" We the peoples of the United Nations determined ... to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small... preamble to the un charter, san francisco, 1945 " an overview of the un and israel A Diminished World Body AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE Outline I. Who We Are ­ The American Jewish Committee..........................................................3 II. Israel and the UN..................................................................................................4 III. UN Institutional Bias General Assembly Emergency Special Sessions........................................................5 Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People..............6 Division for Palestinian Rights............................................................................8 Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People.......................................................................................10 United Nations Commission on Human Rights....................................................12 Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories since 1967......................................................................................16 Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.............................................................17 United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees................................18 General Assembly Resolutions against Israel.........................................................21 IV. Regional Discrimination........................................................................................22 V. Some Recent Developments.......................................................................................23 VI. An Agenda for Change: Where to Begin...................................................................25 2 1 I. Who We Are ­ The American Jewish Committee "The American Jewish Committee has been a significant presence at the United Nations from the beginning." ­ UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan "Inclusion of a human rights provision in the UN Charter was due to the brilliant leadership of the American Jewish Committee." ­ Prof. James T. Shotwell of Columbia University. Former AJC Presidents Jacob Blaustein and Judge Joseph Proskauer played a pivotal role in ensuring inclusion of the human rights clauses in the UN Charter. Jacob Blaustein, former president of AJC, in a 1963 Dag Hammarskjöld Memorial Lecture, first conceptualized the position of High Commissioner for Human Rights, which was finally implemented at the UN thirty years later. Felice Gaer, director of AJCs Jacob Blaustein Institute, became, in 1999, the first U.S. national elected to the UN Committee against Torture, a treaty monitoring committee. AJC has had NGO special consultative status before the UN Economic and Social Council since 1997. A number of former diplomats appointed to top U.S. posts in UN bodies served in AJC leadership positions, including former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Arthur Goldberg, former U.S. Ambassador to the UN in Geneva Morris Abram, former Deputy U.S. Representative to the UN Security Council Richard Schifter, and former U.S. Representatives to the Commission on Human Rights Rita Hauser, Philip Hoffman, and Jerry Shestack. 3 2 II. Israel and the UN There have been more committees formed, more speeches made, more resolutions adopted, and more resources spent condemning Israel than on any other nation. The time devoted to debating and passing the resolutions relating to the ArabIsraeli conflict is disproportionate to any other situation in the world and thereby perpetuates the institutional bias against Israel at the UN. The United Nations, both in its New York and Geneva centers, hosts a number of bodies dedicated to preserving and advancing a onesided view of the ArabIsraeli conflict. Though Israel has remained a UN member in good standing since 1949, it is systematically discriminated against, contradicting the very principles upon which the UN was based. The following pages illustrate some key examples of the UN's antiIsrael mechanisms. 3 4 III. UN Institutional Bias General Assembly Emergency Special Sessions Six out of ten of all Emergency Special Sessions of the UN General Assembly have been devoted to criticizing Israel. The Emergency Special Session was initially created in 1950 to call the General Assembly together to respond to the world's gravest security problems if the Security Council failed to act. Afghanistan ­ January 1980 10% 10% 10% Congo ­ September 1960 Hungary ­ November 1956 Israel November 1956, August 1958, June 1967, July 1980, February 1982, June 1982, July 1982, August 1982, September 1982, April 1997, July 1997, November 1997, March 1998, February 1999, October 2000, December 2001, May 2002, August 2002, September 2003, October 2003, December 2003 Namibia ­ September 1981 60% 10% The 10th Emergency Special Session, moreover, has been called together twelve times. It is a permanent fixture, reconvened automatically by request of any member state, and used for political criticism of Israel ­ at times even while the General Assembly is in session. 4 5 III. UN Institutional Bias Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) The CEIRPP is the only committee among the subsidiary organs of the General Assembly devoted to a single people. Committee for the United Nations Population Award Committee on Information United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation Committee on Conferences Consultative Committee on the United Nations Development Fund for Women Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Committee for Programme and Coordination Committee on Relations with the Host Country Committee on Contributions Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People 5 6 III. UN Institutional Bias Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) The CEIRPP's biased approach exacerbates the conflict rather than builds an environment of peace. YEAR FOUNDED: 1975 BUDGET: $60,8001 CURRENT MEMBERS: Afghanistan, Belarus, Cuba, Cyprus, Guinea, Guyana, India, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine The program organized by CEIRPP entitled "United Nations Meeting in Support of Middle East Peace," held in July 2005, highlights just one example of the propaganda that the CEIPRR produces. Instead of working with the Israeli government and NGOs, participants of the program called for "boycotts, divestment and sanctions against...Israel."2 They also agreed on the "need to push for a United Nations resolution to end all defense dealings with Israel."3 Despite the name of the program, these kinds of CEIRPPsponsored meetings do nothing but inflame tensions. [1] All budgets in this presentation are based on UN biennium budget 20042005 unless stated otherwise. [2] UN Press Release GA/PAL/989, 07/13/05, www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/gapa1989.doc.htm [3] UN Press Release GA/PAL/989, 07/13/05, www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/gapa1989.doc.htm 6 7 III. UN Institutional Bias Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR) The DPR is the only division in the Department of Political Affairs devoted to a single people. Department of Political Affairs UnderSecretary General Office of the UnderSecretary General Policy Planning Unit Executive Office Assistant Secretary General Assistant Secretary General Americas & Europe Division Asia & the Pacific Division Division for Palestinian Rights Africa 1 Division Africa 2 Division Security Council Affairs Division Electoral Assistance Division Decolonization Unit 8 7 III. UN Institutional Bias Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR) The DPR also exacerbates the conflict rather than builds an environment of peace. YEAR FOUNDED: 1977 BUDGET: $5,449,600 (compared, as an illustration, to $1.1 million for the African Institute for Economic Development) MANDATE: Prepares studies and publications on the issue of Palestinian rights and "promotes maximum publicity for them." Convenes international meetings and conferences in all regions of the world. All of the activities of the DPR are "geared towards mobilizing public opinion in the regions in support of the Palestinian people."1 In practice, this amounts to an antiIsrael propaganda machine able to spread its message throughout the world. The DPR, along with the CEIRPP, on November 29, 2005, in its annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (held on the same day in 1947 that the Palestinian people rejected the UN partition plan, which would have given the Palestinians their own state) convened a highlevel meeting, which prominently displayed a map of the Middle East that blatantly excluded the entire State of Israel. [1]http://domino.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/22f431edb91c6f548525678a0051be1d/cbb4b10e7b190c818525704900595160!Op enDocument 9 8 III. UN Institutional Bias Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People The Special Committee is the only separate committee in the GA's human rights structure devoted to a single people. Human Rights Structure General Assembly (Treatymonitoring bodies) Economic and Social Council Other subsidiary bodies Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights Human Rights Committee Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women Committee against Torture Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Committee on the Rights of the Child Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Committee on Migrant Workers and their Families Commission on Human Rights Special Procedures (Country and Thematic Mandates) Working Groups Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Studies by Special Rapporteurs Working Groups Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories Reproduction of "Structure of the UN Human Rights Bodies and Mechanisms" based on www.ohchr.org/english.structure.htm 10 9 III. UN Institutional Bias Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People The Special Committee's mandate is onesided, viewing Israeli action in a vacuum and ignoring Israeli suffering. YEAR FOUNDED: 1968 BUDGET: $254,500 PERMANENT MEMBERS: Sri Lanka, Senegal, Malaysia MANDATE: Investigate Israeli practices affecting the Palestinian people The Committee's annual report this year (A/60/380) ­ which presented a meticulous description of every detail of Palestinian problems, even including the number of trees that the Israeli Defense Force has allegedly cut down ­ does not mention, even once, any Palestinian suicide bombings or other acts of premeditated violence against innocent men, women, and children. The Special Committee is not mandated to examine anything beyond Israeli action. 10 11 III. UN Institutional Bias United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) The Commission has a history of making biased decisions related to the ArabIsraeli conflict. YEAR FOUNDED: 1946 MANDATE: This 53member body sits in Geneva for six weeks in March and April to "examine, monitor and publicly report either on human rights situations in specific countries or territories or on major phenomena of human rights violations worldwide."1 The Commission suffers from marked internal problems and contradictions. Its membership has included notorious abusers of human rights ­ such as Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. And in 2003, Libya, one of the most egregious human rights abusers, chaired the Commission. Recently, a reform panel of eminent persons from eighteen countries appointed by the SecretaryGeneral referred to the Commission's "eroding credibility and professionalism....The Commission on Human Rights suffers from a legitimacy deficit that casts doubts on the overall reputation of the United Nations."2 While Israel has not served on the Commission since 1970, it is continuously and unfairly condemned by it; during the 2005 session, for example, nearly a quarter of the entire debate focused on Israel. [1] http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/background.htm [2] UN General Assembly. A more secure world: our shared responsibility. Report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. 3 December 2004, p.64 (A/59/565). 11 12 III. UN Institutional Bias United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) The Commission has a separate agenda item focusing solely on alleged violations by Israel. No other country has an agenda item exclusively scrutinizing it. Item 8. Question of the violation of human rights in Item 8. Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine. the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine. Item 9. Question of the violation of human rights and Item 9. Question of the violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms in any part of the world. fundamental freedoms in any part of the world. 13 12 III. UN Institutional Bias United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) At the Commission, Israel receives disproportionate attention and the harshest condemnation of any other country. CountrySpecific Resolutions (from agenda item 8 and 9) per Country in 2005 3 # of Resolutions 1 1 1 1 Belarus Cuba Israel North Korea Myanmar In countryspecific resolutions, Israel was condemned more than any other country. Meanwhile, states known as egregious human rights violators ­ like Iran and Sudan ­ evaded explicit condemnation. 13 14 III. UN Institutional Bias United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) The Commission criticizes Israel for allegedly denying principles Israel already affirms. Item 5. The right of peoples to selfdetermination and Item 5. The right of peoples to selfdetermination and its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination its application to peoples under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation. or foreign occupation. Though Israel has recognized the Palestinian right to selfdetermination ­ including, specifically, a Palestinian state alongside Israel ­ the Commission adopted yet another resolution against Israel in 2005 under agenda item 5. Meanwhile, the Commission ignored virtually all of the other peoples claiming self determination. 15 14 III. UN Institutional Bias Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967 Several Special Rapporteurs unfairly demonize Israel. NAME: John Dugard MANDATE: Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 Dugard's reports consistently and deliberately omit any word about Palestinian terrorism, corruption or incitement. As Israel was about to withdraw from Gaza in the summer of 2005 ­ a step viewed by the world community as consequential ­ Dugard issued a statement objecting to the negotiations occurring under the Road Map to peace. Unlike nearly all other mandates, which are reviewed annually, the Special Rapporteur on Palestine's continues "until the end of the Israeli occupation"1 without expiration. [1] http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/chr/special/countries.htm 15 16 III. UN Institutional Bias Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Several Special Rapporteurs unfairly demonize Israel. NAME: Jean Ziegler MANDATE: Special Rapporteur on the right to food Ziegler, who was nominated to his position by Fidel Castro and Moammar Khaddafi, and who founded the "Moammar Khadaffi Human Rights Prize" in 1989 (and then won it in 2002), has systematically neglected his mandate on world hunger in order to advance his radical anti Israel agenda. While the West Bank and Gaza have never ranked anywhere on the UN list of countries facing food emergencies, in 2003, it was the only region in the world visited by Ziegler, whose vitriolic report accused Israel of "state terrorism," language he reserves only for Israel. Contrary to UN rules and responsibility, Ziegler has also been using his UN office to run a boycott campaign against Israel, urging the European Union and major corporations to cut trade with Israel. He has never launched a campaign against Sudan or any other country. While he repeatedly weighs in on the situation in the Palestinian territories, countries such as Burundi, with staggering malnutrition, fail to merit a word from Ziegler. Ziegler frequently depicts Israel in Nazi terms. Most recently, in a Geneva speech delivered prior to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, he referred to the area as a "huge concentration camp."1 [1] Le Courrier. http://www.lecourrier.ch/modules.php?op=modload&name=NewsPaper&file=article&sid=39829&mod =thread&order=0&thold=0 16 17 III. UN Institutional Bias United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees There are two UN agencies dealing with refugees, one for Palestinians, UNRWA, and one for everyone else, UNHCR. The descendants of Palestinian refugees are still considered refugees, whereas the descendants of all other refugees are not. UNRWA ­ United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East ESTABLISHED DEFINITION OF REFUGEE 1949 as a "temporary agency"1 "A [Palestine] refugee also covers the descendants of persons who became refugees in 1948."2 UNHCR ­ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 1950 "The term refugee is a very specific definition covering only people who have fled their homeland..."3 In 1949, UNRWA numbered 860,000 refugees. As a result of this singular definition, that number has increased to 4.2 million today. [1] http://www.un.org/unrwa/overview/qa.html [2] http://www.un.org/unrwa/refugees/whois.html [3] http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/basics/opendoc.htm?tbl=BASICS&id=420cc0432 17 18 III. UN Institutional Bias United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees UNHCR resolves refugee problems by including the option of resettlement. UNRWA, because of its singular mandate, deliberately avoids resettling Palestinian refugees, keeping them refugees indefinitely. Refugee camps become incubators for instilling hatred against Israel and for recruiting members of antiIsrael terrorist groups. UNRWA ­ United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East "To carry out direct relief and works programmes for Palestine refugees" 1 UNHCR ­ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees "To lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide" 2 (emphasis added) MANDATE UNRWA even bankrolls members of militant groups dedicated to destroying Israel.3 [1] http://www.un.org/unrwa/allegations/index.html [2] http://www.un.org/unrwa/index.html [3] Interview with Peter Hansen, Director of UNRWA, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 10/4/05 18 19 III. UN Institutional Bias United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Palestinian refugees receive more UN personnel and more funding per capita than all other refugees.1 Per Capita Spending on UN Refugees (in U.S. Dollars) Per Capita UN Personnel Allocated per Refugee Agency Relief Workers Number of Refugees $116 UNRWA UNHCR $60 Legend = 1 UN relief worker = 100 UNRWA refugees UNRWA UNHCR = 100 UNHCR refugees [1] Drawn from the respective agency websites. In 2006, UNHCR will allocate $1,147,297,000 and 7,031 relief workers for its 19.2 million refugees (http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/excom/opendoc.pdf?tbl=EXCOM&id=431e9a222) and UNRWA will allocate $489 million and 24,324 relief workers for its 4.2 million refugees (http://www.un.org/unrwa/news/statements/ pledging_conference_dec05.html and http://www.un.org/unrwa/overview/qa.html#a). 19 20 III. UN Institutional Bias General Assembly Resolutions against Israel While Israel was condemned in 18 separate resolutions during the General Assembly's 60th session, the most resolutions against any other country was one, if that. Indeed, a country like Sudan avoided any censure despite its central role in the ongoing Darfur tragedy.1 60/36 Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People 60/37 Division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat 60/38 Special Information Programme on the Question of Palestine of the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat 60/39 Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine 60/40 The Syrian Golan 60/41 Jerusalem 60/92 The Risk of Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East 60/100 Assistance to Palestinian Refugees 60/101 Persons Displaced as a Result of the June 1967 and Subsequent Hostilities 60/102 Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East 60/103 Palestine Refugees' Properties and Their Revenues 60/104 Work of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the [1] From www.un.org/Depts/dh/resguide/r60.htm Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories 60/105 Applicability of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, and Other Occupied Arab Territories 60/106 Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including Jerusalem and the Occupied Syrian Golan 60/107 Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People in the Occupied Territory Including East Jerusalem 60/108 The Occupied Syrian Golan 60/146 The Right of the Palestinian People to Self Determination 60/183 Permanent Sovereignty of the Palestinian People over their Natural Resources 20 21 IV. UN Institutional Bias Regional Discrimination Israel is omitted from full participation in the UN's work UN members are divided into five regional groups for nominating candidates to UN bodies and for consultation on resolutions. Though long the only nation denied entry into any regional group, Israel was recently temporarily permitted to join the Western European and Others Group ­ WEOG. WEOG is not Israel's "natural" home; however, its neighbors in the Asian Group refuse Israel's entry. WEOG, moreover, only meets in New York, leaving Israel without consultative partners in UN centers in Geneva, Nairobi, and Vienna. Legend Asian Group African Group Eastern European Group Latin American and Caribbean Group Western European and Others Group 21 22 V. Some Recent Developments While there is still much to do, as a result of its WEOG membership, Israel has made some progress towards full participation in the UN. LEADERSHIP POSITIONS ON UN BODIES In June 2005, Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, was elected one of the twentyone new vice presidents of the General Assembly, the first time Israel has held that position in more than half a century. In July 2005, Israel was elected to deputy chairmanship of the United Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC). It has also become a member of the Governing Councils of the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT), as well as a member of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Through its WEOG membership in New York, Israel has placed a bid for a seat in the Security Council for 2018. Since it gained membership in 1949, Israel has never sat on the Security Council. 22 23 V. Some Recent Developments INTERNAL RECOGNITION OF THE PROBLEM AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF ANTISEMITISM AND THE HOLOCAUST In June 2004, the UN held its first Department of Public Information Seminar on AntiSemitism. At that conference, UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan said, "The United Nations record on anti Semitism has at times fallen short of our ideals." He stated that "Jews everywhere must feel that the United Nations is their home, too."1 On Monday, January 24, 2005, the UN General Assembly (GA) convened a Special Session to commemorate the liberation of the Nazi death camps. Elie Wiesel was the first Holocaust survivor in the UN's history to be invited to address the GA and share his experiences. UN SecretaryGeneral Kofi Annan, speaking at the March 2005 opening of the new Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Israel, said, "A United Nations that fails to be at the forefront of the fight against antiSemitism and other forms of racism denies its history and undermines its future. That obligation binds us to the Jewish people, and to the State of Israel, which rose, like the United Nations itself, from the ashes of the Holocaust."2 In October 2005, the GA adopted a resolution creating an annual International Day of Commemoration in Memory of Victims of the Holocaust to be observed on January 27 and called for member states to develop educational programs on the Holocaust. Israel introduced the resolution, its first successful resolution ever in the GA, and 110 other countries cosponsored it. [1] UN Press Release: HR/4773 PI/1589 http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/hr4773.doc.htm [2] http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=1350 23 24 VI. An Agenda for Change: Where to Begin The American Jewish Committee, having played a key role in including the concept of human rights in the United Nation's Charter, and as a consistent supporter of the UN ideal, deeply cares about the United Nations' credibility. But as this report has demonstrated, Israel is singled out at the UN and treated differently than all other nations. This institutional bias undermines the UN and diverts needed attention from some of the most neglected and pressing global challenges. Some immediate steps that could be taken to rectify the situation include: End the automatic renewal of the 10th Emergency Special Session of the GA. Immediately end support of the Division for Palestinian Rights, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices in the Occupied Territories. Eliminate agenda item 8 of the Commission on Human Rights that segregates Israel from the rest of the world. Ensure Israel's full participation in a regional group in every UN center. In sum, treat Israel exactly as called for by the UN Charter, "equal rights of ... nations large and small..." 24 25 Researched and written by Maxine Kaye, Senior Assistant to the Executive Director, and Zev Nagel, Senior Fellow, American Jewish Committee. Conceived and supervised by David A. Harris, Executive Director, American Jewish Committee. Special thanks to Roselyn Bell, Director of Publications; Aaron Jacob, Associate Director of International Affairs; and Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, an affiliate of AJC, for their invaluable input and assistance. 25 26 American Jewish Committee The Jacob Blaustein Building 165 East 56 Street New York, NY 10022 The American Jewish Committee publishes in these areas: · Hatred and Anti-Semitism · Pluralism · Israel · American Jewish Life · International Jewish Life February 2006 www.ajc.org $6.50 · Human Rights