Trending UN Watch tweets from January: Mahmoud Abbas enters 18th year of a four-year term; 20 years since the murder of Daniel Pearl; Talibanvisits Norway to learn about women’s rights, as it beheads female mannequins; UN guest speaker Mohammed El-Kurd tweets his Israel hate — and more.
Starting today, January 1st, 2022, the members of the U.N.'s highest human rights body include:
🇻🇪 Venezuela
🇵🇰 Pakistan
🇷🇺 Russia
🇨🇳 China
🇱🇾 Libya
🇨🇺 Cuba
🇶🇦 Qatar
🇸🇩 Sudan
🇧🇴 Bolivia
🇬🇦 Gabon
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan
🇰🇿 KazakhstanEleanor Roosevelt's dream is turning into a nightmare.
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 1, 2022
PA President Enters 18th Year of Four-Year Term
Congratulations to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on soon entering the 18th year of his 4-year term. pic.twitter.com/hWveExzD9y
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 2, 2022
Twenty Years Since Murder of Daniel Pearl
On this day 20 years ago, reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped in Pakistan. He was murdered a week later.
"He traveled the world with his violin and laptop, spreading truth and understanding, refusing to believe that man is a predator of another man." (Judea Pearl)
יהי זכרו ברוך pic.twitter.com/SSTBr7RicU
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 23, 2022
Taliban Visits Norway to Learn About Human Rights, As It Beheads Female Mannequins
Taliban delegation in private jet to Oslo with self-proclaimed foreign minister Amir Muttaqi to learn from Norway about human rights and girls' education. Not a joke. https://t.co/3Yxsh2wMpO pic.twitter.com/aJyTfHxYjV
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 22, 2022
Taliban order beheading of female mannequins while the U.N. Credentials Committee is still weighing the Taliban’s request to be recognized at the United Nations, by which it would automatically inherit Afghanistan’s seat on the U.N. Women’s Rights Commission. https://t.co/ETbuQ9ynUy
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 3, 2022
UN Guest Speaker Tweets His Israel Hate
Peace activist invited two months ago to address the U.N. ⬇️ https://t.co/y3brJEXauc pic.twitter.com/TEmfFbHIUe
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 19, 2022
Kazakhstan Cracks Down on Protesters
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan protests:
• Dozens killed
• 1000 people injured, 400 hospitalized
• 2000 people jailed
• 2500 Russian-led troops deployed to back regime🇺🇳 UNHRC reaction:
0 resolutions
0 urgent sessions
0 commission of inquiryKazakhstan just joined Russia as a UNHRC member. pic.twitter.com/cDvizLReAb
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 6, 2022
Libya Becomes UNHRC Vice-President
Congratulations to 🇱🇾 Libya, which runs slave markets that auction black African migrants, on now becoming Vice-President of the United Nations Human Rights Council. https://t.co/b59k3N4Mk1
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 15, 2022
Amnesty International Loses Its Way
A reminder that Amnesty International has lost its way.
It was founded to defend prisoners of conscience jailed by oppressive regimes.
Now Amnesty's focus is accusing Western democracies of racism while the organization itself supports misogynists, homophobes & terrorists.
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 2, 2022
Venezuela Undergoes Rights Review
Some of you thought I was making it up, so here's the video:
1. 🇻🇪 #Venezuela's Maduro regime will undergo a mandatory review of its human rights record by the U.N. Human Rights Council on Jan. 25.
2. The UNHRC selected the dictatorship of 🇨🇺 #Cuba as a coordinator of the review. pic.twitter.com/PRwAUNq9Uu— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 13, 2022
Twitter Allows Iranian Ayatollah a Platform
Reminder that @Twitter allows incitement by genocidal antisemites so long as their name begins with Ayatollah. https://t.co/qCAa0vXIDu
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 2, 2022
Liking, retweeting, following: UN Watch tweets were liked and shared by thousands around the world, including by opinion leaders and celebrities such as:
- Former UN Security Council President Diego Arria
- Former U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley
- Former Bolivian president Tuto Quiroga
- Iranian women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad, Russian opposition activist Lyubov Sobol, Saudi dissident Raif Badawi, Venezuelan opposition politicians María Corina Machado & Armando Armas, Uighur human rights activists Rayhan Asat & Nury Turkel, the Simon Wiesenthal Center
- U.S. Senator John Cornyn, representatives Claudia Tenney, Pat Fallon & Don Bacon
- Canadian senator Leo Housakos, former immigration minister Chris Alexander, MP Anthony Housefather
- UK MP Sir Robert Syms, members of UK House of Lords Helena Morrissey
- French ambassador to UNESCO Véronique Roger-Lacan, Dutch MEP Peter van Dalen, Swedish MEP David Lega, Dutch MP Gert-Jan Segers, former Swiss ambassador to the U.S. Martin Dahinden
- Foundation for Defense of Democracies president Clifford May, CEO Mark Dubowitz & senior vice president Jonathan Schanzer, Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies executive director Kyle Matthews, Lawyers Without Borders president William Goldnadel, Hudson Institute South & Central Asia Director and former Pakistani ambassador to the U.S. Husain Haqqani
- U.S. actress Mia Farrow, U.S. actor Adam Baldwin, Miss Iraq Sarah Idan, former professional baseball player & journalist Adam Housely, U.S. singer David Draiman, former NBA basketball player Omri Casspi
Many journalists also liked or shared UN Watch’s tweets, including:
- CNN anchor Jake Tapper, Wall St Journal columnist Walter Russell Mead, The Dispatch editor-in-chief Jonah Goldberg, The Atlantic writer Yair Rosenberg, National Review senior editor Jay Nordlinger, Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby
- BBC journalist Justin Webb, Sunday Times chief political correspondent Christina Lamb, Sky News Australia hosts Rita Panahi & Sharri Markson