UNGA’s systematic disturbing bias against Israel

So, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), an alleged body of righteous minded global representatives has once again shown its disdain toward Israel. 90 countries signed a letter “condemning” Israeli sanctions on the Palestinian Authority. Such “outrageous” Israeli move should be condemned. This is rich coming from countries like Pakistan which as a signatory on this letter still does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and adds a disclaimer on its citizens’ passports: “valid for every country in the world except Israel”.  To bring the UN’s delusional relevancy up front: China and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council! Go figure.

What set this latest fuse of angst against Israel? According to World Israel News (January 17, 2023), Israel placed sanctions on the Palestinian Authority (PA) following a December 2022 PA sponsored UN resolution urging the International Court of Justice to “render an urgent opinion” on Israel’s occupation, annexation, and settlement of “Palestinian territory”. A claim that defies any historic significance but plays into the anti-Israel narrative prevalent in the UN and regretfully simultaneously elsewhere in the world.

A quick summation: Israel revoked travel permits to undisclosed number of PA officials and withheld approximately $39 million in PA tax revenue collected in Jerusalem to channel it to Israeli terrorism victims and their families. The latter move meant that the PA will have difficulties coming up with “pay-for-slay” money it gives to relatives of terrorists who either get killed or are imprisoned in the process of killing Israelis. To the reasonable and the sane it sounds like a fair trade, but to the 90 countries who signed the resolution it was considered too “harsh”.

In November, I was in Jerusalem when two bombs went off killing Aryeh Schupak, a 16-year-old Israeli Canadian Jewish Seminary student, and injuring 14 others. The terrorists used a remote device. Their families will be compensated by the PA for the teenager’s death. Let that sink in. This warped thinking is hard to write about and harder to make sense of which brings me to ask how UNGA still doesn’t get it?

While the UN continues in its self-indulgent irrelevancy wrapped in insidious anti-Israel bias, the Jordanian press indignantly picked up on an incident that happened on the Temple Mount and on the same day as the resolutions. It seems that Jordanian foreign minister Ghassan Majali was temporarily delayed entrance to the Temple Mount. World Israel News gave the rest of the story. The foreign minister’s visit was delayed until security verified his visit and his identity. Security had no prior notification of his visit and had to clear it with their superiors. Instead of waiting for a few minutes, Mr. Majali left in a huff and created a headline “story”.  And the mainstream media ate it up.

On July 25, 1994, the Peace Treaty with Israel was signed by Jordan and Israel to maintain order on Temple Mount and respect the special role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Muslim Holy shrines in Jerusalem. Israel agreed to keep the Temple Mount under Waqf and subject to Israeli security supervision and presence. (NOTE: the treaty does not say that only Muslims are permitted to visit and worship on the Mount.) According to Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (May 9, 2022), Jordan didn’t seem to have any problems with the April 2022 violence on the Mount. Riots under the pretense that the Al-Aqsa Mosque was in danger of an “invasion” by Jews were in some Jordanian circles applauded. Jordan seemed to reconcile itself to the violence and rioting but their minister has a problem with security protocols. I have my own personal story of the Temple Mount.

My first visit to Israel was in 2016. I was on a tour from Germany.  On the morning when we were scheduled to visit the Temple Mount, and after we had walked up to the entrance, we were unceremoniously turned away. No reason was given, and as our guide so succinctly put it, no reason is to be expected because access was at the whim of the Waqf. Two days later, the guide abruptly announced that we had been given permission for access. The instructions were specific: no religious symbols to be displayed, all body parts covered, and even if married, we were not to have body contact. The guide also stressed the fact that we should remain quiet and stay close not to provoke the Waqf security and create a “world” incident. The perspective of my story is that my experience was far from pleasant. But cold realization dawned on me, that Jews living in the vicinity had to put up with this unwarranted and unprovoked hostility on daily basis. Maybe the Jordanian minister and the UN should take note.

Instances of deliberate attacks and hostility within Israel are obviously ignored by the 90 self-righteous pinheads at the UN. Israel, with all its shortcomings and amazing resiliency is the only democratic country in the region. The affluence of a viable Arab population in Israel is apparent everywhere. They own flourishing businesses in Nazareth, Haifa, Jerusalem, and Tel-Aviv. I know because I have seen them and frequented them myself. Whether Muslim or Christian, Arabs are free to worship, free to start businesses and free to educate their children in a democratic society. What must be observed and mentioned is the fact, that none of the surrounding rich Arab nations have ever been minutely interested in taking in any Palestinian “refugees” in their countries. The “why” is interesting.

Few current intellectuals bother to delve into any historic data. A short version: the Arabs that settled in “Palestine” during the British Mandate came from far and wide. They took advantage of the cities and farms that early Zionists were building and tilling successfully. They found work. Some came from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab nations. After the 1948 War of Independence, Arab politics concentrated on Israel and its elimination by subsequently creating the “Palestinian problem” narrative. It was the Arab league that decided to put Arab “refugees” in camps and keep them contained and not absorbed into any other Arab nation. Then entered the UN.

Under UNRWA these Arab “refugees” were given free food, medical care, and education courtesy of world governments and their tax paying citizens. In the meantime, Arabs in neighboring countries found themselves on the short end of the stick. There was no UNRWA, they had to earn their living the old-fashioned way by working for it. UNRWA still provides funding. Billions of dollars and Euros have been “donated” globally to the Palestinians. It is estimated that some “Palestinian” Arabs across the border make more per capita through free funding than their Arab neighbors in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, and Algeria. The money keeps on flowing in, while conditions remain dismal. Not one intellectual pinhead has ever asked why. The UN has never taken the PA to task for allowing Hamas and other terrorist groups to control the region and keep their citizens in dire poverty. But they have a beef with Israel.

With the insurgence of terrorist groups starting with Arafat’s PLO, countries like Jordan were being threatened by armed Palestinian Arabs challenging Hussein and his monarchy. In September 1970, King Hussein had had enough and declared war to purge his country of these terrorists. The animosity toward the Palestinians continued with the rise of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad supported by Iran which is abhorred by most Arab nations.  An interesting observation is that the Arab nations who signed the Abraham Accords chose reconciliation with Israel and viable business opportunities rather than solidarity with the Palestinians.

According to the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies Bar-Ilan University (September 24, 2020), 20% of the population of Israel is “Palestinian” Arabs who remained in Israel within the pre-1967 borders. They are citizens who neither rebel nor hate Israel. They enjoy democracy and quality of life that Israel provides. Nobody in the global community ever mentions them.

The systematic UN bias against Israel can be proven by numbers. Between 2012-2015, 97 resolutions were passed with 83 against Israel. (86%) Geneva based NGO UN Watch Director Hilel Neuer reported that in 2021, out of the 20 resolutions passed by the UN, 14 were against Israel. One must insert in the equation the 194 countries that are members of the UN. To put this travesty into perspective, Israel is the size of New Jersey with an approximate population of eight and a half million. (New York City (NYC) has approximately the same population.) The overwhelming number of disproportionate resolutions against this very small country should not only raise eyebrows but condemnation against blatant discriminatory behavior.

In December 2021, UNGA with an overwhelming vote of 168 passed a resolution against Israel for the Palestinian claim of the right to self-determination. There were five votes against and ten abstentions. Through this charade of pseudo concern for justice and human rights, UNGA failed in creating any conditions for the Palestinians. Maybe if they were really serious about peace, UNGA would insist that the Palestinians dismantle their terrorist infrastructure and accept Israel as their neighbor. Throughout the resolution process not once has this body of alleged impartiality brought any resolutions against such rascals as China, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and the myriad of other countries that flaunt human misery in the face of the world. Only Israel seems to be the proverbial poker in their tachat!

The ”in your face” discrimination of Israel at the UN should be of concern to any decent global body. The blatant dismissal of real villains on the world stage is offensive. Hilel Neur summed it up perfectly (December 20, 2021): the UN has “no interest in helping Palestinians nor in protecting anyone’s human rights, the goal of these ritual one-sided condemnations is to scapegoat Israel.”

Marcus L. January 17, 2023. 90 countries demand Israel lift PA sanctions, restore terror funding | World Israel News

World Israel News Staff. January 17, 2023 Jordan fumes after ambassador delayed at entrance to Temple Mount | World Israel News

Amb. Baker A. May 9, 2022. Vol 22 #11 Jordan and the Temple Mount (jcpa.org)

Kedar M. Dr & Lt. Col (res). September 24, 2020. Paper #1,758 Why Do the Arabs Hate the Palestinians? (besacenter.org)

Kahana A. December 20, 2021. Israel Hayom UN passes 14 anti-Israel resolutions in 2021, only 4 against all other countries – www.israelhayom.com

Stub. Z. June 20, 2021. Israel’s tech ecosystem ranked #3 in the world – Israel News – The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)

Vohra A. June 8, 2021. The Abraham Accords Passed Their First Big Test in Palestine (foreignpolicy.com)