ROTHMAN BLASTS U.N. FOR UNFAIR BIAS AGAINST ISRAEL
September 14, 2005
--Introduces Resolution with Republican Co-sponsor Urging Member States to Stop Unfair Treatment of Israel at U.N.; Measure Promotes Even-Handed Approach to Resolving Middle Eastern Conflicts --
(Washington, DC)- Continuing his steadfast support for the State of Israel at the United Nations (U.N.), Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ) introduced House Resolution 438 today, which urges the member states of the U.N. to stop applying a double standard against Israel, which has resulted in years of anti-Israel U.N. votes that repeatedly singles out the Jewish State for criticism. The resolution, which Rothman co-authored with Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL), also promotes a more even-handed and constructive approach to resolving conflict in the Middle East within the U.N. General Assembly.
"This week the U.N. convened the 60th Session of the General Assembly and yet the discrimination and vilification of the State of Israel at the United Nations continues and undermines the credibility of the U.N. as an honest broker for peace in the Middle East," said Rothman. "Therefore, by introducing this resolution, we want to prevent further prejudice and encourage Israel's fair treatment at the U.N."
Rothman stressed that the double standard against Israel is pervasive and must be stopped. For the past thirty years, the U.N. has continuously funded three entities that support anti-Israel propaganda including the Division for Palestinian Rights (DPR), the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), and the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Human Rights Practices Affecting the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (SCIIHRP). Additionally, of the ten emergency special sessions called by the U.N. General Assembly, six have been about Israel. Also, since 1997, at the annual meetings of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, only Israel has had its own agenda item dealing with its alleged human rights violations whereas all of the world's other countries, a number of which have abhorrent human rights records, are dealt with in a separate agenda item.
As an additional example of anti-Israel bias at the U.N, the State of Israel is the only member nation that has consistently been denied full admission into its regional group-in Israel's case, the Asian Regional Group. In 2000, after lobbying by Congressman Rothman and others, Israel was offered and accepted a limited membership in the Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG) regional bloc at the U.N., but the country still retains a "second class" status, as it cannot participate in U.N. activities that are not held in New York.
"It is our hope that member nations of the U.N. General Assembly will recognize the negative impact that this double-standard against the State of Israel has had on the reputation of the U.N. and on the endeavors to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Rothman said. "It also hinders the efforts to achieve the U.N.'s stated goals of maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, and promoting cooperation in solving international problems and respect for human rights."
http://www.house.gov/rothman/news_releases/rel_091405.htm