UN @ 60:
A Report Card
From the Jewish Community 



Introduction 

In 1945, B’nai B’rith International President Henry Monsky attended the San Francisco conference that created the United Nations.  Participating as an official public advisor to the United States delegation and acting as the Chair of the American Jewish Conference – a coalition of 62 organizations – Monsky crafted a successful advocacy strategy to protect the rights of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, and to make membership in the nascent world body contingent upon a country’s fulfillment of minimum human rights standards.

As we mark the 60th anniversary of the United Nations’ birth, B’nai B’rith evaluates the performance of the international organization in five areas of historic concern to BBI members and outlined in the UN’s foundation documents:  self-determination; promoting basic human rights; preventing genocide; upholding peace and security; humanitarian relief.

SELF-DETERMINATION

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The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations states that it aims to promote the basic human right of self-determination.  BBI President Henry Monsky led the Jewish coalition at the 1945 conference that created the UN in advocating to protect the rights of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel that had been established by the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and recognized by the League of Nations and the Versailles Treaty.  This campaign for Jewish self-determination succeeded in Article 80 of the UN Charter, which states, “ … nothing in this Chapter shall be construed in or of itself to alter in any manner the rights whatsoever of any states or any peoples or the terms of existing international instruments to which Member States may respectively be parties.”

The UN began as a positive forum for Jewish self-determination, with the proposed creation of a Jewish state in Palestine via UN General Assembly Resolution 181, “The Partition Plan,” accepted by the Jewish community but rejected by the Arab States.  In 1949, the United Nations officially recognized Israel by voting to accept its petition to become the 54th UN Member State.  

Israel never has enjoyed full rights of a UN Member State, being denied membership in a regional group – the basic building block of the UN through which every action, deliberation, or appointment is conducted. In 2000, the Western Europe and Other Group, which includes the Untied States, Australia and other democracies, accepted limited Israeli membership.  Moreover, Israel is the only UN Member State that has been the target of dozens of annual resolutions seeking to undermine its legitimacy, as well as the target of four UN bodies whose sole purpose is to undermine the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in favor of another people’s right.  

The campaign to undermine the Jewish people’s right to self-determination began in 1967 with the backing of the Soviet Union, and reached its nadir in 1975 with the infamous “Zionism = Racism” resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA).  B’nai B’rith led a coalition of Jewish organizations in a 16-year effort to rescind this UNGA resolution, which finally succeeded in 1991.  Nevertheless, the idea that Zionism – the political movement to secure and protect the Jewish people’s right to self-determination – is somehow racist still prevails at the UN and within the international community.  The UN and its agencies have been the chief proponent of this idea.

For the UN to improve in this area, it must stop the manipulation of its fora for the purpose of undermining the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.  It must condemn anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism and promote an understanding of Zionism as the political movement to secure and protect the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.  It must denounce any attempt to deny the Jewish people this basic human right.  It must act as an honest broker in the Middle East peace process, and not allow one-sided reports or statements to be advanced by any of its Rapporeurs, representatives or committees regardless of the mandate they might receive from the UNGA.  This would be in accord with advancing a minimum standard of human rights protections.   

The UN must ensure that the Jewish State enjoy full membership in the Western Europe and Others Regional Group, without restriction on membership in any UN body.

PROTECTING BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS

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In 1947, the UNGA adopted the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, outlining the basic human rights that every human being is supposed to enjoy – religious freedom, to live free from discrimination or persecution based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or other qualities, to live free from attacks upon one’s honor, protection of the status of motherhood, promoting religious tolerance and harmony through education, etc.  Even though the UN adopted this declaration, it did not act to create a model or a Convention outlining the steps that governments should adopt in order to implement these ideals.

In 1945, BBI President Henry Monsky advocated in San Francisco for the adoption of minimum human rights criteria for all UN member states.  This idea was not implemented, although the UNGA adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The United Nations did, however, create its Commission on Human Rights (CHR), for which Monsky advocated.  Thus, countries were conferred with membership in the UN or any of its bodies – including the CHR – even though they might discriminate against or persecute people for any reason.  In addition, the UN did not adopt standards for behavior within its own fora, therefore delegates are free to make blatantly anti-Semitic statements in UN bodies without threat of censure, sanction, or any type of punishment.

Even though the Jewish people were strong proponents of creating the world body, the UN itself has become a forum for spreading anti-Semitism.  As the Jewish people once had been excluded from society through legal and procedural mechanisms, so Israel – the fulfillment of the Jewish people’s basic right to self-determination – has been excluded from the normal membership in a regional group.  As the Jewish people had been excoriated in society, so the Jewish state is excoriated at the UN in one-sided reports by Special Representatives, Special Rapporteurs and Special Committees.  As the Jewish people had been blamed for the ills of society, so the Jewish state has been used as the central focal point of placing blame for violence and repression in the Middle East.  

Even after the 1991 repeal of the “Zionism = Racism” resolution, the UN again allowed one of its fora to be manipulated into a forum for perpetuating anti-Semitism and denying the Jewish people their basic human rights.   Ironically, the 2001 World Conference on Racism, Racial Intolerance, Xenophobia and Related Forms of Intolerance that met in Durban, South Africa under the auspices of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights became a watershed for anti-Semitism.  As in other UN bodies, neither the international organization, its regional blocks, nor a majority of its Member States acted to halt the perversion of the conference or refute the charges chanted by thousands of protesters outside of the hall.  Only after the United States refused to send a high level delegation, and then pulled out of the conference was the language moderated.

For the UN to improve in this area, it must create a mechanism for censure, sanction, or expulsion of delegates that violate the tenets of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in UN fora – and apply it evenly and in every case that a UN body is used to discriminate, disparage, or denigrate an individual or group based upon religion, race, ethnicity, gender or any other quality.  It must outline remedies that governments can implement to prevent further the violation of human rights, such as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe has done regarding anti-Semitism in its 2004 Berlin Declaration.  

The UN must censure, sanction or punish countries that violate the basic human rights of their citizens and residents, or that seek to violate the basic human rights of others.  The UN must impose a minimum standard of human rights protection for all Member States, in a similar manner that the European Union uses its minimum standards in the area of law, environment, human rights, etc.  The UN must make membership all of its bodies contingent on adherence and implementation of these basic human rights standards.  The UN must make membership in the Commission on Human Rights open only to those countries with an enhanced record of human rights protections, and that promote human rights around the world.

For the world body to improve, UN officials must uphold the dignity of all peoples and their right to live free from discrimination, persecution or defamation.  They must model these standards, and promote them among UN employees regardless of agency or function.  The UN itself must enforce a code of conduct among its employees, volunteers, and peacekeepers that punishes behaviors that violate the basic human rights of others.

For this improvement to be meaningful, the United Nations must halt the manipulation of its mechanisms, agencies and bodies for the purposes of spreading anti-Semitism and denying the Jewish people their basic human rights.  This would mean putting a halt to the annual passage of more than a dozen anti-Israel resolutions.  It would mean halting the mandate of the UN bodies that are used to undermine the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in the guise of promoting another people’s right.  It would mean actively condemning anti-Semitism wherever and whenever it is advanced in UN fora or by world leaders.  It would mean not allowing one-sided reports or statements by its rapporteurs, representatives or committees, regardless of mandate.  It would mean permitting the Jewish State to enjoy full membership in the Western Europe and Others Regional Group, without restriction on membership in any UN body.

The United Nations recently held two important meetings that could be a start to a new trend in eradicating anti-Semitism from within its quarters.  On June 21, 2004, the UN’s Department of Public Information held a seminar on “Combating anti-Semitism,” as the first in its series Unlearning Intolerance.  At this forum, the UN Secretary General made a strong statement against anti-Semitism.  On January 24, 2005, the United Nations General Assembly met in Special Session to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps.  For the first time, the UN commemorated the Holocaust and several representatives condemned anti-Semitism, including the UN Secretary-General.  

PREVENTING GENOCIDE

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The United Nations adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948 in response to the Holocaust.  It went into effect in 1951 when it garnered the requisite ratification by 20 countries.  The Convention defines what constitutes genocide as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

Killing members of the group;
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.”

While the United States was an original co-sponsor of the Convention, it did not ratify the document until 1984, after concentrated advocacy by B’nai B’rith which led to the endorsement of the convention by then-Presidential candidate Ronald Regan on the eve of his appearance before a B’nai B’rith International Convention.   

Although the UNGA adopted the Convention, it has failed to prevent genocides in Cambodia, Biafra, Bosnia, Rwanda, and Sudan.  In some cases, the UN has refused to identify the mass murder as genocide even though hundreds of thousands or millions of people have been systematically slaughtered due to their race, religion, or ethnicity.  On several occasions, most notably the Rwanda genocide, the debate in the United Nations has focused on the threshold for calling a massacre genocide.  In other instances, the UN has focused on the mechanism for prosecution even while the genocide – or genocidal acts – continued.

BBI President Henry Monsky, in his capacity as the chair of the Jewish delegation to the 1945 conference that created the United Nations, advocated for the creation of the world body in order to protect human rights, and to prevent possible future genocides from occurring.  In this regard, the United Nations has failed completely.

For the UN to improve its record on preventing genocide, it must recognize genocide swiftly, and take action to halt the mass murder, rape, expulsion or destruction of livelihood that constitutes this most heinous crime against humanity.  It must shorten its timeframe for deliberations, and act with the urgency demanded by the severity of the events.  The UNSC and the UN Secretary-General should place the sanctity of human life above all other considerations in the face of potential genocides, and deliberate on “genocidal intent” after the killing is stopped and permanent protections are in place.

UPHOLDING PEACE AND SECURITY

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The main function of the UN Security Council (UNSC) is to uphold international peace and security.  The United Nations claims to have prevented many wars, through intervention between adversarial parties, providing a forum for settling international legal disputes through the International Court of Justice, and by facilitating negotiations.  It is not possible to substantiate this claim.

Although rare, the UN itself endorses the use of force to protect a nation’s sovereignty in certain instances – under Article 51 of the UN Charter that allows for self-defense, and under Article 7 … In both of these cases, countries have sought backing for their actions from the UNSC.

Nevertheless, wars have been fought since the establishment of the UN without regard for the Security Council or the guidelines outlined in the UN Charter.  In the Middle East, a series of wars were fought against Israel, in spite of the attempts by the international community to resolve the conflict through negotiations.  Arab states repeatedly have initiated wars against Israel, and the UNSC has not sanctioned or censured those countries for their action.  The UNSC did adopt Resolutions 242 and 338 with Israel’s agreement, to outline guidelines for ending the conflict and moving from a state of ceasefire to a final peace between adversaries.  Several Arab states and the Palestinians have not yet complied with these resolutions, and have not faced consequences.

Although the UNSC has at times imposed sanctions on countries that have disrupted international peace or violated the sovereignty of other countries – most notably the sanctions against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq – these sanctions have been circumvented and did not achieve their goal of restoring peace and security.  Nevertheless, the UNSC remains the only body whose resolutions have the force of international law, that can authorize peacekeepers to guarantee peace between adversarial factions, and that can impose sanctions or authorize the use of force under the guidelines of the UN Charter.

For the UN to improve its record on peace and security, it must impose its punishments for the disruption of peace and security evenly.  It must act without regard to the political concerns of individual countries.  It must uphold and protect the basic human rights of all peoples, which is the key to security and peace.


HUMANITARIAN RELIEF

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B’nai B’rith has engaged in humanitarian relief since the 19th century, whether it was providing funds for flood victims in Baltimore or cholera victims in the Land of Israel.  A core BBI function and value, humanitarian relief also is a critical element in the professional work of the United Nations.

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan created the position of Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs in 1997 to coordinate the 18 UN agencies devoted to humanitarian relief and development, to eliminate duplication of efforts, and to liaise with non-governmental service providers.  While this was a good start, it does not address the fundamental issues of over-bureaucracy, corruption, and exploitation that is rampant in the UN system, including its humanitarian agencies.

Nevertheless, the United Nations is the primary international humanitarian agency in the international community, and the one with whom non-governmental agencies are able to work.  In addition, none of these agencies are accountable to any regulatory or oversight body, nor is there an adequate amount of transparency in the humanitarian agencies.  Despite the problems inherent in the UN system, humanitarian relief and development is provided. 

One UN agency, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, created in 1949 continues to be an anomaly.  UNRWA has the largest staff of all UN humanitarian agencies with 24,200 local employees and 100 international staff posts.  For comparison, UNICEF (the United Nations Children’s Fund) has 7,000 employees in 158 countries, and UNHCR (the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) has 5,000 employees in 254 offices in 154 countries.  UNRWA’s original mandate was to provide relief to 750,000 Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war, as well as to conduct programs that facilitate the settlement of these refugees in their host countries.  UNRWA has not been allowed to carry out the second part of its mandate due to the opposition by Arab countries.  In addition, UNRWA created an inherited refugee status among the Palestinians – the only one in the world.  While the UN Security Council’s Counterterrorism Committee is creating standards for combating terrorism, UNRWA refuses to conduct background checks on its employees or applicants, and its former Chief admitted that UNRWA probably employs members of the terrorist group Hamas.

The World Food Program, created in 1963, employs 9,000 people worldwide and fed more than 110 million people in 2003.   The WFP’s main mission is to combat hunger and poverty. It has a budget of $4.3 billion, and delivers 4 million metric tones of food annually.

UNHCR coordinates international action for protecting and providing relief for refugees.  It has a budget of $1.18 billion, and has helped more than 50 million refugees since 1950.  Recently, the High Commissioner for Refugees was forced to resign due to a sexual harassment scandal – highlighting the need for accountability procedures to be implemented by humanitarian agencies.

UNICEF cares for children, especially in the areas of child heath and humanitarian relief during emergencies.  UNICEF is one of the best run and most responsible UN humanitarian agencies, raising funds separately from the UN budget, and providing an annual report to donors. 

The World Health Organization was established in 1948 to promote cooperation for health among countries.  With a staff of 3,500 employees and a budget of more than $935 million, the WHO has resisted efforts to politicize its activities.  Israel has participated as a partner with the WHO and third countries to promote better health care training and create modern medical facilities – especially in Africa. 

For the UN to improve in this area:  As part of any reform package, the United Nations must implement transparency of accounting and create a mechanism for making is staff and management accountable for their actions.  In addition, the UN will need to address the anomaly of UNRWA, and bring it into line with the UN’s own norms (non-inherited refugee status), with UN Security Council resolutions (conducting background checks on employees and not hiring applicants with ties to terror organizations), and put its budget into the overall perspective of UN humanitarian relief (by reducing the number of staff it employs).  UNRWA’s functions should be taken up by the emerging Palestinian Authority and it should be gradually phased out as an entity as the Palestinians fulfill their right of self-determination.