Hillel Neuer accuses U.N. of bias against Israel
| Upcoming UN Watch Events New York City, 92nd St. Y Stamford, Connecticut, Feb. 6, 2012 Miami, Florida Feb. 8-12, Lectures by H. Neuer at AJC Geneva Geneva, May 23, 2012
UN Watch Media Impact Selon l’ONG UN Watch, basée à Genève, l’Unesco se prépare à exclure la Syrie de ses comités en charge des droits de l’homme. Une première dans l’histoire de l’agence onusienne. —La Tribune de Genève, Jan. 30, 2012. more… “‘If Maikel Nabil perishes, so does the dream of a free Egypt,’ said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based U.N. Watch, after the blogger went on hunger strike.”—Al Arabiya News, Jan. 25, 2012. more… |
By Alicia Smith
ROCHESTER, Feb. 5 – Hillel Neuer, executive
director of United Nations Watch, traveled
across an ocean to deliver a passionate
lecture at the Congregation Beth Sholom on Saturday evening.
Neuer’s lecture, titled “Israel at the U.N.: A
Nation that Dwells Alone?” focused on how
the U.N. Human Rights Council, in his
estimation, unjustly targets Israel in its
condemnations.
Being a watchdog of the U.N. is what Neuer
does for a living. The U.N. Watch is a non-
governmental organization based in G
eneva, Switzerland, whose mission is to
monitor the performance of the United
Nations.
The Montreal native has written extensively
on international law, human rights and
politics. Prior to joining U.N. Watch, he
taught international human rights at the
Geneva School of Diplomacy and practiced
commercial and civil rights litigation at an
international law firm.
Additionally, he has appeared on CNN, Fox
News, BBC and Al Jazeera. Several videos
of his speeches also have gone viral on
YouTube.
Although Neuer’s lecture was mostly critical
of the U.N., especially in its treatment of
Israel, he does not believe that the
organization is useless.
“I didn’t come here tonight to tell you all
that the U.N. is bad,” he said. “They have
some indispensible functions.”
But when it comes to certain areas, he said,
the organization is flawed.
“In its early years, the Human Rights
Council did good things,” he said. “But
later, it became hijacked.” He added that
“when it comes to issues of human rights
and Israel, there is a problem.”
Neuer talked about the U.N. General
Assembly Resolution 3379, which declared
“Zionism is racism” in 1975.
“The spirit of ‘Zionism is racism’ continues
to live on in many of the U.N. bodies,”
Neuer said.
He believes that many of the problems of
the U.N. Human Rights Council lie in its
leadership and membership.
Some of its member nations include China,
Cuba and Saudi Arabia. Neuer described
each of these nations as having massive
denials of human rights.
“From Eleanor Roosevelt to Muammar
Gaddafi: It’s the rise and fall of the Human
Rights commission,” he said of the range of
individuals who have led the council.
Neuer accused other members of the U.N.
Human Rights Council, such as its hunger
expert, Jean Ziegler, of being biased
toward Israel.
Neuer said that when Ziegler investigated
what countries are experiencing
widespread hunger, he jumped at Israel
despite the fact that many nations have
much higher starvation rates.
“When Ziegler said that ‘Israel is starving
Palestinians,’ he was applauded,” Neuer
said.
He also noted that half of the council’s
emergency sessions that are held
regarding war crimes and human rights
violations are against Israel. He believes
that this is unfair in light of widespread
human rights violations in other countries.
“It is an organized assault on the legitimacy
of Israel,” he said. “In many of the U.N.
bodies, Israel stands alone.”
