UN Watch dedicates this edition to , our beloved European Co-Chair, Swedish statesman, author, poet, courageous fighter for freedom, democracy, and truth, in honour of his and the establishment of the Per Ahlmark Foundation Per Ahlmark 70th birthday.
In this issue:
- Emergency U.N. Session on Gaza: Canada, E.U. Members, Japan Refuse to Back Arab-Sponsored Free Pass for Hamas
- UN Watch tells U.N.: ‘Guilt-by-numbers has no basis in international law’
- UN Watch Slammed for Defending Congo Victims
- UN Watch in Action: Diplomacy, Educating Public Opinion, Impact
- UN Watch in the Media: Le Monde, The Economist, Christian Science Monitor
Emergency U.N. Session on Gaza
Canada, E.U. Members, Japan Refuse to Back Arab-Sponsored Free Pass for Hamas
The U.N. Human Rights Council’s emergency session on Gaza last week ended with the usual: a large majority—33 to 1, with 13 abstentions—voted to support an Arab-sponsored resolution “strongly condemning” Israel’s “massive violations” and “targeting of civilians”, and to establish an “urgent independent international fact-finding mission” to investigate the very facts it had just determined.
What was significant, however, was that all of the European Union states, together with Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and Cameroon, refused to support the resolution that effectively encouraged Hamas terror, and instead abstained.
Canada showed moral leadership as the only country to vote No. (The U.S. is not a council member.) As a result, Iran — which funds and trains Hamas and Hezbollah — yesterday summoned Canadian chargé d’affaires James Carrick to its foreign ministry, saying “Canada’s negative vote on the resolution means turning a blind eye to Israeli crimes.” In addition, Islamic states may turn the screws on Canada when its human rights record comes up for council review on February 4th. (Take Action: Click Here to Thank Canada for Voting Against Iran-Backed Terror)
We thank the thousands of our supporters who took action on the UN Watch website to urge the E.U. not to support the resolution. With negotiations going down to the wire, we believe the campaign and our speeches may have helped persuade Western states not to endorse the one-sided text.
UN Watch tells U.N.: “Guilt-by-numbers has no basis in international law”
Iran’s Alireza Moaiyeri, left, at U.N. debate on Gaza
Click for Video Highlights of U.N. debate
Following is UN Watch’s testimony to the emergency U.N. Human Rights Council session on Gaza.
Mr. President, much of this session has revolved around a fundamental misconception—one so elementary, and yet, in recent weeks, so pervasive in the United Nations, the media, and influential circles of opinion the world over.
The misconception is that in the current war between Hamas and Israel, culpability is to be determined by simply comparing the amount of deaths and casualties on each side, and then reaching a verdict.
Israel must be the guilty party, goes the logic, because the numbers are so much higher on the Hamas side.
Certainly this is the implied argument of the tally provided in the resolution that is before us today. Its tongue-in-cheek tone about Israeli casualties seeks to dismiss the quantity and quality of Israeli suffering from Hamas crimes, choosing to qualify the rockets fired against Israeli civilians as “crude.” The terror of ten thousand rockets over eight years is ignored.
In the diplomatic world, this guilt-by-numbers argument find expression in the frequently heard accusation that Israel is acting “disproportionately.” And with its superficial simplicity—comparing numbers—and repeated so often, the argument seems to have prevailed.
Yet where does one find in international law, in state practice, or in common sense, a rule, precedent or rationale to support this proposition?
The answer: Nowhere.
The proportionality obligation under international law is completely different. It requires that a military operation be directed at a legitimate military objective, and that expected collateral damage not be excessive in relation to the anticipated military objective.
In the past 8 years, Hamas and its allies fired 10,000 rockets against the civilians of Israel. Which sovereign country represented here would tolerate such aggression, and allow a terrorist group, sworn to its destruction, to play Russian roulette with its women and children?
No one.
The truth is that Hamas is committing a double war crime: deliberately targeting Israeli civilians and hiding behind their own.
Hamas hides their guns and bombs in mosques, they booby-trap schools, they put their terrorist headquarters under hospitals. Hamas doesn’t commit “violations” of international humanitarian law, their entire raison d’etre and modus operandi—to murder civilians, to destroy a state—negates the very notion of international humanitarian law.
They and their sponsors bear full responsibility for the tragic casualties that ensue. They alone have the power to end the hostilities.
Precisely because it’s so hard to deny that Israel is acting in self-defense, the last refuge of those who would automatically blame Israel is the misused charge of “disproportionality.”
No matter how often Israel is attacked, whatever actions it takes in self-defense is denied by the blame-Israel voices under one or another pretext.
Mr. President, where was the U.N. Human Rights Council when these 10,000 rockets were being fired, day after day over eight years? What is the credibility today of all those who chose silence?
Thank you, Mr. President.
Click here for video highlights of U.N. debate
Emergency U.N. Session on Gaza
Sderot Victim to U.N.: Are Human Rights for Some, But Not Others?
To provide some semblance of balance, UN Watch invited 23-year-old Sderot law student Liraz Madmony to Geneva to tell the U.N. session about life for the past 8 years under the terror of 10,00 rocket attacks. The speech was covered across Israeli media, in the Jerusalem Post, Maariv, TV Channels 2 and 10, and radio stations Reshet Bet and Gal Galatz.
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Mr. President, I come from Sderot, the city in Israel that for eight years has been terrorized, by 10,000 rockets fired against us from Gaza.
As a law student, I learned — and I believe — that all human beings have the right to peace and security.
But when I see today’s resolution, I ask: Why is the United Nations ignoring my suffering? When the terrorists committed these 10,000 violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, why was the UN silent?
Are human rights for some, but not others?
The constant assault on Sderot has destroyed our ability to lead a normal life. The warning before each attack gives us only 15 seconds to run for shelter. Fifteen seconds that will decide, life or death.
Mr. President, who will protect our right to life? My family does not have a bomb shelter, so we run to the most protected room, which is the shower.
There is one attack I will never forget. We heard the siren at seven in the morning. We ran to the shower. The rockets fell next to my house. My little brother, who was 14, went to see if anyone needed help. He found a man whose legs were blown off, and a woman blown to pieces.
My youngest brother is six. The rockets have been falling for eight years. He knows no other reality.
Everyone suffers in Sderot. Fathers and mothers are afraid to go to work, creating poverty. Kids are afraid to go to school. I have missed many of my law classes. My friends are afraid to visit. The streets lie empty.
I dream of the hometown that I remember. When the park near my house was filled with happy families and children playing. When people enjoyed life.
I still dream of peace. It will come when the rulers of Gaza choose humanity over hate, when they stop firing on our children while hiding behind their own.
We refuse to grant victory to the terrorists. We choose to live, staying strong with our faith, family and love of country.
Mr. President, who will protect our most basic human rights? My country is now trying its best, and all who love life and desire peace should pray they succeed.
UN Watch Slammed for Defending Congo Victims
The U.N. Human Rights Council’s December session on the crisis in Congo, initiated by Western states, concluded with a resolution that chose consensus over victims. All the council did was refer to a previous resolution asking U.N. officials to report on the situation, but it fell short of taking any real action. When UN Watch took the floor to remind the council of how last year it sacked its own investigator on Congo — after he dared to report on massive violations there — we were ruled out of order by the council president. See full exchange below.
Oral Testimony to UN Human Rights Council
Special Session on Congo
Delivered by UN Watch Intern Benjamin Albert
December 1, 2008
Our speech was reported by Stonehill College here. UN Watch thanks outgoing interns Benjamin Albert and Kate Johnson for their excellent work researching this and other pressing human rights matters. Students may apply for UN Watch internships here.
Thank you, Mr. President.
UN Watch urges immediate action to protect the innocent victims of the Congo.
Civilians are being targeted by rape, looting, murder and other atrocities at the hands of government forces, rebels, and militias. Well over 250,000 civilians have been displaced, with 15,000 refugees sent fleeing to Uganda.
Let us recall that from 1998 to 2003, war in the Congo claimed the lives of 5 million people.
Any resolution adopted by this Council must include the following:
• One: the full reinstatement of the independent expert who was let go by this Council in March;
• Two: the dispatch of a fact-finding mission to investigate the gross human rights violations committed during the recent violence;
• Three: follow-up reports to this Council at all subsequent sessions, until the expert certifies that all violations have ended.
Morality also requires that we look back and ask: Could we have acted differently to save women from rape and children from murder?
In the March 2008 session of this Council, Mr. Titinga Frederic Pacere, the independent expert on human rights in the DRC, reported as follows: “…the lack of security remains worrying, especially in the regions in the east of the country, where militias and armed groups, as well as the Armed Forces of the DRC commit serious human rights violations with impunity.”
Citing examples, the expert gave specific warnings: “The incidence of acts of sexual violence continues to increase at an alarming rate… Pregnant women, persons in detention, minors and even babies are victims of individual or gang rapes, committed, to a worrying extent, by members of the Congolese national police and [the Congolese army].”
The expert urged this Council to “provide all necessary assistance to enable the independent expert to fulfill his complex mandate.”
In response, however, he was let go. The Council eliminated his mandate.
Tunisia spoke of “the positive developments in the human rights situation” in the Congo—indeed, “remarkable progress”—and criticized the expert’s report for not reflecting such “improvements”.
Egypt for the African Group said the DRC had an “environment conducive to the promotion and protection of human rights”; that “the mandate had not offered clear prospects for improving the human rights situation on the ground”; and therefore that “any renewal of the mandate would be counterproductive.” This was supported by Algeria, Russia and others.
Mr. President,
We must now ask: If the Council had heeded the reports of the monitor, instead of eliminating this early-warning mechanism, how many lives would have been saved?
And if the resolution before us today fails to reinstate the monitor, or to investigate the latest crimes, how many lives will be lost tomorrow?
Thank you, Mr. President.
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Nigerian President of UN Human Rights Council Responds to UN Watch: “Don’t Cast Blame for Past Statements”
Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi of Nigeria, UNHRC President: I thank United Nations Watch for their statement and I just want to make a point here. Delegations, when they speak, should please aim to contribute to this debate and they should be forward-looking in their statements. We do not need, I believe, to revisit the March session here. We do not have soothsayers here, nor prophets, so I would like our debates to focus on how we can move the situation in the DRC forward, rather than cast blame for statements that have been made in the past. I just thought I should make this clarification.
UN Watch in Action
Attending a Stockholm human rights conference, UN Watch Acting
Deputy Director Leon Saltiel meets Nyamko Sabuni, the Swedish
Minister of Integration and Gender Equality
Diplomacy
By invitation of the Swedish government, UN Watch Acting Deputy Director Leon Saltiel participated at the International Conference on Human Rights Implementation in Stockholm, discussing best practices with government officials, diplomats, and fellow human rights defenders. Mr. Saltiel, UN Watch’s diplomatic liaison at U.N. European headquarters in Geneva, recently met with diplomats from Denmark, Canada, Belgium, Greece, Sweden, France, and the Vatican, to address the Human Rights Council, Durban II and other issues of concern. Mr. Saltiel meets regularly with diplomats, journalists, parliamentary staffers and non-governmental activists to promote UN Watch’s human rights agenda.
Educating Public Opinion
Speaking Tour: In December, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer went on a world speaking tour to build awareness and support for our causes. In Ottawa, Neuer appeared in the Canadian Parliament press club to present a report on the U.N. Human Rights Council, and met with a cabinet minister and senior foreign policy advisers to brief them on the positive impact of Canada’s defence of basic principles at the UN. In Montreal, Neuer appeared at a fundraiser for UN Watch, and delivered the keynote address at the Lord Reading Law Society dinner in honor of the late John Humphrey, original drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, where an award was presented to his daughter. Click for video of lecture and interview
In New York, Neuer delivered a press conference at U.N. Headquarters to present Eleanor’s Dream, UN Watch’s study of the U.N. human rights system (Click for video) and addressed UN Watch’s annual U.S. board meeting, chaired by Ambassador Alfred H. Moses. Neuer then spoke in Houston for a public lecture sponsored by the World Affairs Council together with the American Jewish Committe, and for AJC chapters in San Diego, San Franciso and Los Angeles. Neuer was interviewed in Hollywood by filmmaker Jesse Dylan, for an upcoming documentary on reconciliation. Finally, he addressed the annual congress of the World Union of Jewish Students in Jerusalem.
Honoring Per Ahlmark: Last week, Neuer was a keynote speaker at theStockholm seminar on democracy held in honour of the 70th birthday of Per Ahlmark, European Co-Chair of UN Watch. The panel included Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the author of Infidel, who is required to live under constant guard as a result of her outspoken advocacy on behalf of women’s rights in Islamic society. The 100 invited guests were made up of Mr. Ahlmark’s family and close friends, Swedish writers, opinion-makers, liberal parliamentarians, and former U.N. weapons inspector Rolf Ekeus. During the festive dinner, Swedish Minister of EducationJan Björklund and many others saluted the seminal impact of Mr. Ahlmark’s writings and activism, in the fight against Communism, totalitarianism, and dictatorship. The seminar was organized by businessman and philanthropistRobert Weil, and moderated by Swedish-Kurdish writer Dilsa Demirbag Sten. See summary here.
UN Watch in the Media
For analysis and comment on the U.N. and human rights, Durban II, the crisis in Congo, free speech, the Hamas-Israel war, and so much more, influential news sources around the globe continue to turn to UN Watch. From the past three months, see quotes below from Le Monde, The Economist, Agence France Presse, San Francisco Chronicle, Ottawa Citizen, The Monitor (Uganda), Tribune de Geneve, Christian Science Monitor, Le Temps, The National (United Arab Emirates)….
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“…L’ONG UN Watch a également dénoncé le caractère unilatéral de cette résolution qui «fournit la légitimité, l’impunité et un encouragement aux attaques délibérées du Hamas contre des civils»…” — F. Koller, “Condamnation d’Israël au Conseil des droits de l’homme,” Le Temps, Jan. 13, 2009. Also Published in Courrier International. More…
“…As exposed by UN Watch, the draft declaration says, ‘freedom of expression, counterterrorism and national security’ make racism and racial discrimination harder to defeat.…” — “Boycott the bashfest,” New York Daily News, Jan. 12, 2009. More…
“…A representative for the group United Nations Watch, Hillel Neuer, notes the resolution dismisses the quantity and quality of Israeli suffering under Hamas terror…” — L. Schlein, “UN Rights Council condemns Israeli action in Gaza ,” Voice of America, Jan. 12, 2009. More…
“…According to the UN Watch NGO, should the resolution pass, it would mark the 21st time that the council has censured Israel since it replaced the UN’s Human Rights Commission in June 2006…” — T. Lazaroff, “UNHRC set to censure Israel for 21st time,” The Jerusalem Post, Jan. 10, 2008. More… (with French version)
“…With Moamer Kadhafi’s Libya chairing the planning committee, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Iran as vice-chair, it’s heart-wrenching though not surprising that Durban II is hijacking the noble cause of human rights and anti-racism, with the aim of legitimising an agenda of hate and extremism…” — UN Watch quoted in “Pressure group urges scrapping of UN racism declaration,” Agence France Presse, Jan. 5, 2009. More…
“…Today’s council is a body that fails to honor the legacy bequeathed by Eleanor Roosevelt and Rene Cassin, founders of what originally was known as the Commission on Human Rights…” — Op-Ed by UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer, “Human rights at U.N. council a sham,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Dec. 29, 2008. More…
“…the resolutions pose a major threat to the premises and principles of international human rights law and harm Muslims as much as non-Muslims..…” — Op-ed by UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer, “The defamation of human rights,” Radio Free Europe, Dec. 22, 2008. More…
“…There is no country in the world that would want to willingly subject itself to a kangaroo court where it is demonised and delegitimised…'” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in W. Kerler, “Israel deeply wary of 2009 anti-racism meet,” Inter Press Service (IPS), Dec. 19, 2008. More… (with Spanish and Dutch versions)
“…the adoption of yet another totalitarian text is a stark reminder that human rights at the U.N. is under assault.…” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in P. Goodenough, “UN passes Islamic ‘defamation’ measure, but critics hail ‘backlash’,” CNS News, Dec. 18, 2008. More…
UN Human Rights Council needs a new approach
In regard to the Dec. 10 Opinion piece, “Obama’s moment on human rights”: Author Iain Guest rightly acknowledges the abuses of the UN Human Rights Council. According to UN Watch’s new report, 34 out of 47 Council member states had negative voting records in 2008, casting ballots against independent human rights mechanisms or basic principles, such as free speech. Human rights at the UN is in a state of crisis.
The US needs to work in concert with its allies in the free world to turn the tide.
Yet how could Americans support rejoining a biased Council that has targeted Israel in 80 percent of its censures and that denies Israel membership in any of its five regional groups?
Washington should demand evidence of a new approach in Geneva. The Europeans could do their part by finally dropping their peculiar objection to Israel joining the Western group, an important signal that bias is unacceptable.
Hillel Neuer
Executive Director, UN Watch
Geneva
Original URL: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1217/p08s03-cole.html
“…The U.N. can’t claim to oppose al-Qaeda terrorists while its officials seek to deny their most ghastly crimes…” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in P. Goodenough, “Israel denies entry to U.N. critic who accused it of war crimes,” CNS News, Dec. 15, 2008. More…
“…The major issue we took with the situation was that the Council that convened the special session was the same council which had eliminated the mandate of the independent expert on the situation of human rights in the Congo, just a few months earlier in March, even after he warned repeatedly of the gross human rights violations occurring there…” — UN Watch intern Ben Albert quoted in “Thomaston native testifies at United Nations rights council special session,” Stonehill College press release, Dec. 15, 2008. More…
“…’He has a very serious mandate,’ Neuer said. ‘People who question whether 9/11 happened are not serious people. No one in the United States or the West could be in positions of authority if they engaged 9/11 conspiracy talk’…” — Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, featured in Joel Brinkley, “9/11 conspiracy theorist should leave U.N. job,” editorial, San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 14, 2006. More…
“…the Geneva-based monitoring group UN Watch has listed Canada top among the 47 member states of the UN Human Rights Council in voting to promote human rights…” — UN Watch featured in S. Edwards, “Canada honoured for pro-Israeli support,” Canwest, Dec. 3, 2008. More…
“…The Geneva-based UN Watch group said it was hoping to see a U.N. rights expert assigned to the region, and said abuses ‘making eastern Congo a living hell’ needed to be properly investigated…” — UN Watch featured in L. MacInnis, “U.N. Human Rights Council condemns abuses in Congo,” Swissinfo, Dec. 1, 2008. Also carried by Reuters. More… (with Spanish version)
“…We will never know how many lives could have been saved if the Council had not deferred to Congo’s government and caused this unconscionable protection gap….” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in “UN rights council condemns DR Congo abuses,” Agence France Presse, Dec. 1, 2008. More..
“…For too long, supposedly friendly countries in the Third World — many of whom rely on the generosity of Canada and other Western democracies — have used their UN votes to undermine vital international human rights initiatives, without our diplomats ever holding them to account…” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in S. Edwards, “Major aid recipients snub Canada on Iran,” Canwest, Nov. 30, 2008. More…
“…The whole thing was a “festival of hate and anti-Semitism”, says Hillel Neuer, head of UN Watch. He predicts the Geneva meeting will be just as bad. Its cause is not helped by the fact that it is being organised by the UN’s much-criticised Human Rights Council, with Libya chairing a preparatory panel that includes Iran, Cuba, Russia and Pakistan…” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in “‘At risk of early derailment,” The Economist, Nov. 28, 2008. More…
“…Morally, those countries (on the Council) who were behind the elimination of the monitoring mandate in March ought now to apologise to the victims of Congo…” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in R. Evans, “Rights group calls for UN apology over Congo post,” Reuters, Nov. 26, 2008. More…
“…UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer called Monday’s development ‘just the latest shot in an intensifying campaign of U.N. resolutions that dangerously seek to import Islamic anti-blasphemy prohibitions into the discourse of international human rights law’.…” — P. Goodenough, “‘Defamation’ of Islam resolution set to pass, but losing ground,” CNS News, Nov. 25, 2008. More…
“…Les droits de l’Homme ont été conçus pour protéger les individus, pour garantir à chaque personne la liberté d’expression et la liberté de culte, mais certainement pas pour protéger quelque croyance que ce soit, religion comprise…” — Hillel Neuer, exeutive director of UN Watch, quoted in “L’ONU appelle à empêcher le dénigrement des religions,” Agence France Presse, Nov. 25, 2008. Published in Le Monde, Nov. 25, 2008. More…
“…That ‘risks limiting a broad range of peaceful speech and expression,’ …” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in S. Edwards, “UN anti-blasphemy measures have sinister goals, observers say,” Canwest, Nov. 24, 2008. More…
“…As a controversial new chamber of the UN Human Rights Council gets underway, Freedom House and UN Watch are urging member states to turn the international spotlight toward the human rights catastrophe in the DR Congo.…” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer and P. Schriefer, “UN must act to stop Congo tragedy,” Monitor (Uganda), Nov. 23, 2008. More…
“…Two rights groups, Freedom House and U.N. Watch, wrote to top U.N. officials this week asking that the Human Rights Council urgently spotlight the Congo’s ‘mass displacement, killings and sexual violence involving hundreds of thousands of victims, if not more.’…” — UN Watch featured in J. Heilprin, “Human rights council may meet on Congo violations,” Associated Press, Nov. 21, 2008 and “DR Congo has UNHRC’s attention,” Iranian Press TV. More…
“…The fact that $23 million is being spent during a financial crisis and in the middle of a war in Congo is rather frivolous and sends out completely the wrong message…” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in J. Reinl, “UN art provokes and divides,” The National (United Arab Emirates), Nov. 20, 2008. More…
“…This kind of a thing is really symbolic of what’s happened with the Human Rights Council which, unfortunately, has become a lot of colourful rhetoric but little real action for the victims who need it most…'” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer in “UN Human Rights Council accused of wasteful spending on art” with anchor S. O’Regan, CTV Television, Nov. 20, 2008. More…
“…A la demande expresse d’une quarantaine d’ONG, dont UN Watch et Amnesty International, une session extraordinaire devrait se dérouler dès la semaine prochaine sur la situation dans l’est de la République démocratique du Congo…” — M. Lalive d’Epinay, “Concorde polychrome à Genève,” Le Temps, Nov. 19, 2008. More…
“…Une réunion ‘sans délai’ a été réclamée par plus d’une quarantaine d’ONG, dont Freedom House, UN Watch, Amnesty International et Human Rights Watch et des organisations surtout actives en Afrique….” — “ONU: inauguration à Genève de la salle des droits de l’homme décorée par Barcelo,” Agence France Presse, Nov. 19, 2008. More… (with Spanish version)
“…In Spain there’s a controversy because they took money out of the foreign aid budget, took money from starving children in Africa, and spent it on colourful stalactites…” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in “UNHRC faces charge of misusing foreign aid on 23-mn dollar art ceiling,” Asian News International, Nov. 19, 2008. More…
“…Par ailleurs, plusieurs ONG ont demandé que le Conseil des droits de l’homme tienne une session spéciale sur les massacres en RDC. Ces organisations ont écrit au secrétaire général de l’ONU Ban Ki-moon, lui demandant de saisir l’occasion de sa visite à Genève pour ‘porter l’attention sur la catastrophe en RDC’, selon Freedom House et UN Watch.…” — UN Watch featured in “Genève: une nouvelle salle a été inaugurée au siège de l’ONU,” Agence Telegraphe Suisse, Nov. 18, 2008. More…
“…’Instead of meeting for self-congratulatory ceremonies, the council should do its job and stop ignoring human rights violations around the world,’.…” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in P. Goodenough, “U.N. Human Rights Council Gets a New Ceiling – and More Controversy,” CNS News, Nov. 18, 2008. More…
“…Annan et Arbour avaient agi après qu’UN Watch, qui combat le racisme et l’antisémitisme, eût porté l’incident au grand jour. .…” — Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, Letter to the Editor, “Mise au point,” La Tribune de Genève, Nov. 15, 2008. More… (with English version)
“..The overriding theme of the Durban II draft communiqué is ‘that the United States, western Europe, Israel and the other liberal democracies – their principles, institutions, policies, respective histories and national identities – are singularly racist and discriminatory against Islam’, argues UN Watch…” — D. Korski, “Don’t do Durban,” Spectator Blog, Nov. 13, 2008. More…
“…the dominant theme of the draft outcome document ‘is that the United States, Western Europe, Israel and the other liberal democracies – their principles, institutions, policies, respective histories and national identities – are singularly racist and discriminatory against Islam’…” — UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer quoted in P. Goodenough, “‘Apartheid’ Israel, Islamophobia on the Agenda for U.N. Racism Meeting,” CNS News, Nov. 11, 2008. More…
