UN Watch was quoted in multiple media outlets during September and October 2021 on topics including: Countries drop out of Durban IV conference; Taliban request to speak at the UN; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and The Squad oppose Iron Dome funding bill; EU moves to condition UNRWA aid over incitement; Iranian guards sexually assault female UN nuclear inspectors.
UN Gathers For General Assembly
The sentiment that keeps America and others away from Durban IV still plagues the entire building even after the repeal in 1991 of the resolution known as “Zionism is Racism.” As the director of United Nations Watch, Hillel Neuer, notes, last year the General Assembly passed one resolution each on North Korea, Myanmar, Syria, and Iran; two resolutions on Crimea; and whooping 17 resolutions denouncing Israel.
Countries Drop Out of Durban IV Conference
“It is not too late to urge more countries to pull out ahead of Wednesday’s Durban IV conference at UN headquarters in New York,” UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said. “We are encouraging all governments and NGOs to say no to Durban.”
Members of the Jewish Caucus, representing Jewish organizations around the world, walked out of the Forum after their proposed language was deleted from the final Declaration while other victim groups were allowed to describe their own victimization in their own way.
…
Commenting on the vote against the proposed language from the Jewish Caucus, a member of UN Watch observed, “It was mob rule. There was no opportunity for Jewish delegates to respond. It was clearly a kangaroo court.”
Taliban Request to Speak at the UN
The fate of the Taliban at the United Nations (U.N.) rests in the hands of the nine countries making up the body’s Credentials Committee, including the United States, China and Russia.
The Islamic militant group wrote the U.N. Secretary-General, Portugal’s Antonio Guterres, Monday to request permission to participate in the ongoing gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, according to The Associated Press. Five days prior, Afghanistan’s current ambassador to the U.N., Ghulam, Isaczai, provided Guterres with a list of the Afghan government’s delegation for the proceedings.
It's official: the Taliban have asked to address world leaders at the U.N. this week and nominated Suhail Shaheen as Afghanistan’s U.N. ambassador.
If the Taliban win recognition, they inherit Afghanistan's seat on the U.N. Women's Rights Commission.https://t.co/kcxqcwY5zh
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 21, 2021
Quoted in Il Foglio (Italy), “The return of the Taliban is “the grave of Western illusions” about Islam,” Sept. 4, 2021:
Yes, but soon the Taliban could sit in key posts at the UN. Under the deposed government of Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan had received a four-year term (2021-2025) in the Commission on the Status of Women. Afghanistan had been elected to UNESCO for four years (2019-2023) and to the Commission on Narcotics. The former US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said that it is “likely” that the Taliban will soon sit on these commissions, also considering that Iran and Saudi Arabia have already passed through the commission on women, countries where they torture and arrest themselves women who do not wear the veil. Hillel Neuer of Un Watch writes: “The UN and the international community are adopting a policy of pacification towards the Taliban.”
AOC and The Squad Oppose Iron Dome Funding Bill
Executive Director of UN Watch Hillel Neuer says it is “very sad” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez voted ‘present’ on a bill funding Israel’s Iron Dome, which showed an “irrational hatred of Israel”.
Mr Neuer said Ms Ocasio-Cortez’s ‘present’ vote on a bill funding Israel’s Iron Dome was a “betrayal of progressive values”.
“The Iron Dome defence system, that was under review this week at Congress, to replenish Israel’s stocks after more than 4000 Hamas rockets were fired at Israeli civilians,” Mr Neuer told Sky News host Sharri Markson.
“The notion that AOC and her colleagues Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who claim to be progressive and humanitarian, would be doing something that eliminates defence for civilians and effectively empowers terrorists … is truly unbelievable.”
Segment on UN weighing Taliban request to fill Afghan seat on UN Women’s Rights Commission below:
EU Moves to Condition UNRWA Aid Over Incitement
Cited on i24 News, “EU Parliament moves to condition UNRWA aid over PA incitement,” Sept. 30, 2021:
The issue of anti-Israel incitement runs deeper than the textbooks, according to UN Watch, an NGO based in Geneva that monitors the international body for bias against the Jewish state.
UN Watch this past summer released a report highlighting more than 100 UNRWA educators and staff who have publicly promoted violence and antisemitism on social media.
The report revealed that staff in schools in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan have utilized their personal social media channels to propagate antisemitism and terrorism.
Iranian Guards Sexually Assault Female UN Nuclear Inspectors
Quoted in the Jerusalem Post, “Iranian guards sexually assaulted female IAEA inspectors – report,” Sept. 14, 2021:
Domestic violence, marital rape, early and forced marriage are all offenses that Iranian authorities have failed to criminalize, according to Amnesty International. These offenses and other gender-based violence against women remain widespread in the country, according to Amnesty International.
Authorities have also failed to take steps against men who kill their wives or daughters and the legal age for marriage is 13, although men can obtain permission to marry their daughters and granddaughters earlier, said Amnesty International.
“Electing the Islamic Republic of Iran to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, at the time. “It’s absurd — and morally reprehensible.”
