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UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer joined Fox Business with Cheryl Casone to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East and the upcoming session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York.

Cheryl Casone, Fox Business: Joining me now is UN Watch Executive Director, Hillel Neuer. Hillel, your reaction to all of the breaking news out of the Middle East this morning?

Hillel Neuer: Well, first, the condolences to the families of the six who were murdered in a horrific terrorist attack in Jerusalem, where Palestinian terrorists opened fire on innocent civilians, including the rabbi and others who were going to study in a Jewish Rabbinical College. They had the holy books in their hands as they were slaughtered by machine guns. The attack this morning — six dead, six seriously injured — underscores what is happening, that the Islamic Republic of Iran has terror proxies, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad operating from Gaza and Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, that have as their mission to murder innocent civilians. That is what terrorists do.

The Houthis, as you indicated, they have sent a drone a thousand miles away. You know, Yemen is a place where people are starving. They don’t have food in Yemen, and the Houthis are spending their resources to send a drone, as you can see on the camera, firing at an airport a thousand miles away — a civilian airport in southern Israel. And the Houthis are a terrorist group, armed, funded, trained by Iran, and their slogan is, “Death to Israel, Death to America, Damn the Jews, Allahu Akbar, Allah is great.” So they’re as jihadist, antisemitic, and anti-American as they get. That’s the Houthis. Amazingly, Israel was able to target several of their leaders just about a week ago in an extraordinary attack, and it shows that the long arm of Israel can reach a thousand miles away, whether it’s Iran or whether it’s the Houthis. And now it’s Hamas’s turn to answer the president. President Trump should be commended. He is trying to release the hostages, end the war, and all of this can happen with those two things. If Hamas today releases the hostages, lays down their arms, the war is over. That’s what we need to see.

Cheryl Casone: But unfortunately, though, if you listen to the back channeling that’s coming out of Hamas, they want the Israelis to leave Gaza, and the Israelis have made it clear they are not doing that. And all of this is unfolding as the 80th annual United Nations General Assembly actually kicks off tomorrow. That’s happening right here in New York, the first day of high-level general debate begins on the 23rd. Countries like the U.K., France, Canada, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Malta — they’re all expected to recognize a Palestinian state. U.K. leaders have suggested they may not recognize Palestine if Israel and Hamas reach a ceasefire. And Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussing options for a U.N.-endorsed Gaza reconstruction plan. Hillel, what are you expecting? And in particular, what do you make of this, our allies backing a Palestinian state? Doesn’t that fly in the face of what the United States is trying to accomplish here?

Hillel Neuer: Well, it does. And let’s recall that the U.N. General Assembly that’s about to open in New York City — the main event, as you said, will be the 23rd when the president and other heads of state will arrive — in many cases, it’s a catwalk for dictators. We’re going to have the dictator of Turkey, the dictator of Qatar, the dictatorship from Iran, from Syria. So it’s a catwalk for dictators. And what we don’t need is our democracies making things worse.

As you indicated, President Trump, his envoy Steve Witkoff, Secretary of State Rubio are working very hard to get the hostages released to end the war. What Britain and France and the others are threatening to do only rewards Hamas. It encourages them to be rejectionists. It does not encourage them to release the hostages. It tells them you get a prize if you invade a neighboring country, break a ceasefire, massacre 1,200 people, commit mass rape, you get the reward that France, the U.K., Canada and other democracies say, we will recognize Palestine as a state. Well, this is before, you know, the Palestinian Authority hasn’t dismantled Hamas. They haven’t stopped paying payments to the terrorists. You know, the Palestinian Authority, which is supposedly the moderate in this picture, they’re the ones who do ‘pay to slay’ — they make payments to the families of terrorists. If you commit murder against Israelis — like what happened this morning in Jerusalem, and if the terrorist gets captured and put in prison — then the families get a pension for life. You get rewarded for terrorism.

So the democracies should not be undermining President Trump’s efforts to bring peace and end the war. Instead, what they’re doing is they’re rewarding Hamas. They’re saying you get a prize. And under international law, this is completely bogus. You know, in first-year international law, you learn that to be a state, you need defined territory, effective government, and they have none of these attributes.

The post Hillel Neuer on Fox Business: Iran’s Terror Network, Jerusalem Attack, UN’s “Catwalk For Dictators” appeared first on UN Watch.

The post UN Singles Out Israel as World’s Only Violator of Women’s Rights; Iran, Saudi Arabia & Yemen Among the Voters appeared first on UN Watch.

Glad to be elected as vice-president of @UN_Women Executive Board for Asia-Pacific Group for 2019 🇾🇪 https://t.co/guYMfal97q

— Marwan Ali Noman (@MarwanAliNoman) January 8, 2019

“Glad to be elected,” tweeted Yemeni deputy ambassador Mr. Marwan Ali Noman. “Warmest congrats Marwan, all the best mate!!” replied Mr. Murad Hussein Issa, a Yemeni delegate to the UN Human Rights Council.

No joke: @UN_Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, just elected 🇾🇪 #Yemen — ranked as the worst country in the world on gender inequality (149th out of 149) — to be Vice-President of its Executive Board. pic.twitter.com/sW3x9KofSt

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 9, 2019

The post UN Elects Yemen, Worst on Gender Equality, as VP at UN's Gender Equality Agency appeared first on UN Watch.

Key Flaws in final Text

A critical review of the final text confirms that the Human Rights Council dropped the ball on Yemeni civilians:

• Most significantly, the consensus text eliminates the international commission of inquiry to be established by the Human Rights Council and replaces it with a much weaker “Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts with knowledge on human rights law and the context of Yemen,” to be chosen by the High Commissioner.
• The inclusion of regional experts who know “the context of Yemen” may suggest a quiet deal in which the High Commissioner will appoint Saudi-friendly members.
• Furthermore, the experts are not mandated to investigate and document violations with a view to ensuring accountability of perpetrators, but rather to examine and establish the facts surrounding violations — without any reference to accountability.
• Language suggesting possible war crimes and crimes against humanity was removed.

How Arab League’s Text Watered Down the Dutch Draft

Other significant differences between the Dutch draft and the final resolution:

1. The Dutch draft was proposed under Agenda Item 2 (Annual Report of the High Commissioner), thus leaving some ambiguity as to the extent of critical review intended. However, the final consensus text leaves no ambiguity, as it is adopted under Agenda Item 10 (technical assistance and capacity-building), signaling an uncritical approach.
2. Unlike the Dutch draft, the consensus text is deferential to the government of Yemen — praising and encouraging it for engagement in peace talks; emphasizing its commitment to human rights; and expressly taking note of its comments to the highly critical report of the High Commissioner.
3. The final text tones down critical language: “aware of” instead of “alarmed by;” “concerned” instead of “gravely concerned;” “calls upon” instead of “demands.”
4. The final text downplays human rights violations by removing reference to the “increased suffering of the Yemeni population;” replacing the term “human rights” with “social rights;” removing reference to “forced displacement as a tactic of conflict in violation of international humanitarian law;” and removing reference to harassment of media.
5. The final text weakens the argument for an independent international COI, by legitimizing and encouraging the work of the Yemen National Commission of Inquiry, including by requesting technical assistance and support for it to complete its work, despite criticism by the High Commissioner and NGOs that National Commission investigations have gone nowhere.
6. The final text tones down the language on accountability. While it speaks of the the importance of accountability, it refrains from expressly stating that human rights violators must be held accountable — key language deleted from the Dutch draft.
7. The final text is watered down by adding the word “applicable” before “international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” implying that not all such laws apply.
8. In a paragraph calling for an end to attacks on civilians, the final text removes the word “indiscriminate” before “attacks,” clearly pandering to Saudi Arabia which maintains that its airstrikes do not violate international law.
9. The final text drops the requirement for an oral report at the 38^th session, leaving in only one oral report at the 37^th session prior to the written report which is to be delivered at the 39^th session — in one year.

Comparing UN Reaction to Yemen & Gaza

A comparison of this resolution, adopted after more than two years of devastating warfare, with the July 2014 resolution on Israel adopted just two weeks into its military operation against Hamas in Gaza, drives home the point.

• Unlike here, where Saudi Arabia was consulted and approved the final text of the resolution, Israel was not consulted in any way in the drafting and adoption of the 2014 resolution.
• While Saudi Arabia is not mentioned once in the Yemen resolution which does not identify perpetrators beyond a general reference to “all parties,” Israel is singled out for censure and condemnation at least eight times with harsh language, such as “deploring” and “strongly condemns.”
• Unlike the text on Yemen resolution, the resolution on Israel invoked the Fourth Geneva Convention, and even recommended that Switzerland convene the High Contracting parties to enforce the convention in the OPT. Notably, Saudi Arabia is a signatory to that convention.
• The resolution on Israel accused the Jewish state of an illegal “blockade” of Gaza and practicing “collective punishment” against Palestinian civilians. The resolution on Yemen completely ignores Saudi Arabia’s devastating naval blockade.
• While the resolution on Gaza accused Israel of “international crimes,” the word “crime” is never mentioned in the Yemen resolution.
• The resolution on Gaza requested “all relevant special procedures” to “urgently” gather information on human rights violations of the Palestinians; the resolution on Yemen resolution is silent in that regard, making no similar urgent request.
• The resolution on Gaza established an independent, international Commission of Inquiry focused on ensuring those responsible are “held to account” and protecting civilians from further assaults, and tasked with making specific recommendations in that regard. This is very different from the Yemen resolution which says nothing about accountability and tasks the experts only with making general recommendations. Furthermore, the COI on Israel was directed to report to the council within seven months, and the High Commissioner to report orally at the council’s next session; yet on Yemen, the resolution provides a much longer time-frame.
• Unlike the Yemen resolution, the Israel resolution does not mention or defer to any Israeli national investigations or provide technical assistance to Israel for such investigations.

Once again, the politics of petro-dollars trump human rights at the UN’s highest human rights body.

The post “Victory for Yemenis” or “Deeply Flawed”? Deconstructing the Resolution on Yemen appeared first on UN Watch.

“Why is UN Ignoring Women Victims in Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait and UAE?”

Statement by UN Watch
Panel on Violence Against Women
UNHRC 35th Session, 13th June 2017
Delivered by Ms. Sonia Zvedeniuk

Thank you, Mr. President.
United Nations Watch supports the engagement of men and boys in the prevention of violence against women. Regrettably, in many cases, violence against women is actually legitimized and reinforced by the state in their laws and practices.
It is said that engagement is the answer. But is it taking place?
In a number of cases, this Council’s experts are attempting to visit such countries. In Northern Nigeria, Section 55 of the Penal Code allows husbands to beat their wives. In 2013, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women requested a visit. Four years later, no response.
In that same year, the rapporteur asked to visit Egypt, a country with one of the highest rates of sexual harassment. Yet to date, no visit has taken place.
In Pakistan, women and girls are subjected to honor killings and child marriages. In 2012, the working group on discrimination against women requested a visit. Five years later, no response.
In 2014, the group requested a visit to Iran, where a woman needs authorization from her husband to apply for a passport.  Three years later, no response.
Mr. President, there is a separate problem, which is that many of the worst abusers have never even received a request to visit. Indeed there is a question of priorities.
While this Council’s mandate on violence against women has conducted visits to Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, not one request has ever been made for Yemen, where over 10 percent of girls under the age of 15 are married to adult men, and where a woman is considered half a person before the court.
No request for Iraq, where thousands of women are victims of honor killings; none for Bahrain or Kuwait, countries where marital rape is legal; and none for the United Arab Emirates, where premarital sex is punishable by one hundred lashes. Not one request.
Mr. President, Where is the engagement?
And I would like to ask the panel: What can be done to increase scrutiny and protection for the victims, vulnerable women and girls worldwide, who need it most?
Thank you, Mr. President.

The post "Why is UN Ignoring Women Victims in Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait and UAE?" 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.

Item 10 General Debate
Human Rights Council, 31^st session, March 23, 2016

Delivered by Ms. Inbal Keren

The post UN must investigate war crimes by Saudi-led coalition in Yemen appeared first on UN Watch.

The post Saudis win UNHRC contest over Yemen resolution appeared first on UN Watch.

The post Saudis win UNHRC contest over Yemen resolution appeared first on UN Watch.

Saudi Arabia has sponsored its own softball UNHRC resolution on the Yemen conflict in order to supplant a Dutch-led draft resolution that would dispatch the UN rights office to investigate possible war crimes by the Saudis, Iran-backed Houthis and others.
For more on the U.S. position, informed by its direct support for the Saudi-led bombing attacks in Yemen, see this AP report.
 

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