Speeches Archives - UN Watch

Hillel Neuer Exposes the Truth About Qatar at the U.N. Human Rights Council

Dan — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 07:51:38 +0000

Pakistan called an urgent debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council over Israel’s strike on Hamas terror chiefs in Qatar. On cue, brutal regimes such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, Venezuela, Russia and China lined up to bash the Jewish state. Then UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer took the floor to tell the truth about Qatar.

Highlights from the U.N. Human Rights Council debate:

Volker Türk, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights: “The Secretary-General has pointed out that Israel’s action was a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar.”

Qatar: “This attack represents a violent, flagrant violation of international humanitarian law by targeting a purely civilian area, amounting to state terrorism.”

Islamic Republic of Iran: “An evil entity has been allowed to destroy global security and order.”

Venezuela: “This aggression is an act of state terrorism.”

Russia: “The Israeli Air Force carried out an attack on a residential district. The grave violation of the sovereignty of state and the serious threat to innocent citizens can have no justification.”

China: “China strongly calls upon Israel to earnestly observe the international human rights law.”

UNHRC Chair: “Thank you. I call upon United Nations Watch.”

Hillel Neuer, UN Watch: “The High Commissioner quoted the Secretary-General. But what changed since 2011?

When the U.S. killed Bin Laden, who was living in a million-dollar compound close to Pakistan’s top military academy, the UN chief at the time celebrated that, quote: ‘Justice has been done to such a mastermind of international terrorism.’

Why has the UN now changed its position?

To understand this double standard we need only recall what Saudi Foreign Minister al-Jubeir said long before today’s debate, in 2018. Quote: ‘The Qataris since the mid-1990s have been sponsoring radicals. They’ve been inciting people. They’ve become a base for the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood which begot us Tafkir wal-Hijra, which begot al-Qaeda.’

‘The Qataris allow their senior religious clerics to go on TV and justify suicide bombings. The Qataris harbor and shelter terrorists. The head of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula entered Saudi Arabia on a Qatari passport. We captured al-Qaeda types coming with Qatari passports. The Qataris know this. The Americans know this. The world knows this.’

Quote: ‘The Qataris pay ransom to terrorist groups including $500 million to Hezbollah in Iraq, $50 million to Qassem Soleimani.’

‘The Qataris use their media platforms to spread hate. The Qataris send weapons to al-Qaeda militias in Libya. There’s a list of terror financiers that the UN puts out and a number of them are living openly in Qatar raising money and giving it to bad people. Why do the Qataris get away with it?’

All of this from the Saudi Foreign Minister.

Mr. President, is not the accuser here the true enabler of terrorism?”

Pakistan called an urgent U.N. debate over Israel’s strike on Hamas terror chiefs in Qatar.

On cue, brutal regimes such as the Islamic Republic of Iran, Venezuela, Russia & China lined up to bash the Jewish state.

Then Hillel Neuer took the floor to tell the truth about Qatar: pic.twitter.com/925mxEeGOK

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) September 22, 2025

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U.N. Debate: Hillel Neuer Rips Qatar For Harboring Hamas Terror Chiefs

unwatch — Wed, 10 Sep 2025 14:48:39 +0000

Today the United Nations in Geneva, after Iran, Libya, Algeria, Venezuela and others condemned Israel for bombing Hamas in Qatar, UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer took the floor to deliver the following speech. Pakistan interrupted him in the middle.

Mr. President, we have heard a lot about international law – from the world’s worst violators of international law. It’s time to challenge the perpetrators.

And so, we ask Qatar:

If you don’t want targeted bombings against terrorists in your capital, why do you harbor terrorists in your capital? Terrorists who are still holding hostages, torturing them, and rejecting peace deals?

Why did you host Ismail Haniyeh, Khaled Mashal, and Khalil al-Hayya in luxury hotels, from where where they planned their terror?

Why did you back Hamas’s Gaza coup in 2007?

Why have you funneled billions since then, fueling their terror machine, empowering their 5 wars against Israel?

Why did you blame Israel for October 7, absolving Hamas of massacring 1200 Israelis, Americans and others?

Why is your state-owned Al Jazeera serving as the terror group’s non-stop propaganda arm?

Why do you act as mediator by day, and a terror sponsor by night?

Mr. President, the record shows: Qatar is a state sponsor of terror. The Gulf states said so in 2017, when they suspended ties with Qatar.

Yesterday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Israel.

But when the U.S. killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan, the UN chief at the time celebrated that “justice has been done to such a mastermind of international terrorism.”

France called it a “victory for all democracies.”

We ask both: how is this different?

When Israel captured the Nazi Adolf Eichman, rescued the hostages at Entebbe, and destroyed Saddam’s nuclear reactor, the U.N. condemned Israel.

Each time, history vindicated Israel.

And history shall remember the courage of those who acted, and the disgrace of those who condemned.

Here at the United Nations in Geneva, after Iran, Libya, Algeria, Venezuela and others condemned Israel for bombing Hamas in Qatar, I just took the floor to deliver the following speech. Pakistan interrupted me in the middle.

“Mr. President, we have heard a lot about…

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 10, 2025

We are being told that the attack on a gathering of jihadi terrorist leaders in Qatar was a violation of international law. The opposite is true.

A reminder to @antonioguterres @EmmanuelMacron @Keir_Starmer @MarkJCarney:

➡️ Article 51 Self-Defense: Under the UN Charter, Israel…

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 10, 2025

.@EmmanuelMacron No, Mr. President, the strikes were not on Qatar but on Jihadi terror chiefs whose elimination France used to hail as a victory for all democracies. And I'm old enough to remember 2019 when you boasted of killing 33 terrorists in Mali: https://t.co/JFTFLY6IbB https://t.co/AOgfIlXkNE pic.twitter.com/SGavj9BlSl

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 9, 2025

.@antonioguterres, when Bin Laden was eliminated, the UN chief said “I am very much relieved by news that justice has been done to such a mastermind of international terrorism,” calling it “a watershed moment in our common global fight against terrorism.” Why the double standard? https://t.co/4h5S7Bs4vL pic.twitter.com/sefTY4iHzd

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 9, 2025

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Syrian activist to UN: “I testify before God: Israel is not the problem!”

unwatch — Tue, 04 Mar 2025 17:27:07 +0000

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UN Watch joint statement delivered by Rawan Osman, in the United Nations Human Rights Council, March 3, 2025

“Are you outraged with the war in Gaza? So am I.

My name is Rawan Osman. I am half Syrian, half Lebanese.

Since October 7, I visited Israel nine times, and I want to testify before God and you: Israel is not the problem.

Last week, Israel buried Shiri Bibas with her children, Ariel and Kfir. Hamas said they had been “arrested.” Forensic reports show they were choked to death in Gaza.

But many who point fingers at Israel might do better to look in the mirror.

I ask Qatar: Why didn’t you arrest the Hamas chiefs in Doha, and demand release of the hostages? Why did you finance terror?

And I ask Iran: Why do you send billions to Hamas and Hezbollah, instead of liberating your own people, who are suffering oppression and poverty?

Egypt, you charged Gazans thousands of dollars to escape the war. How can you lecture about the morality of displacing Gazans?

Jordan, why have you refused to accept any Gazans? Are they not your own people?

Lebanon, instead of discussing Hezbollah’s political role, ban the party.

Syria, if your new president is sincere about his transformation, I ask him to return the body of Eli Cohen. It has been six decades. Allow his wife to bury him before she dies. Hamas abuses dead bodies. Be a better Arab. Be a better Muslim.

Thank you.”

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Syrian Activist to UN: “I testify before God: Israel is not the problem!” In only 90 seconds, Rawan Osman brilliantly calls out the regimes of Qatar, Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon & Syria.

“Are you outraged with the war in Gaza? So am I.

My name is Rawan Osman. I am half… pic.twitter.com/46HhkYfPaB

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) March 4, 2025

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Video goes viral: 2.5 million worldwide view UN Watch director's challenge to Arab regimes: “Where Are Your Jews?”

unwatch — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 14:42:50 +0000

GENEVA, March 30, 2017 — Tonight Israel’s i24News TV will interview UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer about the video of his U.N. clash last week with Arab regimes which is now going viral on social media and the blogosphere, viewed more than 2.5 million times worldwide on Facebook and YouTube.
At a U.N. Human Rights Council meeting last Monday that focused only on Israel, Arab states echoed the report by Richard Falk that accused Israel of “apartheid.” The report was deleted by the U.N. under pressure from U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, as she described to an audience on Monday at the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington.
The video of the U.N. debate shows the Palestinians, Qatar, Syria, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and other Arab regimes hurling epithets at the Jewish state. Then UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer took the floor, asking, “Algeria, where are your Jews?” Click here for video.
Mr. Neuer will be featured live tonight on i24News at 9:05 pm (Israel time) on the “Debrief” program with Nurit Ben, and then in French at 9:30 pm on “Le journal” with Jean-Charles Banoun, to speak about what has now become the most-viewed non-governmental speech in the history of the United Nations.

The speech has been translated into French, Spanish, German, Hebrew, and other languages.

French philosopher Raphaël Enthoven posted the video on Twitter and Facebook; Sky News political columnist Andrew Bolt dedicated a radio segment to praising it; numerous blogs featured the speech.

The video drew 1,700 comments on Facebook, hailing the speech as a diplomatic moment to remember.

Several humorous memes were also generated and shared on the internet, inspired by the speech.

__________

“Where Are Your Jews?”
Hillel Neuer tells U.N. where real apartheid is — room goes silent
Debate at U.N Human Rights Council
Agenda Item 7 targeting Israel, March 20, 2017

PLO: “Israel has used the worst kinds of abuse, ethnic cleansing and imposing a regime of apartheid.”

Qatar: “Israel continues to exercise apartheid in Palestine, which constitutes a crime against humanity.”

Sudan: “Violence and terrorism are being exercised against the Palestinian people.”

Syria: “Violations including building of apartheid walls… to legitimize theft of land and to Judaize Jerusalem.”

Bahrain: “The separation wall is an example of the apartheid policy practiced by Israel.”

Saudi Arabia: “Israel’s practices of discrimination and extremism…”

UN Watch (Executive Director Hillel Neuer): Mr. President, let me begin by putting the following on the record: Everything we just heard — from the world’s worst abusers of human rights, of women’s rights, of freedom of religion, of the press, of assembly, of speech — is absolutely false; and, indeed, Orwellian.

Today’s report does not consider Israelis to be deserving of human rights — consistent with the approach of this council, where today’s notorious agenda item against Israel completely ignores their human rights.
Over the weekend, President Abbas announced he was giving his highest medal to Rima Khalaf, who resigned from the Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia, a Beirut-based UN agency of 18 Arab states, after Secretary General Guterres rightly instructed her to remove an absurd report which accused Israel of “apartheid.”
Mr. President, why is Mr. Abbas celebrating a report written by the notorious Richard Falk, after his own Palestinian Mission here, tried in 2010, to remove Mr. Falk on the basis that he was “a partisan of Hamas,” as we know from WikiLeaks?
The accusation against Israel is absurd. Israel’s 1.5 million Arabs…
[Interruption with objections by Palestinians, Egypt, and Pakistan.]
President gives UN Watch back the floor.
Thank you, Mr. President. Israel’s 1.5 million Arabs, whatever challenges they face, enjoy full rights to vote and to be elected in the Knesset, they work as doctors and lawyers, they serve on the Supreme Court.
Now I’d like to ask the members of that commission, that commissioned that report, the Arab states from which we just heard. Egypt, Iraq, and the others:
How many Jews live in your countries? How many Jews lived in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco?
Once upon a time, the Middle East was full of Jews.
Algeria had 140,000 Jews. Algeria, where are your Jews?
Egypt used to have 75,000 Jews. Where are your Jews?
Syria, you had tens of thousands of Jews. Where are your Jews?
Iraq, you had over 135,000 Jews. Where are your Jews?
Mr. President, where is the apartheid?
Why is there a U.N. commission on the Middle East that does not include Israel? From the 1960s and the ‘70s they refuse to include Israel. Where is the apartheid, Mr. President?
Mr. President, why are we meeting today on an agenda item singling out only one state, the Jewish state, for targeting.
Where is the apartheid, Mr. President?
UNHRC chamber goes silent.
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"Algerien, Ägypten, Syrien, Irak, Wo sind eure Juden?" – Hillel Neuer in der UNO

unwatch — Sun, 26 Mar 2017 23:21:17 +0000

Nachdem UN-Generalsekretär Antonió Guterres einen von einer nur aus arabischen Staaten bestehenden UN-Kommission erstellten Bericht, in dem Israel „Apartheid“ vorgeworfen wurde, zurückgewiesen hat, fand am 20. März eine Sitzung des Menschenrechtsrats statt, an der laut Tagesordnungspunkt 7 wieder einmal über Israel „debattiert“ wurde. Die Palästinenser, Qatar, Sudan, Syrien sowie Bahrain und Saudi-Arabien wiederholten die Vorwürfe aus dem zurückgezogenen UN-Bericht. Israel wurde des Terrorismus, der Apartheid und dazu noch der „Judaisierung“ Jerusalems und der ethnischen Säuberung angeklagt.
PLO: “Israel hat die schlimmsten Misshandlungen und ethnischen Säuberungen verübt und ein Regime der Apartheid errichtet.“
Katar: „Israel übt weiterhin Apartheid in Palästina aus. Das stellt ein Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit dar.“
Sudan: „Mit Gewalt und Terrorismus wird gegen das palästinensische Volk vorgegangen.“
Syrien: Übergriffe und der Bau von Mauern der Apartheid … um Landraub zu legitimieren und Jerusalem zu judaisieren.“
Bahrain: „Die Trennmauer ist ein Beispiel der Apartheidpolitik Israels … um Landraub zu legitimieren und Jerusalem zu judaisieren.“
Saudi Arabien: „Israels Methoden der Diskriminierung und des Extremismus …“
Hillel Neuer von der Nichtregierungsorganisation UN Watch nannte die Anklage der Apartheid gegen Israel „absurd“und wies darauf hin, dass ausgerechnet jene Staaten, die selbst notorisch Menschenrechte missachten, haltlose Vorwürfe gegen Israel vorbringen, in denen sie den jüdischen Staat bezichtigen, Verbrechen gegen die Menschheit zu begehen.
UN Watch (Geschäftsführer Hillel Neuer):
Herr Präsident, lassen Sie mich damit beginnen, Folgendes zu Protokoll zu geben: Alles, was wir gerade gehört haben – von den schlimmsten Verstössen gegen Menschenrechte, Frauenrechte, Religionsfreiheit, Pressefreiheit, Versammlungsrecht, Redefreiheit – ist absolut falsch und gemahnt an Orwell.
Der heutige Bericht betrachtet Israelis nicht als Menschen, die Menschenrechte verdient haben – passend zur Einstellung dieses Rates, wo der heutige, altbekannte Tagesordnungspunkt gegen Israel deren eigene Menschrechte komplett ignoriert.
Im Verlauf des Wochenendes gab Präsident Abbas bekannt, er werde Rima Khalaf seine höchste Auszeichnung verleihen, einer Frau, die aus der Wirtschafts- und Sozialkommission für Westasien – einer UN-Einrichtung von 18 arabischen Staaten mit Sitz in Beirut – ausgeschieden ist, nachdem Generalsekretär Guterres sie zu Recht angewiesen hatte, einen absurden Bericht zu entfernen, der Israel der „Apartheid“ beschuldigte.
Herr Präsident, warum feiert Herr Abbas einen Bericht, der vom berüchtigten Richard Falk verfasst wurde, nachdem seine eigene palästinensische Delegation hier 2010 versucht hat, Herrn Falk mit der Begründung zu entfernen, er sei „ein Parteigänger der Hamas“, wie wir aus WikiLeaks wissen?
Diese Anschuldigung gegen Israel ist absurd. Die 1,5 Millionen Araber Israels …
[Unterbrechung durch Widerspruch von Seiten der Palästinenser, Ägyptens und Pakistans.]
Der Präsident erteilt UN Watch erneut das Wort.
Danke, Herr Präsident.
Egal, welchen Problemen sie sich sonst gegenüber sehen, die 1,5 Millionen Araber Israels geniessen alle Rechte zu wählen und in die Knesset gewählt zu werden, sie arbeiten als Ärzte und Rechtsanwälte und dienen am Obersten Gericht.
Nun möchte ich die Mitglieder dieser Kommission, die diesen Bericht in Auftrag gegeben haben, die arabischen Staaten, von denen wir gerade gehört haben, Ägypten, Irak und die anderen, fragen:
Wie viele Juden leben in Ihren Ländern? Wie viele Juden lebten früher in Ägypten, dem Irak, Jordanien, Kuwait, dem Libanon, Libyen, Marokko?
Der Nahe Osten war einst voller Juden.
In Algerien lebten 140.000 Juden. Algerien, wo sind eure Juden?
In Ägypten lebten einmal 75.000 Juden. Wo sind eure Juden?
Syrien, ihr hattet Zehntausende Juden. Wo sind eure Juden?
Irak, ihr hattet über 135.000 Juden. Wo sind eure Juden?
Herr Präsident, wo ist die Apartheid?
Warum gibt es eine UN-Kommission zum Nahen Osten, in der Israel nicht vertreten ist? Seit den 1960er und 70er Jahren lehnen sie es ab, Israel aufzunehmen. Wo also ist die Apartheid, Herr Präsident?
Herr Präsident, warum treffen wir uns heute hier zu einem Tagesordnungspunkt, der nur gegen einen einzigen Staat, den jüdischen Staat, gerichtet ist?
Wo ist die Apartheid, Herr Präsident?
Der UNHCR-Saal verstummt.

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‘Algeria, where are your Jews?’ – Hillel Neuer at U.N. human rights council

unwatch — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 19:05:16 +0000

U.N. Human Rights Council debate under the permanent agenda item targeting Israel, March 20, 2017

PLO: “Israel has used the worst kinds of abuse, ethnic cleansing and imposing a regime of apartheid.”
Qatar: “Israel continues to exercise apartheid in Palestine, which constitutes a crime against humanity.”
Sudan: “Violence and terrorism are being exercised against the Palestinian people.”
Syria: “Violations including building of apartheid walls… to legitimize theft of land and to Judaize Jerusalem.”
Bahrain: “The separation wall is an example of the apartheid policy practiced by Israel.”
Saudi Arabia: “Israel’s practices of discrimination and extremism…”

Over the weekend, President Abbas announced he was giving his highest medal to Rima Khalaf, who resigned from the Economic and Social Commission of Western Asia, a Beirut-based UN agency of 18 Arab states, after Secretary General Guterres rightly instructed her to remove an absurd report which accused Israel of “apartheid.”

Mr. President, why is Mr. Abbas celebrating a report written by the notorious Richard Falk, after his own Palestinian Mission here, tried in 2010, to remove Mr. Falk on the basis that he was “a partisan of Hamas,” as we know from WikiLeaks?

The accusation against Israel is absurd. Israel’s 1.5 million Arabs…

[Interruption with objections by Palestinians, Egypt, and Pakistan. President gives UN Watch back the floor.]

Thank you, Mr. President.

Israel’s 1.5 million Arabs, whatever challenges they face, enjoy full rights to vote and to be elected in the Knesset, they work as doctors and lawyers, they serve on the Supreme Court.

Now I’d like to ask the members of that commission, that commissioned that report, the Arab states from which we just heard. Egypt, Iraq, and the others:

How many Jews live in your countries? How many Jews live in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco? Once upon a time, the Middle East was full of Jews.

Algeria had 140,000 Jews. Algeria, where are your Jews?

Egypt used to have 75,000 Jews. Where are your Jews?

Syria, you had tens of thousands of Jews. Where are your Jews?

Iraq, you had over 135,000 Jews. Where are your Jews?

Mr. President, where is the apartheid?

Why is there a U.N. commission on the Middle East that does not include Israel? From the 1960s and the ‘70s they refuse to include Israel. Where is the apartheid, Mr. President?

Mr. President, why are we meeting today on an agenda item singling out only one state, the Jewish state, for targeting.

Where is the apartheid, Mr. President?

UNHRC chamber goes silent.

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On this day 73 years ago, Nov. 30, 1947—a day after the UN voted to partition Palestine into Arab & Jewish states—Syria incited mobs in Aleppo. Rioters burned 50 Jewish shops, 5 schools, 18 synagogues, the community’s orphanage, a youth club & 150 homes. https://t.co/jYf5ZBcnON https://t.co/zzD7et3w0F pic.twitter.com/oDAP1Y9NHQ

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 30, 2020

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Hillel Neuer interrupted by Cuba, Pakistan, Saudi, China, Bolivia, Iran, Venezuela, Bangladesh

unwatch — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 13:19:11 +0000

GENEVA, March 20, 2017 – Cuba, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, Bolivia, UAE, Iran, Bangladesh, and Venezuela today attempted to silence UN human rights council testimony by the head of UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights non-governmental organization, after he criticized or called for the removal of these countries from the council.
However, Neuer thanked the USA, the UK, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, and Latvia for successfully defending the right of UN Watch to speak. Full text of the speech and interruptions below.

______

UN Human Rights Council, debate under Agenda Item 8, Vienna Declaration of Human Rights
delivered by Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch
Today we ask: Is the world living up to the Vienna Declaration, which reaffirms basic human rights?
We ask the government of Turkish President Erdogan, if it cares about human rights, why did they just fire more than one hundred thousand teachers, university deans, judges, prosecutors, religious figures and public servants?
We ask Pakistan, when will they release Asia Bibi, the innocent, Christian mother of five, now on death row on the absurd charge of blasphemy?
We ask Saudi Arabia, when will you end gender apartheid? When will you stop oppressing all religious practice that is not Wahhabist Islam? When will you release Raif Badawi, serving 10 years in prison for the crime of advocating a free society?
We welcome the Secretary-General’s new pledge of UN reform. That is why today, pursuant to Article 8 of Resolution 60/251, we call for the complete removal of Saudi Arabia from this Council.
So long as 1.3 billion people are denied their basic freedoms, we call for the removal of China. So long as human rights are abused by Bangladesh, Bolivia, Burundi, Congo, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, and UAE, we call for their removal.
So long as the Maduro government imprisons democracy leaders like Mayor Antonio Ledezma of Caracas, and causes its millions of citizens to scavenge for food, we call for the removal of Venezuela.
So long as the Castro government jails Eduardo Cardet, a prisoner of conscience, we call for the complete removal of Cuba from this Council.
[Cuba interrupts on a point of order, followed by 8 other countries]
Cuba: We are taking the floor under Article 13 of the UN General Assembly Rules, Point of Order. We heard the speaker, he has just taken the floor in this debate and questioned the membership of the Human Rights Council, particularly our membership but also other countries. The decision on granting membership is up to the member states of the United Nations alone, pursuant to which they freely decide and elect who will be a member. And bear in mind resolution 96/31 of ECOSOC and resolution 60 of the UNGA, we would ask you to call the speaker to order and that we should confine our comments to what is on agenda. It’s important that they are called to order, bearing in mind the prerogatives that NGOs enjoy.
Bangladesh: We also have the same position as Cuba with regard to the intervention made by the NGO, UN Watch. We note with very high concern that the language used by this particular organization is not only unacceptable, it is abhorrent. The basic premise of questioning the membership of the Human Rights Council with regard to a number of states is out-hand rejected. We believe that this is a matter of serious concern, the continued participation of this organization in the proceedings of this Council is, to our view, not desirable, and we would ask the Human Rights Council to take a unified view on this matter.
Venezuela: I wanted to support the points of order raised by Cuba and Bangladesh. My delegation would also like to state in writing its position. We reject what has been said by this political organization called UN Watch. They use this session to address political issues which have nothing to do with promoting human rights. Vice-President, we are under agenda item 8, the general debate, this is a thematic debate, it has to do with the Vienna Action Plan. We therefore reject the fact that this political body violates the spirit of cooperation that needs to prevail in our work. President, I agree that we need to respect freedom of expression and freedom to disagree with a country, but at the same time we demand respect, and we cannot accept offensive terms used against our country and our government. I would, therefore, president, ask you to call the speaker to order. Thank you.
Pakistan: We would support the well articulated arguments already given by Cuba, Bangladesh, Venezuela, and we would also align ourselves with their viewpoint, that this organization is way out of line, and the honor and respect of the Council should be always at the top of the agenda, and to target continuously particular countries by the organization, which we saw in the last agenda item also, and again in the last agenda item we had to take the point of order on the same organization, it is not in line, and we urge the whole Council to take a unified position on this, and we respectfully request the Vice-President to take Point of Order on this.
United States: Without addressing the substance of the speaker’s statement, we are of the opinion that what we have heard of the intervention is indeed addressed to the subject matter at hand before this council and is within the UN rules and IB package. I believe that the speaker has already finished speaking as I understood it but if the speaker has not, we respectfully ask that you rule that the speaker be allowed to finish his presentation.
China: I support the statement made by Cuba, Bangladesh, Venezuela and Pakistan. Members of the Human Rights Council were elected by the member states, and this is an NGO which is making this kind of attack, which is totally unacceptable, and therefore I would respectfully request the Vice-President to end the speech that has been made by this NGO. And I would also call on this NGO to respect the rules of the Council in this regard.
United Kingdom: NGOs should be allowed to speak openly and freely in this forum. The NGO should be allowed to conclude their statement,
Netherlands: We highly value that civil society be able to speak. We ask you to allow the speaker to finish their statement.
Canada: Canada deeply believes that accredited NGOs should be authorized to take the floor in this council. What we heard from this statement is relevant to our ongoing discussions.
Saudi Arabia: I won’t be long. We support the points of order raised by Cuba, Bangladesh, and China. Thank you.
Iran: We would like to support the point of order made by our distinguished Cuban colleagues, followed by Bangladesh and other distinguished members of the Council. Thank you.
Latvia: It is very important that we allow NGOs to express their views, even if we may sometimes disagree with what they say. That enriches our human rights dialogue. It is the better of courtesy to ensure that NGO statements should not be interrupted. I call on you to allow NGOs to continue.
Vice-President (Egyptian ambassador Amr Ahmed Ramadan): Actually NGOs were given the chance to speak, we have been listening to them since mid-day…
Germany: Like others before us, we would urge upon this council to listen to the voice of NGOs, even if we do not always agree with what they say.
Bolivia: Thank you, brother Vice-President. We feel compelled to second what has been said by Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, etc. We are not questioning freedom of expression, it is the content of what has been said which discredits the NGO. We are clear in how this NGO operates. Thank you.
United Arab Emirates: President, the Emirates would also like to endorse the point of order raised by Cuba, China, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and others. Thank you.
Vice-President: Distinguished members of this council: we have wasted more than 10 minutes, we listened to 15 countries whether to allow UN Watch to continue with this statement. We need all to recognize that we are short of time in this session. So with that in mind, we need to work in an efficient manner, to finish the agenda. With that in mind, I will ask the representative to respect member states, and more importantly to respect this Council.
UN Watch: Mr. President, we have the right to cite the suspension provision of this council’s own charter. They can silence human rights defenders at home, but they cannot do so at the United Nations.

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In 90 Seconds, Hillel Neuer Takes on U.N. Dictators

unwatch — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 00:43:39 +0000

After North Korea, Venezuela, Syria, Iran, Russia and other of the world’s worst dictatorships told lies, UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer was given 90 seconds to take the floor & set the record straight.

Mr. President, let the record show that everything we just heard from some of the world’s worst human rights abusers has no basis in law or in fact.
When will this U.N. council live up to its own Charter and address the real human rights abuses taking place in the following regions:
In Afghanistan: Misogyny.
In Algeria: Excessive force.
In Belarus: Authoritarianism.
In Burundi: Genocide warning.
In Cambodia: Violence against women.
In Central African Republic: Sexual abuses by peacekeepers.
In China: Denial of basic freedoms.
In Congo: Child labor.
In Cuba: Dictatorship.
In Ecuador: Suppression of dissent.
In Egypt: Extra-judicial killings.
In Eritrea: Forced labor.
In Ethiopia: Arbitrary killings.
In Haiti: Chronic corruption.
In Iran: Torture.
In Iraq: Militia killings.
In Laos: Abuse of prisoners.
In Lebanon: Hezbollah atrocities.
In Libya: Mass killings.
In Malaysia: Police killings.
In Maldives: Jailing of opposition.
In Mali: Torture.
In Mauritania: Slavery.
In Morocco: Unfree judiciary.
In Myanmar: Violence against minorities.
In Nigeria: Extra-judicial killings.
In North Korea: Forced labor camps.
In Pakistan: Death penalty for blasphemy.
In Panama: Corruption.
In Qatar: Slave labor.
In Russia: Persecution of dissidents.
In Saudi Arabia: Beheadings.
In Sri Lanka: Arbitrary arrests.
In Sudan: Bombing of civilians.
In Syria: Massacre of civilians.
Mr. President, when will the world hear about the real human right abuses?

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Do Human Rights Matter?

unwatch — Sun, 05 Mar 2017 13:19:24 +0000

Remarks delivered at the 9th Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, February 21, 2017.

By Alfred H. Moses

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades ago, one would suppose that we would be meeting here today proclaiming the triumph of universal human rights. Sadly, this is not the case. We are weeping, not celebrating. In these brief remarks I would like to try to answer two questions: How we came to this situation; what we can do about it.
When the Berlin Wall came down and European communism disappeared, Francis Fukuyama famously predicted that, with communism vanquished, liberal democracy would become the final human form of government, marking the end of a phase of history that began (borrowing from the German idealist Friedrich Hegel) with the French Revolution’s call for individual human rights. Fukuyama’s prediction was narrowly focused and unwittingly arrogant. He was writing from the perspective of a Western intellectual who ignored the fact that more than 80 percent of the world’s population did not live in the West.
But even if we stay within Fukuyama’s narrow framework, human rights in the West are not in the ascendency. That time has passed. The halcyon period for the advancement of human rights was right after World War II when the world still reverberated with revelations of the atrocities by Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, totalitarian Japan and, one should add, the Soviet Union (although full disclosure of Soviet barbarism did not occur until after Stalin’s death).
Immediately after the war, communism, as the self-proclaimed champion of the working class, chose not to oppose human rights declarations, portraying itself as the liberator, not oppressor of mankind, while at the same time ignoring the Soviet Union’s brutal suppression of all opposition to Stalin, real or trumped up.
In the glory days for human rights that followed World War II, the Nobel Peace Laureate, Rene Cassin, authored the Universal Declaration of Human Rights approved by the United Nations General Assembly. This was at a time when Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the U.N. Human Rights Commission. Sadly, this was also the year the world lost its great human rights champion, Mahatma Gandhi.
There were human rights achievements in the decades that followed, most notably in the cause of ending apartheid in South Africa. The saint-like image of Nelson Mandela is still fresh in our minds as we recall his stirring words. Unlike leaders of other national movements, President Mandela called for freedom and equality for all mankind, regardless of nationality, race or religion.
Like Rene Cassin, he believed human rights were universal, not particular. The same can be said for the 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter. He made respect for human rights a centerpiece of U.S. foreign policy, replacing the Nixon/Kissinger reliance on realpolitik as the underpinning of U.S. foreign policy.
In the decades that followed things started to unravel, “particularity” overtook “universality,” as the clash of civilizations earlier foreseen by Professor Samuel Huntington became an ever more potent force in world events. The conflict Huntington predicted was between Western civilization and Muslim countries, two different cultures with different world views, histories and religions.
Over the preceding centuries religion had diminished as a political force in Western civilization. No so in those parts of the Muslim world where it remained a powerful political force and call to arms. Much of the conflict within the Muslim world has centered on the division between Shia and Sunni that has its origins in differing views of the legitimate successor to the prophet Mohammed.
But Western intervention in that Sunni/Shia conflict and a condemnation of “infidels” (non-Muslims) by Muslim clergy has led to Fatwas proclaiming holy war or Jihad against the West, in general, and against individual countries, including the United States, in particular. None of us can imagine a similar proclamation by the Pope or the Bishop of Canterbury, let alone by the Chief Rabbi of Israel.
Adding to the mix is tribalism (with its rigid identity creed and code of conduct); tribalism exalts particularity, i.e., tribal identity over all other identities and rejects the very notion of universality, or the dignity of man. Tribalism, extremist religious sects and their ideological lookalikes in the West, such as the White Supremacist movement, are the most extreme forms of particularity.
The White Supremacist movement in my country and Canada distinguishes people on the basis of color which is a code word for country of origin, a notion roundly rejected by Judeo-Christian teaching. I am not saying that the particularity is absent in Western faiths. Both Judaism and Christianity have too often elevated their particularity above their message of universality.
Even more alarming than the clash of civilizations foreseen by Huntington or, some would argue, because of it, we are presently witnessing a turn to heightened nationalism in the West, including in my country, the United States. When President Trump puts his thumb in the air and says, “America First,” the message is clear. Pull up the drawbridge, keep “others” out, particularly immigrants from Muslim countries whom one close advisor to President Trump defames as a threat to “the civilized world,” and therefore not entitled to the protection or sympathy of the West.
The same sentiments are echoed in Europe by Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s National Front, and by leaders of far right political parties in the Netherlands and Germany. In the latter country, the Alternative for Germany Party is likely to become the first far right party to enter the German parliament since the fall of Nazi Germany. Far right parties also dominate in Poland and Hungary and are reportedly gaining strength elsewhere in Europe.
The experts tell us that Jihadist attacks in the United States and Europe are likely to increase in coming years as impoverished Muslims in North Africa and the Middle East grow in number with no hope of progress. Some of them, we are told, will fall under the influence of religious extremists urging them to engage in acts of terrorism promising eternal salvation as their reward. How the West reacts to such attacks may alter the course of its history and negatively impact the lives of its citizens.
A call to vigilance and action is needed to prevent this calamity.
Particularism and heightened nationalism are on the rise elsewhere. Last week there was an article in the Financial Times describing the crackdown on English speakers in the African republic of Cameroon, that represents a blatant call to nationalism and denial of the equality of others.
Vladimir Putin’s Russia is keenly aware of the contest taking place in the world between particularity and universality and seeks to take advantage of the opportunity to aid the extreme right, seeing it as its ally in the fight against universal values and the rights of man.
History has taught us that a skillful blending of the particular and the universal is not only possible, but desirable. Our everyday lives are consumed with the particular – family, community, jobs – but our reason for being cries out to the universal in us. The present march away from universal values will, if not checked, sound the death knell for human rights.
This is ironic. History has taught us that the absence of individual freedom leads to the decay of political power. In other words, a country is only as strong as its citizens’ enjoyment of their individual liberty which is recognized as the inalienable property of the individual. Those rights are best protected by liberal democracies that provide a way to bring about change without destroying the system or toppling authority and for this reason are likely to be more stable than authoritarian/totalitarian societies. Liberal democracies like a teapot can let off steam without self-destructing.
At this point, you may be asking yourself will the world right itself. If you have confidence in man’s essential goodness, the answer is yes. But this is the time for all of us to act in defense of universal human rights and the dignity of man. The longer we wait the harder the struggle will be.
You are human rights heroes. You have witnessed human rights abuses, some of unthinkable brutality. But witnessing, important as it is, is only the beginning. What more do we need to do? Let me suggest a few things.
1. In condemning human rights abuses in your own country, it is right and proper to speak out on behalf of victims and denounce oppressors. This is your duty and obligation, but in the process you need to remember that human rights are universal. They belong to each and every one of us. The denial of human rights for one is the denial of human rights for all humankind.
2. The Four Freedoms proclaimed by President Roosevelt — freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear — are the inalienable property of the individual. They belong to each of us and cannot be particularized.
3. Let’s acknowledge to ourselves that the particular in most forms, whether it be in religious practice, patriotism or community space, is easier to champion than universalism. Let’s face it – most of us derive comfort from our particularism, whether it be in celebrating our religion, nationality, family or other private aspects of our lives. It is comforting, and often more convenient, for us to rejoice in our particularism than to think about abstract notions of universalism and then put them to practice in our daily lives. But without protecting the four freedoms for all, none of us will be truly free.
Yes, universal human rights still matter.

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UN Watch calls for stronger text at HRC Special Session on Syria

unwatch — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 13:58:18 +0000

Thank you, Mr. President.
UN Watch commends the sponsors of today’s session.
Sadly, however, four years have passed since this council last convened such an urgent meeting. During this time, hundreds of thousands have been murdered and maimed, and millions displaced. The forces of Bashar al-Assad are aided and abetted by the warplanes, arms, and gunmen of Russia, Iran, and the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
Today is a chance for this council to take action for Syria’s desperate victims. Does the resolution before us achieve this objective?
Yesterday, U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power told the General Assembly that “accountability starts by speaking the truth about who is responsible for the unspeakable horrors we are witnessing”; and that “the perpetrators have names.” UN Watch agrees.
Yesterday, Ambassador Power said that if we don’t call out Russia by its name, “we obscure responsibility.” UN Watch agrees.
Yesterday, Ambassador Power declared: “Now is not the time to equivocate or use euphemisms. Not when hundreds of thousands of lives are at risk. The value of this institution, and all it stands for, depends on it.” Mr. President, we agree.
And so why is it that that today’s resolution strongly condemns ISIS, yet refuses to even mention once Russia, Iran, or Hezbollah — the key forces behind the Assad regime, responsible for the vast majority of death and destruction in Syria?
Are not the vague references to the supporters of the Syrian authorities precisely the equivocation and euphemism that Ambassador Power rightly denounced as a threat to the lives of hundreds of thousands of Syrians, and to the credibility of the United Nations?
Finally: how can it be that, right now, outside this chamber, the UN has on permanent display a statue donated by the Syrian regime — and of all things, a statue of the Goddess of Justice? Is this not the height of cynicism? Is this not a standing insult to the millions who suffer daily? When will the council take action to remove it?
Thank you, Mr. President.

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