U.N. Reform
Give Israel equal treatment and representation

By Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 
April 5, 2005
Miami Herald
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/11304132.htm http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/11304132.htm 
Congress is currently engaged in a detailed and comprehensive review of the United Nations with the goal of recommending reforms that will ensure transparency, accountability and efficiency in all U.N. operations. A critical component of this effort must include measures to ensure that Israel is afforded equal treatment and representation while addressing the anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic component that is pervasive in many U.N. bodies and affiliated agencies.
The 1975 U.N. resolution equating Zionism with racism stands out as an example of this bias and outright bigotry. While this was the most notorious illustration of its anti-Jewish sentiment at the United Nations, there have been many others.
• During the 1991 session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, Syria's U.N. representative repeated the Damascus blood libel that Jews killed Christian children to use their blood to make matzoth.
• In 1997, the Palestinian representative charged that the Israeli government had injected 300 Palestinian children with the HIV virus.
• The goals of the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism were undermined by hateful anti-Jewish rhetoric and anti-Israel political agendas, prompting both Israel and the United States to withdraw their delegations from the conference.
Israel is a democracy, and yet its sovereignty and its right to defend itself are frequently called into question in the U.N. system. The ruling last summer by the International Court of Justice on Israel's security fence is a case in point. Not only was Israel's inherent right to self-defense branded illegitimate by the United Nations, but terrorists and suicide bombers remained uncensored.
In addition, the failure of the U.N. system to fulfill its mandate is illustrated by the limitations placed on Israel's membership. Israel is denied the ability to serve or run for leadership positions in multiple U.N. bodies and affiliated agencies. While Israel was accepted as a temporary member of the Western European and Others Group, it is not allowed to present candidacies for open seats in any U.N. body, nor able to compete for major U.N. bodies. Israel is excluded from consultations at U.N. offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Rome and Vienna.
By contrast, there are several U.N. groups devoted to ''Palestinian Rights.'' There is also an entire agency, United Nations Relief and Works Agency, specifically designated for ''Palestinian refugees'' at a cost of over $400 million in 2004. Yet, all other refugees and ''internally displaced persons'' throughout the world are covered by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
To combat this discrimination, I have undertaken various initiatives to correct this injustice and ensure full membership and participation for Israel. Most recently, I introduced a measure calling on the United Nations to hold countries accountable for anti-Semitic statements and anti-Israeli incitement and calling for U.N. entities, such as UNESCO, to develop and implement Holocaust education programs throughout the world as part of an effort to combat such religious intolerance and anti-Israeli bias.
I am also drafting legislative initiatives to reform the U.N. structure toward a more balanced approach that protects Israel's rights as a free democratic nation.
The goals enshrined in the U.N. Charter -- the promotion of international peace and security, and the respect for fundamental human rights -- have never been more significant for the Jewish people and the state of Israel, which was founded on the ashes of the Holocaust. Accordingly, any efforts at reforming the United Nations must include an end to the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment that has infected that organization for so long.
U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, chairs the Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia of the House Committee on International Relations.