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September 15, 2017
As world leaders gather in New York for the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) will be meeting with presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers from around the globe, representing nations from Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America to press them on combatting anti-Semitism, ensuring that Israeli is treated fairly at the U.N. and by the international community, and urging that nations take concrete steps to fight hate.
In addition to these meetings, ADL, the foremost American Jewish organization combatting hate and discrimination and helping vulnerable communities, will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Tuesday, September 19 with the Foreign Ministry of Mexico. The signing ceremony will be held at ADL’s Headquarters in New York, where ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, and Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray Caso, will hold a joint news conference to discuss the new partnership.
As the global leader in combatting anti-Semitism, ADL will share with dignitaries information on anti-Semitic attitudes and incidents as well as resources and best-practices for how government, the technology industry, educators and families can counter anti-Jewish bias.
In these meetings, ADL will urge governments to:
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Affirm and elevate the fight against anti-Semitism and bias motivated violence by using bully pulpits to denounce all manifestation of hate crimes and discrimination;
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Integrate hate crime prevention and response training into law enforcement education;
- Lead efforts in international and multilateral organizations, like the U.N., Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of American States (OAS), to address anti-Semitic, racist and xenophobic, anti-Muslim, homophobic, transphobic, anti-Roma, disability-bias and other bias-motivated violence abroad;
- Mandate public reporting on anti-Semitic and other hate violence and discrimination;
- Deter anti-Semitic hate crimes through penalty enhancement legislation and security measures;
- Forge partnerships to support the security of Jewish institutions, communities, and individuals who may be targets of anti-Semitic hate crimes, through funding, security training, contingency planning, and remedial care programs;
- Adapt the May 2016, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), working definition of anti-Semitism within their governmental and law enforcement bodies for education and guidance.
In these meetings, ADL will also call on world leaders to ensure that Israel is treated fairly at the U.N. and other international fora. The international body has a continuing history of a one-sided, hostile approach to Israel. While there have been some positive developments in recent years, the world body’s record and culture continue to demonstrate a predisposition against Israel. Entrenched, institutionalized, anti-Israel infrastructure endures at the U.N. through various anachronistic departments and committees. Anti-Israel resolutions in the General Assembly and Human Rights Council are adopted year after year. The Human Rights Council (HRC) has a permanent item on its agenda which deals only with Israel. Successive Secretary Generals have acknowledged this an issue for the institution. In April, Secretary General Antonio Guterres declared: “As secretary general of the United Nations I consider that the State of Israel needs to be treated as any other state.”
Specific action requests by ADL will include:
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Support for Israel candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the Security Council (the WEOG-designated seat, for 2019/2020);
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Members should improve their voting record on annual anti-Israel resolutions in the General Assembly;
- The anachronistic Palestinian infrastructure with the U.N. must be defunded and disbanded
- The HRC must remove the Israel-specific agenda item from the permanent agenda;
- Positions and projects which are biased against and demonize Israel, such as the Special Rapporteur “on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,” and a reported “blacklist” of international companies that do business/operate in Israelis settlements must be rejected and the mandates altered.