Ban Ki-moon walks along the fences that surround the Auschwitz concentration camp. As many as 2,500,000 people were killed there.
Pro-Israel Jews have been barred from attending an open meeting today at the UN that marks the anniversary of the 1947 resolution allowing the establishment of a Jewish state and an Arab state.
That landmark 1947 resolution was accepted by Jewish leaders but the Arab world rejected it. Instead of establishing a Palestinian state, they launched a civil war.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan characterized the anniversary as “a day of mourning and a day of grief.”
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon (left) speaks at a 2012 special meeting held in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. To Ban’s right is the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.
The recent barring of pro-Israel Jews from an otherwise open meeting reflects how the UN as an institution apparently shares in the grief of Annan and Palestinians today.
Only last week, however, the UN showed another face.
While visiting the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon paid tribute to Holocaust victims, vowing to safeguard the testimony of Holocaust survivors.
As the Secretary General toured the barracks, some of which still house huge mounds of shaved hair, shoes, baggage, and spectacles taken from inmates upon their arrival, he was accompanied by Holocaust survivors Marian Turski, a one-time camp inmate, and Yisrael Meir Lau, former chief rabbi of Tel Aviv and current chairman of Yad Vashem (The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority).
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon examines the mounds of shoes during his visit of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Beside Ban is Piotr M.A. Cywiński, director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
“Nothing can truly prepare one for this epicenter of evil, where systematic murder unique in human history reached its atrocious climax,” Ban said.
“The world must never forget, deny or downplay the Holocaust,” he added. “We will stand in eternal solidarity with the survivors and safeguard their testimony so their legacy will never die.” (HaAretz)
“We will continue to shine a light on these unspeakable crimes so that they [may] never be repeated,” he promised.
While Ban showed his concern for atrocities committed against Jews in the last century, however, the United Nations continues to discriminate against Jews in the here and now.
For instance, the annual event at the UN, known as the “UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People,” marking the anniversary of the November 29, 1947 resolution is taking place today in New York (instead of Friday due to American Thanksgiving later in the week).
And although the UN website announced that non-governmental organizations (NGO) are invited to attend, an official UN-accredited NGO delegation was denied access because they were pro-Israel.
The group’s security clearance was recently revoked at the request of the UN Division for Palestinian Rights (UNDPR). (JPost)
Ban laid a wreath to memorialize those who were murdered by the Nazis at the extermination camp during World War II.
Not everyone at the UN, however, is in agreement with the unfair treatment that Israel receives there.
Six Western nations—the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, France and the United States—have allied themselves with Israel and are requesting that Israel’s status on the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva be upgraded to full membership.
On November 6, the ambassadors presented this request to the UN’s institution in Geneva.
The request stated in part: “We, the undersigned, would like by this letter to recall Israel’s longstanding request to join the WEOG [the UN’s Western European and Others Group] regional group in Geneva. We are strongly supportive of Israel’s membership at the earliest opportunity.”
If the request succeeds, it will be more difficult to isolate and condemn Israel.
Members of the Palestinian delegation are pictured at the UN during a special meeting in observance of the 2011 International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. In 2012, the UN voted overwhelmingly to upgrade the Palestine delegation to non-member observer state status.
An unnamed United Nations’ interpreter also recently questioned the UN’s biased treatment of Israel on an open mike at a General Assembly committee meeting during several votes against Israel.
While working at her post translating, the interpreter was overheard saying: “I mean I think when you have five statements, not five, but like a total of 10 resolutions on Israel and Palestine, there’s gotta be something, c’est un peu trop, non? [It’s a bit much, no?] I mean I know, yes, yes, but there’s other really bad stuff happening, but no one says anything about that.”
When she realized she had been overheard, she apologized for her comments.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who played the audio clip for the cabinet at its weekly meeting, said it was a rare pleasurable moment for Israel in an international setting.
He even said she would always have a job in Israel if the international body fires her, though he said he hoped that she would not not punished. (HaAretz)
While the nations may rage that God has gathered His ancient people home, we should rejoice that the Word of God is true, accurate, and trustworthy.
“I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel … and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.” (Ezekiel 37:21–22)
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (center) and his wife, Yoo Soon-taek (right), with (from left): Piotr M.A. Cywiński, Director of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum; Holocaust survivor Yisrael Meir Lau, who is Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv; and Marian Turski, Vice-President of the International Auschwitz Committee.
