP’s culture of pandering to the Hamas regime likely enabled the criminal diversion of humanitarian resources. For example, during the Gaza war of 2014, despite UNDP’s duties of neutrality and impartiality, the organization noticeably sided with Hamas against Israel, whitewashing the systematic subversion by Hamas of homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals, to hide weapons, install rocket launchers, and cover up entrances to terror tunnels as well as terrorist command and control centers. Frode Mauring, then the UNDP Special Representative on Palestine, tweeted vehemently against Israel, systematically posting articles hostile to Israel’s position. More

UNDP knew of “criticial” lapse in Gaza construction funds, was warned of “major negative consequences”
According to a UN internal audit, UNDP was warned as far back as 2014 of a “critical lapse” in its Palestinian program office, which was not properly keeping track of expenditures or receipts, and of the risk of “major negative consequences.” See Fox News report from 2014

Controversy in France as Appeal by 41 Muslim Intellectuals Omits Jewish Terror Victims

Philippe Val, former editor of Charlie Hebdo, receiving UN Watch’s 2015 Morris B. Abram Human Rights Award

A controversy has erupted in France in wake of a manifesto by 41 Muslim intellectuals. Following is the article, published in Le Journal du Dimanche, by the noted author and former Charlie Hebdo editor Philippe Val, recipient of UN Watch’s 2015 Morris B. Abram Human Rights Award, as translated from the original French.

Philippe Val: “A Reply from a non-Muslim, non-Jewish Frenchman to the Appeal by the 41”

My dear friends, by publishing an appeal in Le Journal du Dimanche last week, you courageously met a need. As French and Muslim people, you are the first voice that dares to recognize, at your own risk, that Islam is experiencing a profound internal crisis. You agree to take a hard look at reality in order to observe what many are pretending to fail to notice: that Islamic radicalization is at the heart of this crisis and represents a deadly threat to democratic and republican harmony. And you are calling for intellectual, cultural and legislative work to reform Islam in France and to answer the question of the national collective conscience, which of course includes French Muslims, “Where are you? What are you doing?” …
Yet in reading your appeal, the first doubts arise: you don’t mention Charlie Hebdo, only the cartoonists. Then comes the fittingly dramatic confirmation: you, yourselves, have doomed and wasted your gesture in the first lines of your appeal. In your strange list of victims of terrorism (you mention the Bataclan theater, the murder of police officers, the people in Nice, the priest), you forgot about the Jews, who are among the first targets of terrorism and are at the top of the list of intended victims. To mention only those in France, you forgot about the victims Mohamed Merah and those at Hyper Cacher.  There are only two explanations, each equally appalling:

• Either you did this on purpose to rally the largest possible number of people without having to deal with the antisemitism that is a firmly entrenched and not negligible element in Islam. And this comes down to admitting that you have already lost the battle you claim to be fighting;
• Or this is an unconscious omission, meaning that you still haven’t understood the nature of the disease that threatens the very life of the rule of law, a disease that you haven’t managed to cure among yourselves.

One must hope that at least some of you have signed this appeal trustingly, without reading it. We cannot believe that certain honorable people could have committed this error.
This episode is reminiscent of the reaction of Prime Minister Raymond Barre after the attack on the synagogue on Rue Copernic, when he regretted that in addition to Jews, there were also innocent victims.
My friends, I insist on telling you this: we shall never accept such linguistic “compromises”, which are no more or less than silent permission granted to future anti-Semitic criminals.   Read more

The post Issue 602: UN aid official arrested for aiding Hamas terrorism * Controversy in France as Jewish terror victims omitted appeared first on UN Watch.

 Click here for video of UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer’s i24 interview on UNESCO

GENEVA, July 12, 2016 — The UK, France and Germany are helping Israel to oppose a Palestinian-Jordanian draft resolution at UNESCO that effectively denies ancient Jewish and Christian history in the holy city, according to a report by the Jerusalem Post citing Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon.

While neither France, Germany or the UK are on the committee, the more countries that announce their opposition to the text, the less likely it will be that the Palestinians will try and pass it, Nachshon said.
France backed a similar resolution at UNESCO’s executive board in April, but after an outcry several of its leaders expressed regret. President Hollande pledged to be “vigilant” in the next resolution, to affirm the shared significance of the holy sites. Now is an opportunity for Mr. Hollande to fulfill his pledge. Brazil, which also expressed regret, should likewise play a positive role this week in Istanbul.
According to analysis by the Jerusalem Post’s Herb Keinon, the Arab states can expect support from 11 of the 21 committee members. Six of them—Cuba, Indonesia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Tunisia and Zimbabwe—are almost certain to back the Palestinians, while another five, the Philippines, Jamaica, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, are likely to do the same.
On the other hand, Croatia, Finland, Poland, Portugal, South Korea and Tanzania are likely to oppose or abstain. Angola and Burkina Faso might abstain, as possibly could Peru and Vietnam.

 ___________

After UNESCO Vote in April, French Leaders Criticized Own Position

Above: Prime Minister Manuel Valls, President Francois Hollande, and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve 

• After the April resolution at UNESCO that effectively denied Jewish ties to Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reprimanded French President Francois Hollande for his country’s support of the resolution, citing it as a stumbling block to Israel endorsing a French-led international conference on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

• Prime Minister Manuel Valls more sharply criticized the resolution, saying: “This UNESCO resolution contains unfortunate, clumsy wording that offends and unquestionably should have been avoided, as should have the vote.”

• Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve also criticized France’s vote, telling an event organized by CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish communities, that he does “not take a supportive view of the text.” The resolution “should not have been adopted,” Cazeneuve said at the event in Paris, adding that the resolution passed “was not written as it should have been,” the Le Figaro daily reported.

The post Issue 598: UK, France, Germany Aid Israel in Opposing Palestinian UNESCO Bid to Deny Jewish ties to Western Wall appeared first on UN Watch.

“Shame on Britain, France and Germany for encouraging this hijacking of the annual world health assembly, and diverting precious time, money, and resources from global health priorities, in order to wage a political prosecution of Israel, especially when, in reality, anyone who has ever walked into an Israeli hospital or clinic knows that they are providing world-class health care to thousands of Palestinian Arabs, as well as to Syrians fleeing Assad,” Neuer added.
“At the same time,” said Neuer, “UN Watch commends the principled stand taken by the U.S., Canada, Australia, Paraguay, Guatemala, Micronesia and Papua New Guinea in joining Israel to oppose perpetuating a politicized agenda item.” The U.S. and Canada both took the floor today to strongly object to the anti-Israel exercise.

The vote was 107 to 8 for the resolution, with 8 abstentions and 58 absent.  The resolution calls for reports on a series of alleged Israeli violations, including on “the impact of prolonged occupation and human rights violations on mental,
physical and environmental health” in “the occupied Palestinian territory.”
The text also adopted three reports mandated by last year’s Arab-sponsored resolution: a “field assessment” on “health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory”, a similar report by the WHO director-general, and a related report by the WHO secretariat.

UN’s 2016 World Health Assembly voting on anti-Israel resolution, May 25, 2016

Palestinian and Syrian Submissions
By backing the measure, EU states joined in the political targeting of Israel—in the form of a special debate, three lopsided reports, the resolution, and the publication of country submissions, including an inflammatory 59-page Palestinian submission which complains of a “racist separation barrier” while blaming increased Palestinian traffic accidents on the fear of “being pursued by settlers”; and a Syrian submission laced with anti-Semitic conspiracy tropes, yet circulated as an official UN document on the conference agenda, which alleges that “the Israeli occupation authorities” continue “to experiment on Syrian and Arab prisoners with medicines and drugs and to inject them with pathogenic viruses.” 
Unable to deny Israel’s medical treatment of thousands of wounded Syrians, the regime accuses Israel of a plot: healing “armed terrorists from Jabhah al-Nusrah” so that they can “resume their subversive terrorist activities directed against the country’s peaceful citizens and its infrastructure.”
Iran and Syria Take the Floor
Several countries took the floor ahead of the vote. Iran said Gaza was under “an inhuman blockade.” Syria said “the occupying Israeli forces continue their immoral practice, which punish our people in the Golan.”
Egypt accused Israel of “disregard for basic human rights.” Pakistan spoke of Israel’s “devastation of the health system in the occupied territories” and of a “wave of terror against the Palestinian civilian population.”
Venezuela’s Maduro regime said there was a need to “bring in medicines, but this is being inhibited by the occupying power, Israel.”
UNRWA, which received more than $400 million from the U.S. last year, said the root causes of Palestinian medical problems include “interference with basic human rights as a result of numerous policies of the Israeli authorities.”
The whole was met with delight in the overflow room for media and NGO representatives, who snickered and scoffed when the Israeli delegate took the floor to denounce the politicized resolution.
EU Joined the Jackals

Had the EU wanted, they could have set the record straight, and taken a stand against such base demonization of the Jewish state. Disgracefully, however, Britain, France, Germany and all other EU states joined the jackals by voting for today’s resolution.
The EU states could have introduced their own resolution about how Syria has killed hundreds of thousands of its own people, destroying the health rights of the Syrian people.
Yet the EU was silent. Instead, it justified its vote by claiming in its speech that today’s resolution was “technical.” This is the old Brussels-Ramallah wink-and-nod game: the PLO submits a more inflammatory text at the beginning, knowing it will be revised later to allow the Europeans to pretend they achieved a “balanced” text. Israel is then expected to celebrate that it has been lynched with a lighter rope.

Last month, France and Spain voted for an Arab-sponsored UNESCO resolution that contained the wild conspiracy accusation that Israel was “planting fake Jewish graves” in Jerusalem.
With today’s vote, which robs the world health assembly of limited time and resources in order to portray Israel as the world’s only violator of health rights—when in fact Israel is the beacon of the entire region on promoting and respecting the health rights of all people—the entire EU now descends into irrationalism.
By scapegoating the Jewish state for all the world’s health problems, just as medieval Europe once accused the Jews of poisoning the wells, the EU aids and abets the UN and its World Health Organization to betray the cause of humanity and the very principles upon which they were founded.

The post UK, France, Germany join UN to single out Israel as world's only violator of health rights appeared first on UN Watch.

• “Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif and its surroundings”
• “The Ascent to the Mughrabi Gate in Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif”
• “The UNESCO Reactive Monitoring Mission to the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls and The UNESCO experts meeting on the Mughrabi Ascent”
• “Reconstruction and development of Gaza”
• “The two Palestinian sites of Al-Ḥaram Al Ibrāhīmī/Tomb of the Patriarchs in Al- Khalīl/Hebron and the Bilāl Ibn Rabāḥ Mosque/Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem”

Who submitted the resolution?
The text was submitted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Sudan and Qatar.
Who voted for the resolution?
33 countries voted in favor: Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chad, China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, France, Guinea, India, Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritius, Morocco, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Senegal, Slovenia, Sudan, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Togo, Viet Nam.
6 voted against: U.S., UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, Lithuania.
17 abstained: Albania, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, El Salvador, Greece, Haiti, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Nepal, Paraguay, South Korea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Serbia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Ukraine.
2 were absent: Ghana, Turkmenistan

What does the resolution say?

• The resolution repeatedly “decries,” “condemns,” “deplores” and “deprecates” a long list of alleged Israeli infringements of Palestinian rights. The text calls Israel “the Occupying Power.”
• The decision “strongly condemns” alleged “Israeli aggressions and illegal measures against the freedom of worship and Muslims’ access to their Holy Site Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al Sharif.”(I.B.1.8)
• The resolution refers to the Temple Mount only with the Islamic and Arabic names of “Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif.”
• The Western Wall is described using scare quotes as “Western Wall Plaza”, to denote disbelief (I.B.1.17 and I.B.2.20); other Israeli sites are described as the “so called Liba” and “so called Kedem Center.” (I.B.1.17)
• The decision expresses “deep regret” at Israel’s reluctance to “comply with 185 EX/Decision 15” and remove The Tomb of the Patriarchs and the Tomb of Rachel, both of great significance in Judaism, from Israel’s national heritage list.
• The resolution chastises “the Occupying Power” for “planting Jewish fake graves” (I.B.1.14) in Muslim cemeteries.
• Although the decision stopped short of an initial attempt to repeat October 2015’s efforts to declare the Western Wall part of the Al-Aqsa mosque, it acknowledges the significance of the holy sites only to Islam.

Why are the claims problematic?

(i) Israel’s alleged “illegal measures against the freedom of worship”
Contrary to what is said in UNESCO’s decision, Israel guarantees its citizens’ freedom of religion. The Bahá’í faith, whose adherents suffer persecution in many parts of the world (notably in Iran), has its headquarters in Haifa. This is in stark contrast to the situation in neighboring countries. In Lebanon, for example, blasphemy is still punishable by a year’s prison sentence.

In fact, criticism of restrictions on freedom of religion in Israel has focused on curtailments to the religious freedom of Jews — in particular, the interdiction against Jewish worship at the Temple Mount, prayer at which is reserved exclusively for Muslims.

(ii) Failure to acknowledge significance of these sites to Judaism
This is not the first time that UNESCO has courted controversy over its inaccurate rendering of the history of Jerusalem’s holy monuments. But the decision’s distortion of the facts is regrettable not simply for its inaccuracy — more insidiously, it lends an initial plausibility to what are unwarranted criticisms while its bilious tone makes for a hateful and deeply politicized text.  
Even the Supreme Muslim Council (Wakf) Guide Book to the Temple Mount of 1925 acknowledged a Jewish connection to the site which is “beyond dispute.” (p. 4, para. 2)
It is especially puzzling that France voted for a resolution which seeks to expurgate the Temple’s historic connection to Judaism when one considers that all over France, including in the Louvre in Paris, hang depictions of Les marchands chassés du Temple (Jesus driving the merchants from the Temple), in which Christ is shown expelling traders from the confines of the Temple.
(iii) Conspiracy Theory: Israel accused of “planting Jewish fake graves”
In a wild conspiracy charge, the resolution chastises “the Occupying Power” for “planting Jewish fake graves” in Muslim cemeteries. The only apparent source for this claim is the Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage, and some Arab-language social media conspiracy posts.
French Leaders Criticize Own Vote for Resolution

• Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reprimanded French President Francois Hollande for his country’s support of the resolution, citing it as a stumbling block to Israel endorsing a French-led international conference on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

• In a rare development, French leaders questioned their own government’s vote. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls criticized the resolution, saying: “This UNESCO resolution contains unfortunate, clumsy wording that offends and unquestionably should have been avoided, as should the vote.”  (« Il y a dans cette résolution de l’Unesco des formulations malheureuses, maladroites, qui heurtent et qui auraient dû être incontestablement évitées, comme ce vote »)
• French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve also criticized Paris’s vote in favor of the resolution, telling an event organized by CRIF, the umbrella group of French Jewish communities, that he does “not take a supportive view of the text.” The resolution “should not have been adopted,” Cazeneuve said at the event in Paris, adding that the resolution passed “was not written as it should have been,” the Le Figaro daily reported.

• President Hollande indicated that he will be “vigilant” in ensuring that the next text on the subject, expected in October, will be unequivocal in its affirmation of the shared significance of the holy sites.

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LOPSIDED RESOLUTION GIVES FREE PASS TO HAMAS, ISLAMIC JIHAD

The UK, France and Germany joined 39 other nations on the UN Economic and Social Council in singling out Israel as the world’s only violator of economic and social rights.

Israel was the only country in the world to be condemned at the ECOSOC annual session when a resolution adopted on Monday by 42 of 54 member states, including all EU members — with only Australia and the U.S. opposed — excoriated the Jewish state for a litany of crimes including “the dumping of all kinds of waste materials in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan.”
• The EU-backed resolution mentions Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the PLO for a total of 0 times.
• The words “Syria” or “Syrian” were mentioned 13 times — but only to condemn Israel for alleged violations against “the Syrian citizens of the occupied Syrian Golan. Bashar al-Assad’s mass murder of hundreds of thousands of his own Syrian people was not condemned or even mentioned once.
• The language of the UN text refers to the “mother homeland, the Syrian Arab Republic.”

The mockery reached its pinnacle when Syrian ambassador Bashar Jaafari took the floor to accuse Israel of facilitating “terrorist attacks” against Syrian cities and civilians, and to condemn the Jewish state for “destroying the soil of the Golan, exploiting its resources, burning its products and other racist policies.”
UN Watch reminds members of the European Union, many of whose diplomats subscribe to this newsletter, that ongoing complicity with lopsided, inflammatory and polarizing resolutions only serves to undermine the cause of peace, as well as to erode the credibility of the United Nations. Read More
SHAM: UN GRANTS STATUS TO HAMAS-LINKED ‘PALESTINIAN RETURN CENTRE’
Despite opposition by the UK and 12 other countries, the UN Economic and Social Council voted on Monday to grant official status to the ‘Palestinian Return Centre’ (PRC), a London-based group that was outlawed by Israel in 2010 for its ties to Hamas. Alarmingly, the PRC now gains UN status as a recognized non-governmental organization, allowing its Hamas-linked activists to access UN facilities worldwide and participate in debates of the UN Human Rights Council. The group thanked Iran and Sudan, both regimes backers of Hamas, for their help. When UN Watch exposed PRC leaders’ antisemitic and pro-terror tweets, they rushed to hide them. Read More
HAMAS’ ISMAIL HANIYEH SALUTED UN WIN FOR PRC (WHICH DENIES HAMAS TIES)
Even as the Palestinian Return Centre strenuously denied all ties with Hamas, UN Watch published web postings showing how senior Hamas leader in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh congratulated the group for winning initial approval in June for UN status, and how he “stressed the vital role played by the PRC in the legal and political arena.” More
RESIGNED: U.N. RIGHTS OFFICIAL WHO IGNORED CHILD RAPE BY PEACEKEEPERS
The resignation today of a top UN rights official who admitted she did nothing after receiving reports of child rape by French soldiers in Central African Republic — because she was “distracted” by budget cuts — underscores the dire need for accountability at the world body, said UN Watch. More

The post Issue 544: UK, France, Germany Join Tyrannies to Condemn Israel as World's Only Violator of Economic & Social Rights appeared first on UN Watch.

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Timeline: Global Anti-Semitic Incidents During Gaza-Israel Conflict
PARIS, July 11 – Unknown assailants hurled a Molotov cocktail at a synagogue in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a suburb of Paris, France.
BOSTON, July 11 – Pro-Israel student demonstrators reported being physically assaulted by anti-Israel demonstrators, who also chanted “Jesus killers.” One of the assaulted students pressed charges on Saturday at the Boston Police Department against a woman related to the incident.
CASABLANCA, July 11 –  A young man beat up Moroccan rabbi Moshe Ohayon on Friday as he was walking towards his synagogue. The unidentified assailant asked, “Are you Jewish? What’s the Tsahal (Israeli army) doing to our brothers?” the rabbi reported. Ohayon said he was punched to the ground and then pummeled until he lost consciousness.
PARIS, July 13 – Protesters attacked two synagogues in Paris on Sunday as pro-Palestinian protests turned violent. Worshippers barricaded themselves inside the Synagogue de la Roquette as demonstrators tried to storm the building with bats and chairs. Some protesters were reportedly chanting “Death to Jews!” during the violence. At least three Jews were taken to the hospital in Paris. 
LOS ANGELES, July 13 – Four men arrested for beating pro-Israel demonstrators with wooden sticks.
LONDON, July 14 – A giant swastika was painted outside a Jewish family’s house in the London suburb of Hendon in the middle of the night.
NEW YORK, July 14 – Three men arrested for vandalizing a religious seminary and nearby house in New York City. The suspects allegedly spray-painted hate statements on a building under construction in Brooklyn’s Borough Park neighborhood before breaking into a nearby seminary in the Orthodox Jewish area, spray-painting a swastika on a bus parked outside.
FRANKFURT, July 14 – Anti-Israel demonstration in Frankfurt erupts into violence, with protesters tossing stones at the police. A protester carried a sign that read, “You Jews are beasts” and several had banners comparing Prime Minister Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler.
ANTWERP, July 16 – Dozens of men at an anti-Israel demonstration in Antwerp shouted slogans about slaughtering Jews. The Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism filed a complaint for incitement to violence against participants and organizers of the Antwerp demonstration, dozens of whom were recorded making the calls.
BERLIN, July 17 – Anti-Semitic slogans were chanted during a protest against Israel in Berlin. The protesters reportedly waved Palestinian flags and yelled, “Jews, Jews, cowardly pigs, come out and fight!” In response to the anti-Semitic attack, the American Jewish Committee in Berlin filed a police report and called on the German parliament to protect the Jewish residents of the city.  
ANKARA, July 17-19 – Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of “barbarism that surpasses Hitler.” Local media reported an explosion of pro-Hitler tweets and some liberal Turks reacted with outrage on Twitter when a pro-government newspaper printed a Hitler-themed crossword. Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis is a classic form of contemporary anti-Semitism, according to the U.S. State Department.

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If UNESCO’s officials, in their lavish Paris headquarters, need the money, why not tell them to go lobby the French? France was among the member states that voted in 2011 to admit the Palestinians.

It’s actually much worse that that.
The French didn’t merely vote Yes to that fateful Palestinian resolution — thereby triggering a total American funding cut of $80 million as mandated by U.S. law — but they aggressively and successfully lobbied other countries to vote Yes as well.
And that is still nothing to what the French did the following year.
In October 2012, in a completely surprising yet welcome move, Russia, apparently annoyed with Palestinian overreaching, led a majority of countries to postpone a raft of anti-Israel resolutions. The Palestinians were shocked and outraged.
The tally of the Executive Board was 28 votes in favour of the postponement, 23 against and 4 abstentions. Even China, Chavez and Assad (who owes Moscow a thing or two) joined democracies in supporting the eminently pro-Zionist move:

[T]he following States voted for the adjournment of the debate: Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Grenada, Haiti, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, Saint Lucia, Slovakia, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.

Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Congo, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Ecuador, France, Gambia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Zimbabwe.

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Arab League mission to Syria called “toothless”

GENEVA, Jan. 3 – With French President Nicolas Sarkozy calling today for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to step aside for overseeing “disgusting” massacres, there should be stepped-up efforts in the UN Security Council to have Syrian leaders investigated for war crimes, urges a Geneva-based human rights group.

“Led by a former Sudanese general who himself has a highly questionable human rights record, the Arab League’s peace initiative has proven to be toothless with the Assad regime continuing to kill innocent civilians,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

“The UN Security Council is the only body that can have the International Criminal Court launch an investigation because Syria signed but never ratified the court’s founding Rome Statute.”

“Opposition to a referral by Russia and China, which hold veto power in the Security Council, will appear all the more misplaced if the Council’s other three permanent members—the United States, France and Britain—press the issue in the open.”

Sarkozy told an audience of French military personnel Tuesday the “massacres being committed by the Syrian regime” have aroused disgust around the world, and that Assad should allow Syrians to decide their own future, the Associated Press reported.

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the Security Council Dec. 13 that the widespread killings and torture in Syria “constituted crimes against humanity,” and that “there should be a referral to the International Criminal Court.”

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