UN Watch – NEW YORK, Dec. 9, 2021 — The United Nations General Assembly today is slated to adopt six resolutions (see details below) that single out or condemn Israel, and zero on the entire rest of the world.
The texts condemn Israel for “repressive measures” against Syrian citizens in the Golan Heights and renew the mandates of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) as well as the UN’s “special committee to investigate Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.” (Click here for texts and prior voting sheets.)
The six resolutions were previously adopted on November 9th by the General Assembly’s Special Political and Decolonization Committee, known as the Fourth Committee. Today the votes are repeated as the General Assembly plenary formally ratifies the texts.
“This latest torrent of one-sided resolutions continues the UN’s unrelenting assault on Israel,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental watchdog organization.
“Only last week, the UN adopted three resolutions against Israel including one on Jerusalem that showed contempt for both Judaism and Christianity by making no mention of the name Temple Mount, which is Judaism’s holiest site.”
“Three of yesterday’s resolutions concern UNRWA — yet none address the agency’s employment of dozens of teachers and school principals who quote Hitler and praise Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist attacks.”
UNRWA has reportedly suspended at least six of its employees after a report by UN Watch exposed over 100 UNRWA educators and other employees who have publicly propagated violence and antisemitism on social media, in breach of the agency’s proclaimed policy of “zero tolerance” for incitement.
“In the face of serious allegations about widespread support for antisemitism and terrorism among its educators, UNRWA has buried its head in the sand, falsely pretending that these are isolated cases,” said Neuer. “The opposite is true. The problem is systemic and voting on these resolutions without addressing this amounts to a conspiracy of silence on the part of the UN in which EU states are complicit.”
“Another of today’s resolutions — co-sponsored by Syria — falsely condemns Israel for ‘repressive measures’ against Syrian citizens in the Golan Heights. It’s obscene,” said Neuer.
The resolution condemns Israel for holding on to the Golan Heights, and effectively demands Israel hand the land and its people to Syria.
“It’s astonishing,” said Neuer. “After the Syrian regime has killed half a million of its own people, how can the UN call for more people to be handed over to Assad’s rule? The text is morally galling, and logically absurd.”
“Today’s resolutions claim to care about Palestinians, yet the UN is oblivious to more than 3,000 Palestinians who have been slaughtered, maimed and expelled by Assad’s forces.”
“Yesterday’s farce at the General Assembly underscores a simple fact: the UN’s automatic majority has no interest in truly helping Palestinians, nor in protecting anyone’s human rights; the goal of these ritual, one-sided condemnations is to scapegoat Israel,” said Neuer.
“The UN’s disproportionate assault against the Jewish state undermines the institutional credibility of what is supposed to be an impartial international body. Politicization and selectivity harm its founding mission, eroding the UN Charter’s promise of equal treatment to all nations large and small,” Neuer added.
UN Watch recently launched a comprehensive database that documents the UN’s bias against Israel, featuring individualized petitions for different countries, in multiple languages, urging governments to stop enabling the subversion of UN Charter principles such as the promise of equal treatment for all nations.
As shown in the database, since 2015 until the present day, the General Assembly has passed 121 condemnatory resolutions against Israel — and a total of 45 against the rest of the world combined.
“While France, Germany, Sweden and other EU states are expected to support nearly all of the 14 resolutions to be adopted against Israel during this General Assembly session, the same European nations have failed to introduce a single UNGA resolution on the human rights situation in China, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Turkey, Pakistan, Vietnam, Algeria, or on 170 other countries,” said Neuer.
“Where’s the supposed EU concern for international law and human rights?”
The 6 UNGA RESOLUTIONS TARGETING ISRAEL
Following are the six resolutions being adopted that target Israel:
Excerpt: “Deplores those policies and practices of Israel that violate the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the occupied territories, as reflected in the report of the Special Committee covering the reporting period…”
Analysis: Perpetuates committee with blatantly biased mandate of examining only Israeli actions, but ignoring Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah terrorism. Contrary to international law and resolution 242, claims that occupation is itself a violation. Resolution falsely accuses Israel of indiscriminate force against civilians and provocations and incitements against “the holy places.” At the same time, it completely ignores Palestinian use of the Al Aqsa Mosque as a vehicle for antisemitic incitement, thereby also denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount. Furthermore, the one-sided accusation against Israel disregards Palestinian attacks against Jewish holy sites, such as Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.
2. “The occupied Syrian Golan”
Excerpt: “Determines that all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken or to be taken by Israel, the occupying Power, that purport to alter the character and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan are null and void…”
Analysis: Ignores the existence of the Syrian Civil War and its security implications for Israel and the civilians of the Golan Heights. Also ignores Syria’s history of shelling Israeli communities, its leader’s calls for a “war of annihilation” against Israel, and Syria’s 1967 aggression that led to its loss of the territory. Also neglects Syria’s sponsorship of the enemies of the peace process, and its support for terrorism. Falsely claims that Israel is oppressing and imposing Israeli citizenship on the Arab population of the Golan Heights.
Excerpt: “Reaffirms that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan are illegal and an obstacle to peace and economic and social development…”
Analysis: Adopts Palestinian position on issues that Oslo Accords left to negotiations, such as settlements and borders. Israel is treated with disdain in comparison to praise and deference to governments in other country resolutions. Makes sweeping legal pronouncements on disputed matters, for example by accusing Israel of violating international law for ordering demolitions of illegally built structures in territory over which it has administrative control. Makes an immoral equivalence between Palestinian terror and violence and Israeli countermeasures. Specifically condemns incitement by “Israeli settlers,” but fails to expressly condemn widespread, official terrorist and antisemitic incitement by Palestinian officials, media and education.
4. “Assistance to Palestine refugees”
Excerpt: “Expressing grave concern at the especially difficult situation of the Palestine refugees under occupation, including with regard to their safety, well-being and socioeconomic living conditions…”
Analysis: Resolution serves Arab states that seek to preserve Palestinians as pawns in political campaign to delegitimize Israel. Intent and effect of singling out Palestinian from all refugee claims in the world is to isolate and demonize Israel. Omits any reference to Lebanon’s discrimination against Palestinian refugees in that country or the Syrian Assad regime’s collective punishment of Palestinian refugees in that country and their treatment as second-class citizens. Redundant to three other resolutions adopted on same day (see in this chart) dealing with refugees and UNRWA.
5. “Operations of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East”
Excerpt: “Reiterates its call upon Israel to fully lift the restrictions impeding or delaying the import of necessary construction materials and supplies for the reconstruction and repair of the remaining damaged or destroyed refugee shelters, and for the implementation of suspended and urgently needed civilian infrastructure projects in refugee camps in the Gaza Strip…”
Analysis: Perpetuates anomaly whereby Palestinians are the only people not served by UNHCR but instead by special agency. Resolution makes one-sided condemnations of Israeli actions, but silent on Palestinian terrorism against Israelis and abuses of Palestinian forces against their own citizens. Ignores UNRWA admission that members of Hamas, a terrorist organization, were on its payroll. Resolution calls on Israel to allow construction materials into the Gaza Strip yet fails to acknowledge Hamas use of such materials to build attack tunnels and other terror infrastructure.
6. “Palestine refugees’ properties and their revenues”
Excerpt: “Reaffirms that the Palestine refugees are entitled to their property and to the income derived therefrom, in conformity with the principles of equity and justice…”
Analysis: One-sided resolution ignores claims of 900,000 Jewish refugees displaced from Arab lands. Repeats statements previously established for purpose of censuring Israel and is redundant to other resolutions. Prejudges negotiations.
1st Published by UN Watch
