UN Policy

The World Against Israel

Background
Excerpt from AICE, JSOURCE, at (http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/UN/weog.html)

In the early 1960's, the member-states of the began to organize themselves into regional groups, both for consultations and for elections to the various UN institutions. The five regional groups that were established are: Asia, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and the Western European and Others Group (WEOG). This voluntary grouping has no basis in the UN charter or in its resolutions. However, as the number of UN members grew, the secretariat increasingly began to rely on the new structure to conduct consultations on substantial and procedural issues with the heads of the regional groups, rather than addressing each state directly. Not only has the UN come to rely on this group structure, it has gradually begun to accord it an institutionalized role. In the procedures for election to the major UN bodies (such as the Security Council, ECOSOC, etc.), the distribution of seats has begun to be determined explicitly by a regional quota. Israel, whose geographical region, Asia, refuses it admission, is the only UN member which remains outside the regional group system. Therefore, it cannot be elected to the major UN bodies, is precluded from electing and voting, and is thus denied full participation in the day-to-day work of the . Moreover, according to the current procedure, the bureau of every UN conference is comprised of one representative from each region. Israel is therefore denied access to this vital apparatus, enjoyed by every other state.

[Israel has been the only country not eligible to sit on the Security Council. If the nations don't even allow Israel to participate in the UN, you can understand the way the UN (the world's nations) behave towards Israel.]

The UN and Israel
by Mitchell Bard
Excerpts from AICE, JSOURCE, at (http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/UN/israel_un.html)

Starting in the mid-1970s, an Arab-Soviet-Third World bloc joined to form what amounted to a pro-PLO lobby at the . This was particularly true in the General Assembly where these countries--nearly all dictatorships or autocracies--frequently voted together to pass resolutions attacking Israel and supporting the PLO.

In 1974, for example, the General Assembly invited yasir arafat to address it. Arafat did so, a [gun] holster attached to his hip. In his speech, arafat spoke of carrying a gun and an olive branch (he left his gun outside before entering the hall). In 1975, the assembly awarded permanent representative status to the PLO [only a terrorist organization then, and now], which opened an office in midtown Manhattan. Later that year, at the instigation of the Arab states and the Soviet bloc, the assembly approved resolution 3379, which slandered Zionism by branding it a form of racism... [To be anti-Zionist is to be anti-Israel and anti-Semitic. What this resolution said is that Israeli nationalism is a form of "racism." Only on December 16, 1991, was this resolution repealed.]

Less than a week before repealing the measure, the General Assembly approved four new one-sided resolutions on the Middle East. On December 11, 1991, it voted 104-2 for a resolution calling for a UN-sponsored peace conference that would include the PLO. Also that day, it voted 142-2 to condemn Israeli behavior toward "Palestinians" in the territories. On December 16--the very day it repealed the Zionism measure--the UN voted 152-1, with the U.S. abstaining, to call on Israel to rescind a Knesset resolution declaring Jerusalem its capital. Another resolution demanded Israel's withdrawal from "occupied territories," including Jerusalem, and the right of return for "Palestinians" [meaning Arab settlement in Israel]. It also denounced Israeli administration of the Golan Heights... [Furthermore, Israeli ambassador Chaim] Herzog noted that the PLO had cited a 1974 UN resolution condemning Israel, as justification for setting off a bomb in Jerusalem...

Bloc voting [when only the arabs vote] also made possible the establishment of the pro-PLO "committee on the inalienable rights of the 'Palestinian' people" in 1975. The panel became, in effect, part of the PLO propaganda apparatus, issuing stamps, organizing meetings, and preparing films and draft resolutions in support of "Palestinian" "rights."

In 1976, the committee recommended "full implementation of the inalienable rights of the 'Palestinian' people, including their return to the Israeli part of Israel." It also recommended that November 29--the day the UN voted to partition Israel in 1947--be declared an "international day of solidarity with the 'Palestinian' people." Since then, it has been observed at the UN with anti-Israel speeches, films, and exhibits. Over the objections of the United States, a special unit on "Palestine" was established as part of the UN secretariat...

The UN's continuing anti-Israel bias was exemplified by its sponsorship of the eighth “North American NGO [Non-governmental organization] symposium on the question of 'Palestine'" in 1991. "The ensuing parade of luminaries repeated, ad nauseam, virtually every anti-Israel canard imaginable," wrote an observer who attended the conference. Since the early 1970s, the UN has become permeated with anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist sentiment...

The Security Council

Candidates for the Security Council are proposed by regional blocs. In the Middle East, this means the Arab League and its allies are usually included. Israel, which joined the UN in 1949, has never been elected to the Security Council whereas at least 15 Arab League members have. In fact, Israel is the only one of the 185 member countries ineligible to serve on the Security Council [which issues anti-Israel resolutions on a regular basis]... Debates on Israel abound, and the council has repeatedly condemned the Jewish State. But not once has it adopted a resolution critical of the PLO or of Arab attacks on Israel. What takes place in the Security Council "more closely resembles a mugging than either a political debate or an effort at problem-solving," declared former UN ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick...

The American Veto

Many people believe the United States can always be relied upon to support Israel with its veto in the UN Security Council. The historical record, however, shows that the U.S. has often opposed Israel in the council... In December 1990, the U.S. went along with condemning Israel for expelling four leaders of Hamas, an Islamic terrorist group. The deportations came in response to numerous crimes committed by Hamas against Arabs and Jews, the most recent of which had been the murders of three Israeli civilians in a Jaffa factory several days earlier. The resolution did not say a word about Hamas and its crimes. It described Jerusalem as "occupied" territory, declared that "Palestinians" needed to be "protected" from Israel, and called on contracting parties of the Geneva Convention to ensure Israel's compliance. It was the first time the Security Council invoked the convention against a member country.

In January 1992, the U.S. supported a one-sided resolution condemning Israel for expelling 12 Arabs, members of terrorist groups that were responsible for perpetrating violence against Arab and Jew alike. The resolution, which described Jerusalem as "occupied" territory, made no mention of the events that triggered the expulsions--the murders of four Jewish civilians by Arab radicals since October.

From 1967-1991, 82 resolutions and drafts dealing with Israel were voted on in the council. Sixty-nine were critical of Israel. The U.S. supported these resolutions 28 times. By abstaining on 26 more votes, the U.S. effectively joined in the councils condemnations. Hence, the U.S. opposed Israel on 78 percent of the critical votes. In that time, the U.S. used its veto only 15 times...

The UN's Record Vis A Vis Israel
Excerpts from Arutz Sheva, at (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/english/newspaper/ondisplay/ref/un-israel.htm)

Prior to the Madrid Conference of '91, the Office of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir commissioned Shai Ben-Tekoa to do a statistical analysis of UN voting vis a vis Israel. The following is a summary of Mr. Ben-Tekoa's research.

Security Council:

175 Total Resolutions:
74 Neutral
4 Against the perceived interests of an Arab state or body
97 Against Israel

General Assembly:

Cumulative Number of Votes cast with/for Israel: 7,938
Cumulative Number of Votes cast against Israel: 55,642

For a more detailed report visit: (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/english/newspaper/ondisplay/ref/un-israel.htm)

For a complete list of UN General Assembly resolutions, with regards to Israel, visit:
(http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/UN/gatoc.html)

The Future

On May 30, 2000, Israel was accepted as a temporary member of the Western European and Others (WEOG) regional group, although its membership is severely limited. Every four years Israel will have to reapply for membership, since its status is only temporary. Israel is not allowed to present candidacies for open seats in any UN body for two years and is not able to compete for major UN bodies, such as the Economic and Social Council, for a longer period. Also, for the next two years, Israeli representatives are not allowed to run for positions on the UN Council. Besides these restrictions, Israel is only allowed to participate in WEOG activities in the New York office of the UN. Israel is excluded from WEOG discussion and consultations at the UN offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Rome, and Vienna; therefore, Israel cannot participate in UN talks on human rights, racism, and a number of other issues handled in these offices. (Excerpts from an article by Rebecca Weiner, at http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/UN/weog1.html).

With regards to the future of the UN, I should hope there will be no future for that organization. In the past, during the second Temple period, when Israel was also not exactly itself, the Jews decided G-d does not have a place in the affairs of man. They decided people should decide for themselves and not rely on the Laws of G-d. The Jews of Israel set a precedent in that they turned Israel into a nation of its people, a democracy, rather than a nation of G-d. Since then Israel has known only misery and has suffered continuously at the hands of the nations. Since then, Justice has been replaced with injustice and the world has been led by misleaders. Mankind has consistently fallen in the ways of wickedness and people have been deceived by the intrigue of greed. I should hope this precedent will finally be broken and Israel will wake up to reality, to realize the UN is no different from the Vatican. Both have led the world astray and both are ending in decay.

If Israel continuous in its foolish ways, then these organizations will remain. But if Israel fulfills its role in the world, then all mankind will be Blessed on the day of its Redemption. Perhaps Israel is afraid to change. Perhaps Israel is afraid to face the nations, yet Israel has nothing to fear but itself and the consequences of its mistakes. Israel has a responsibility in the world. As a slave of the nations, Israel lives in fear and uncertainty, and all the world suffers. Israel has had much to fear, as the nations have endlessly tormented and killed its people. But if Israel continues to take orders from strangers, it will continuously suffer. Israel will know what must be done, and it must be done with certainty and without delay.