On June 4th, Kuwaiti dissident Jasem Aljuraid addressed a sold-out audience at UN Watch’s 2026 Gala Dinner in Geneva. In March, UN Watch invited Aljuraid to deliver a stunning speech before the UN Human Rights Council. His viral testimony was seen by millions around the world and widely reported across media outlets.
Full Speech:
My name is Jasem Aljuraid. Back home, I am an investigative journalist who worked for Kuwait’s most influential newspaper, until I was fired for enraging the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamist extremists. Today, I stand before you in exile, after I was sentenced to 14 years in prison — just for advocating peace with Israel, and for opposing radical Islamist groups.
I’ve been detained, I’ve been targeted, but looking at this room tonight… I regret absolutely nothing.
As you just saw now, when UN Watch gave me the floor at the United Nations, it was an unforgettable moment — it shook the entire world. And I am incredibly grateful to UN Watch for giving me that unique opportunity, to share my message, and confront the real oppressors across the Middle East.
But now let me tell you what the video didn’t capture, because the real magic happened just moments before. As Hillel was helping to fill me with courage, and to polish my speech, there was an instant right before I took the floor, when we realized that a very special moment was about to happen.
At the United Nations, the narrative is always that Israel is the villain. We were about to flip that narrative on its head, and deliver a rare moment of truth. It is hard to describe that feeling — that rush of adrenaline — that comes before a moment like this. But we all felt and knew the immediate impact we would have.
And we didn’t stop at just one speech. That same day, I took the floor again to defend South Arabia in Yemen, and to bring the name of Somaliland into the Council for the first time in history.
What shocked me the most was not how the diplomats in the room reacted — that we expected — but the reaction from Arab media. Across the Middle East, my speech was widely covered with such outrage and anger. Why did that shock me, you ask? Well, it is not often that the Arab world is so united on anything. In a strange way, maybe our speech brought them closer together…
But in all seriousness, our moment at the UN was deeply personal to me. A few weeks later, I lost my mother. Because of my exile, I couldn’t bury her. I couldn’t touch her face for the last time. I have paid a heavy price for speaking the truth, but I rest easy knowing how incredibly proud she was of that moment. She understood that the truth is worth everything.
None of this would have been possible without Hillel Neuer and the remarkable team at UN Watch. Your dedication to holding the UN accountable to its founding principles, while calling out double standards and exposing bad actors, is nothing short of noble. So much so that you have inspired me to launch my own new watchdog to cover the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey — focusing on politics, business, human rights, and whistleblowing.
And I promise you: As long as UN Watch continues to shine a light on hypocrisy, defend the voices that dictators try to silence, and give dissidents a platform when the world looks away, I will continue standing with you and speaking the truth — no matter the cost.
Thank you.
