[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 52 (Tuesday, April 26, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H2479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  DISCRIMINATION AT THE UNITED NATIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Price of Georgia). Pursuant to the order 
of the House of January 4, 2005, the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-
Lehtinen) is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, we are currently engaged in a detailed 
and comprehensive review of the United Nations, the system it has, with 
the goal of providing reforms that are going to 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 its affiliated agencies.
  The 1975 United Nations resolution equating Zionism, the national 
liberation movement of the Jewish people, to 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 U.N. there 
are many, many others.
  During the 1991 session of the United Nations Commission on Human 
Rights, for example, the Syrian representative to the U.N. 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 U.N. World Conference Against Racism were 
undermined by hateful anti-Jewish rhetoric and anti-Israeli political 
agendas, prompting both Israel and the United States to withdraw their 
delegations from the conference.
  In the United Nations General Assembly, we must look no further than 
the over 20 resolutions introduced by the Palestinian delegation each 
and every year against Israel, challenging Israel's policies and her 
very right to exist. During the 59th session of the U.N. General 
Assembly for 2004, close to 30 percent of all resolutions considered by 
this body were measures condemning Israel in some fashion.
  At the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, there is an entire agenda 
item, item 8, that is dedicated to attacking and criticizing Israel. 
Countries that are gross human rights violators, such as Libya, 
Indonesia, and Egypt, have introduced resolutions under this category 
that criticize Israel for alleged human rights abuses in the West Bank 
and the Gaza Strip.
  An additional resolution was introduced at this year's Human Rights 
Commission regarding what was termed as the Palestinian right of self-
determination for the Palestinians, as well as another one on Israel 
and Lebanon. Yet there was not a single measure on the Syrian regime's 
gross violations of the rights of the Syrian and the Lebanese people or 
on the deplorable acts committed by the Iranian regime against its 
people.
  Israel is a democracy and yet its sovereignty and its right to defend 
itself are frequently called into question in the United Nations 
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 remain uncensored.
  In addition, the failure of the U.N. system in fulfilling 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 its 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 and is not able to compete for major U.N. bodies.
  Israel is excluded from consultations at the U.N. offices in Geneva, 
Nairobi, Rome and Vienna. By contrast, there is a separate ``U.N. 
Division For Palestinian Rights,'' a ``Committee on the Exercise of the 
Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, a U.N. Special 
Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal 
Representative to the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the 
Palestinian Authority,'' and ``NGO Network on the Question of 
Palestine.''
  There is also an entire agency, the United Nations Relief and Works 
Agency, specifically designated for Palestinian refugees at a cost of 
over $400 million in the year 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.
  Mr. Speaker, I include the remainder of my statement for the Record, 
and close by saying any effort at reforming the United Nations must 
include an end to the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment that has 
infected the U.N. organization for far too long.
  I held a hearing last week to evaluate United Nations programs 
related to the Middle East, with special emphasis on the anti-Israel 
discrimination and anti-Semitic attacks.
  It became abundantly clear that any U.N. reform efforts must address 
this imbalance and bias in favor of rogue states and individual groups.
  In turn, the discrimination against Israel in the United Nations must 
be brought to an immediate end.
  I have undertaken various initiatives to correct this injustice and 
ensure full membership and participation for Israel in all U.N. forums.
  Most recently, I introduced H. Res. 54: 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 ask my colleagues to render their support to these efforts and to 
co-sponsor this resolution.
  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.




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