WJC: Important to engage with United Nations

world jewish congress logoEILAT, Israel (WJC) –Robert Singer, chief executive officer of the World Jewish Congress, praised the work of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists in international organizations, in particular the United Nations.

Addressing an IAJLJ convention in Eilat, Singer said: “There is a strange tendency – even in the West – to apply different standards to different countries. Israel is often held to a higher standard than its neighbors. Most of the time, the world is silent about the mass slaughter currently taking place in Syria and in Iraq. It is silent when it comes to blatant human rights abuses in African countries. It is silent about the crimes committed by Hamas and other fanatic groups not just against Israel but against their own people in Gaza. The world is silent far too often.

“And yet, the same people who are silent in the face of brutal crimes habitually point fingers at Israel for allegedly disregarding human rights,” he pointed out.

“The Human Rights Council has a strong anti-Israel bias, as have other UN bodies. The United Nations Human Rights Council is literally obsessed with Israel. Commissions of inquiry are appointed into Israel’s handling of Operation Protective Edge. When you look at some of their members you already know the outcome…,” the WJC CEO told the delegates at the congress.

He nonetheless urged them to continue their work with the UN. “Some people would argue that it is pointless to engage with such a body, which has an inbuilt majority of countries that are opposed to Israel. Nonetheless, we strongly believe that it is necessary to engage at the UN,” adding that it was “in the interest of Israel and of the Jewish people” to work with the various UN bodies.

“Let us join together in this important battle to fight for a better UN, to advocate for universal human rights and to ensure that Israel gets a fair deal in New York and Geneva,” Singer declared.

IAJLJ was founded in 1969. Among its founders were Supreme Court Justices Haim Cohn of Israel, Arthur Goldberg of the United States and Nobel Prize laureate René Cassin of France. Its membership comprises lawyers, judges, judicial officers and academic jurists in more than 50 countries who are active locally and internationally as the need arises. IAJLJ is presided by the Israeli advocate Irit Kohn.

*
Preceding provided by the World Jewish Congress