A major conference on the heavy increase in anti-Semitism around the world was held at the United Nations.
But the UN itself didn’t have a single thing to do in sponsoring it.
The UN Permanent Mission of Palau and the Aja Eze Foundation sponsored a lunchtime conference to address the outbreaks of anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence in the wake of the conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
“But why couldn’t the UN, founded on the ashes of the Jewish people, and presently witnessing a widespread resurgence in anti-Semitism, sponsor a conference on combating global anti-Semitism?” said Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust. “The answer is clear: Because the United Nations itself is the leading global purveyor of anti-Semitism.”
In July, 318 confirmed anti-Semitic incidents were reported by the UN, an increase of 381% from the same time period last year.
“Where is the outrage? Where are the universal condemnations?” Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor said. “The silence is very similar to the silence of the 1930s and we all have a responsibility to stand up and fight. Will you stand with those who fire rockets, kidnap girls out of classrooms, and cut off the heads of journalists? Or will you stand up for freedom?”
The Anti-Defamation League is reporting a “dramatic surge” in anti-Semitism around the world in the wake of the conflict in the Gaza strip with Islamic terrorists attacking Israel.
The ADL report showed dozens of international incidents including physical assaults, threats, intimidation, public hate speech and damage to synagogues including the use of Nazi symbols in graffiti.
Abraham Foxman, the National Director of the ADL, said that the report shows “focuses on actions and speech with extend far beyond the bounds of criticism into violence and bigotry.”
“There was a dramatic surge in violence against Jews and Jewish institutions around the world during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge. From France to the Argentina, from Canada to Chile, synagogues were attacked, Jewish cultural centers were vandalized, Jewish shops were threatened and identifiably Jewish individuals beaten on the street. Anti-Semitism was in the air, and in the streets,” Foxman said.
The ADL noted many of the incident were advertised or started as “pro-peace, pro-Palestine” rallies but quickly degraded into anti-Semitic rallies with messages of support for Islamic terrorists who want to exterminate all Jews.
Israel has released strong statements about the appointment of a Canadian lawyer with anti-Semitic views to head the inquiry into the conflict along the Gaza strip.
“This commission’s anti-Israeli conclusions have already been written, all it needs is a signature,” Israel foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said to AFP news agency. “For this commission the important thing is not human rights but the rights of terrorist organizations like Hamas.”
William Schabas says the accusations are “absurd.”
“The suggestion that I’m anti-Israel is absurd,” Schabas said according to The Canadian Press. “Like everybody inside and outside Israel, I disagree with people. Is everyone in Israel who has an opinion about (Benjamin) Netanyahu anti-Israel?”
However, critics of Schabas include even members of his own government.
“UN Human Rights Council continues to be a sham for advancing human rights; today’s (announcement) for members of its Gaza inquiry reveals its agenda,” Canadian Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird wrote on Twitter. “It’s an utter shame and will do nothing to promote peace and dignity in Gaza for the Palestinian people.”
The head of a U.N. watchdog group says that Schabas must stand down because of his previous criticisms of the Israeli government.
“Under international law, William Schabas is obliged to recuse himself because his repeated calls to indict Israeli leaders obviously gives rise to actual bias or the appearance thereof,” Hillel Neuer of UN Watch said in a statement.
A new report shows anti-Semitism worldwide making a significant increase in the wake of the conflict in Gaza.
The footage of Hamas terrorists shooting rockets into Israel, the murder of Israeli civilians by Hamas terrorists, the tunnels into Israel that have been used for terror attacks have fallen on deaf ears in most countries because of media coverage only showing the impact on Palestinian civilians who are used as cover by terrorists.
The heavily Jewish section of Paris was looted and attacked as the mob showed “gas the Jews.” Synagogues and Jewish centers in Paris and other French cities were firebombed and Nazi symbols spray painted onto Jewish property.
Germany showed particularly nasty incidents including in Berlin where protesters would stand in front of the homes of Jewish residents and yell “Jew, cowardly pig, come out and fight.” In Frankfurt, protesters carried signs saying “Jews are beasts.”
In the United States, the mainstream media ignored multiple instances of Jews being attacked and harassed. No major network covered the story of a Jewish student in Boston who was attacked by a woman saying that Jerusalem would be cleansed of the Jews while a crowd chanted that Jews better learn how to swim.
Belgian officials who have been trying to downplay a heavy rise in anti-Semitism since the start of the current Gaza conflict are reeling after reports a doctor told a Jewish woman to go to Gaza for treatment of a fractured rib.
A doctor working a medical hotline in Flanders, Belgium told the son of a Jewish woman that he would not come out to treat her for a fractured rib when he called at 11 p.m. Wednesday. The doctor hung up on the son the first time, then when the son called again the doctor said to “send her to Gaza for a few hours, then she’ll get rid of the pain.”
Health ministry officials say they are looking into the incident. The doctor told officials he knew the patient had to be Jewish because of her son’s accent.
An alderman of the Antwerp district council who knows the Jewish family called the doctor and recorded the conversation where he admitted refusing to treat the Jewish woman and telling her to go to Gaza.
Also in the last week, a Jewish woman was refused service at a clothing store because she was a Jew. A restaurant in Liege posted a sign that said dogs were welcome in their restaurant but Zionists and Jews were not allowed inside their building.