UNRWA Has No Basis For Creating Generations of Palestinian Arab Refugees

One of the most controversial issues surrounding how UNRWA does business is its fast-and-loose definition of refugees, which has kept expanding over the years.

When UN General Assembly Resolution 393 was passed on December 2, 1950, endorsing UNRWA's purpose, it clearly stated:

[T]he reintegration of the refugees into the economic life of the Near East, either by repatriation or resettlement, is essential in preparation for the time when international assistance is no longer available, and for the realization of conditions of peace and stability in the area

UNRWA's job was to either repatriate refugees, where possible -- or to resettle them elsewhere, with the realization and acknowledgment that the money was not going to last forever.

But that goal was only good for about 10 years.

Anne Bayefsky: Holocaust Remembrance Day at the UN: A Disturbing Paradox

For Immediate Release: January 27, 2014

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Holocaust Remembrance Day at the UN: A Disturbing Paradox This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on FOX News. It is Holocaust remembrance time at the United Nations. Once a year, Jews from around New York, a dwindling number of Holocaust survivors, occasional celebrities, and precious few friends, file into the General Assembly Hall and grant the U.N. the privilege of appearing to care. This year’s speakers include Steven Spielberg. When it is over, the year-round ritual censure of the Jewish state will resume. Characteristic of “International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust” is the scarcity of express emphasis on Israel, save for the remarks of the Israeli ambassador. Modern Israel, if it had existed, would not have allowed six million Jews or one million children to perish while railway lines delivering human cargo to their final destination were left intact. And yet, the well-being of the only country dedicated to saving the Jewish people is generally peripheral. At first, the pattern seems odd, given that the U.N.’s Holocaust Remembrance Day and associated activities of its “Holocaust Outreach Programme,” are supposed to be about ‘never again’ and a U.N. commitment to genocide prevention. Strange also, since the U.N. member state of Iran is openly pursuing the annihilation of Israel, and a repeat of the Holocaust that it denies.

UN Propaganda Campaign Against the Legitimacy of Israel Has Now Reached Epidemic Proportions

For Immediate Release: January 22, 2014

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2014, the UN Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People: The UN propaganda campaign against the legitimacy of Israel has now reached epidemic proportions This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on The Jerusalem Post. Palestinians, and their undemocratic UN cohorts, are off to a roaring start for 2014, the UN Year of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Last week UNESCO tore down an exhibit on the Jewish people’s ties to the land of Israel, just before it opened to the public, because it offended Arab states. Unfortunately, the move was only the tip of the UN iceberg.

Anne Bayefsky: Duplicity as the UN Secretary-General Visits Auschwitz

For Immediate Release: November 18, 2013

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Duplicity as the UN Secretary-General Visits Auschwitz This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on The Jerusalem Post. Today, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will pay a visit to Auschwitz where he will make a show of concern for the demonization of Jews in the past century. However, at the very same time his UN staff is actively discriminating against Jews at UN Headquarters in the here and now. On Friday, November 15, 2013, an official UN-accredited Jewish non-governmental organization had its security clearance to attend an open UN meeting in New York revoked at the behest of the UN Division for Palestinian Rights.

Video: Hot Mic Catches UN Interpreter Saying Anti-Israel Votes Are 'A Bit Much'

UN Watch notes Hot mic catches UN interpreter saying anti-Israel votes are ‘a bit much’:

UN Interpeter (unaware her mic was on): “I mean, I think when you have five statements, not five, like a total of ten 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… There’s other really bad shit happening, but no one says anything, about the other stuff.”

Here is the video:

Arlene Kushner: Israel Should Have Rebuffed Obama Pressure To Release Palestinian Terrorists

From Arlene Kushner:
October 31, 2013

Not Remotely Acceptable

It's infuriating when agents outside of Israel act against Israel.  But there is something uniquely distressing about damage we do to ourselves.  This is what I'm seeing now -- and feel compelled to write about.  The current situation is not only unacceptable, it's intolerable.

First, there is the prisoner release that took place this week.  Ostensibly, because we "promised" at the beginning of the negotiations.  It was the lure to bring the PA to the table. 

No one in Israeli officialdom, it seems, ever confronts the question of why the PA would need an enticement to come negotiate in order to secure the state they keep claiming they want. They should be running to talk.

~~~~~~~~~~

Anne Bayefsky: Anti-Semitism is at the Root of the UN’s Double-Standards

For Immediate Release: October 30, 2013

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Anti-Semitism is at the Root of the UN’s Double-Standards This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on FOX News. This week Israel caved in to European and American pressure to further subject itself to egregious discrimination at the United Nations. The move was in response to a twisted appeal to Israel to preserve the fiction of a U.N. human rights system committed to equality.

Anne Bayefsky: Europe, US Pressuring Israel to Endure Discrimination at UN Human Rights Council

For Immediate Release: October 27, 2013

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Europe, US Pressuring Israel to Endure Discrimination at UN Human Rights Council This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on The Jerusalem Post. The United Nations is gearing up for yet another attack upon Israel – even more outrageous on this occasion because it has been arranged in the name of equality. The so-called “Universal Periodic Review” (UPR), will take place in Geneva on October 29, 2013, under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council. The label is intended to evoke the equal treatment of all UN member states, notwithstanding the actual treatment of the UN’s favorite whipping boy. The UPR was concocted after the credibility of the Council’s predecessor – the UN Human Rights Commission – finally took a fatal hit. On March 15, 2006, with the United States and Israel voting against, the General Assembly pushed the Commission out one door and dragged the Council in through another. The “reform” of the UN’s top human rights body was fundamentally flawed, however, since American efforts to condition membership on some degree of actually protecting human rights, were totally rejected. The UPR has been called the Council’s most important innovation. Then President of the General Assembly, Swede Jan Eliasson, said of the UPR just before the vote: “Such a mechanism would ensure equal treatment with respect to all Member States and would prevent double standards and selectivity.” The European Union was also enthusiastic, claiming the Council was a glorious “opportunity to build new trust by addressing human rights in a spirit of honesty, equal treatment and the avoidance of double standards.” The assurances were untrue.

Why Is Saudi Arabia Suddenly So Shy When It Comes To The UN?

There are various reasons why Arabs feel the need to cloak their real concerns behind a façade of verbiage about the Palestinians. The truly puzzling question is why the West hasn’t yet learned to look behind this verbiage to the telltale actions...
Evelyn Gordon, What the Saudis Really Care About in Commentary

This month, it seems as if Saudi Arabia was getting bashful around the UN.

First it was reported in the beginning of this month that Saudi Arabia scrapped UN speech in protest over Syria, Israel:

Saudi Arabia's frustration at international inaction over Syria and the Palestinians led it to cancel its speech at the United Nations General Assembly for the first time ever this week, a diplomatic source said

While the Saudis claim to have equal concerns about Syria and the Palestinian question, Evelyn Gordon noted What the Saudis Really Care About

Arlene Kushner on Netanyahu's Speech to the UN -- Not the Usual Conciliatory Tone

From Arlene Kushner:
October 1, 2013

The Shock and the Pride

What had me close to speechless earlier today was a quote by the venerable (sic) US secretary of state, John Kerry.  (With thanks to IMRA for putting it up.)

The source here is Al-Arabiya, but there are other sources as well (e.g., AFP), because the quotes are taken from a "60 Minutes" broadcast.  Said Mr. Kerry (emphasis added):

"...a deal with Iran could be reached within months if Tehran proves that its nuclear program was not being used to build atomic weapons...

Video/Transcript: Netanyahu's Speech at the United Nations General Assembly October 1, 2013

Here is the video of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech today at the United Nations General Assambly, followed by the transcript -- from the Prime Minister's Office website.

Arlene Kushner: Pressure on Netanyahu as He Speaks to Obama and the UN About Iran

From Arlene Kushner:
September 30, 2013

Troubling, Unsettling

But of course!  How could the situation be anything but?

This morning's lead story in the JPost included this (emphasis added):

"Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will go into his meeting with US President Barack Obama on Monday aiming not only to reveal the 'true face' of the Iranian regime, but also wanting to hear areaffirmation from Obama of Israel's right to defend itself.

"One of Israel's main concerns presently is that Iranian President Hasan Rouhani's 'charm offensive' has chipped away at Israel's legitimacy for military action if Tehran crosses the red line Netanyahu established at the General Assembly last year."

Read: At meeting with Obama, Netanyahu seeking reaffirmation of Israel's right to defend itself

Anne Bayefsky: Obama Foreign Policy In Tatters, U.N. Hopeless On 9/11 Anniversary

For Immediate Release: September 11, 2013

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Obama Foreign Policy In Tatters, U.N. Hopeless On 9/11 Anniversary This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on FOX News. Born and bred in Canada, I settled in New York City on September 9, 2001. I came via Durban, South Africa, after enduring the U.N.’s virulently racist “anti-racism” world conference. On September 11, watching the smoke rise from a hundred blocks away and enveloped by the grieving everywhere, I was struck by the unmistakable connection between U.N.-promoted hate and the terror it emboldens. Who could imagine that a mere twelve years later, in an effort to save his plummeting credibility, the president of the United States would grasp a U.N. straw as a means to realize the very peace and security the organization so notoriously undermines?

Anne Bayefsky: UN Accredits NGO Led By Anti-Semitic Former Malaysian PM

For Immediate Release: August 5, 2013

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UN Accredits NGO Led By Anti-Semitic Former Malaysian PM This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on Breitbart.com. The UN has awarded official accreditation to an NGO headed by the antisemitic former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. As its founder and President, Mohamad calls his personal project the “Perdana Global Peace Foundation.” Apparently, the title’s reference to the word “peace” was enough to win over the members of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP). That’s the committee formed back in 1975 to implement the Zionism-is-racism resolution and still going strong.

Anne Bayefsky: Obama Using the UN to Bully Israel

For Immediate Release: July 31, 2013

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Obama Using the UN to Bully Israel This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on Breitbart.com. The UN made me do it. That’s how Obama officials are explaining Secretary Kerry’s intense efforts to move Israel onto the front burner, and shove over the bloody turmoil immediately affecting millions of Israel’s neighbors and the imminent catastrophe of an Iranian nuclear weapon. Speaking to reporters on July 30, 2013, senior officials said the administration was seeking “to avoid a train wreck” at the United Nations. “Throughout the course of this year Palestinians have been making clear that if they couldn’t see progress on the peace front, their intention would be to seek other elevations of their status…at the UN.” “A new dynamic vis-à-vis the United Nations,” was driving the immediacy for renewed talks.

Anne Bayefsky: Expect Samantha Power to Continue Obama's Disastrous U.N. Policy

For Immediate Release: July 17, 2013

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Expect Samantha Power to continue Obama's disastrous U.N. policy This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on FOX News. Today's confirmation hearing for Samantha Power, President Obama’s pick for UN Ambassador, should not have been such smooth sailing. Over the past four and a half years the Obama administration’s UN policy has lurched from failure to failure and Power has not been a mere passenger along for the ride.

Video: The History of Proven Palestinian Lies About Israel Hurts The UN As Well

The Jerusalem Center came out today with a new video: Who Else Is Being Injured by the Vilification of Israel.

It is one of many YouTube videos by The Jerusalem Center

Here is the video:

The following by Nathaniel Sugarman is reposted here with permission of The Legal Project:

EU Challenges the UN and OIC on Press Freedom

by Nathaniel Sugarman
American Thinker

The European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg passed two resolutions Thursday, each detailing a set of recommendations to protect the rights of journalists to speak and print freely.

"The EU, as a community of values, should aspire to lead in ensuring the free word, whether blogged or spoken, and information, whether researched or photographed, are protected. Journalists and a free, pluralist media, are essential for democracies and checks on power. Freedom of speech and freedom after speech are at the core of open and free societies," said Marietje Schaake (ALDE, NL), rapporteur for press and media freedom in the world. The EP is the directly elected parliament of the European Union.

Mideast Media Sampler 6/13/13: The UN Observer Force Turns To Fiji For Help

by David Gerstman, contributing blogger at Legal Insurrection

1) Fiji rescues UNDOF

With the Syrian civil war moving closer to Israel, Austria has withdrawn its contingent of peacekeepers from the UNDOF.

Job Opportunity: Peacekeepers Wanted bit.ly/18ie3ra
— MediaBackspin (@MediaBackspin) June 9, 2013

Not to worry, Fiji is slated to pick up the slack.

Anne Bayefsky Reveals the Madness of the UN Human Rights Council, in Tweets

For Immediate Release: June 12, 2013

Contact: info@humanrightsvoices.org Follow us on Twitter

Bayefsky Reveals the Madness of the UN Human Rights Council, in Tweets This article by Anne Bayefsky originally appeared on Breitbart.com.  On Monday morning, Anne Bayefsky was one of the few voices to oppose the anti-Israel madness of the execrable Richard Falk, the 9/11 Truther who is a Special Rapporteur at the UN Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Council, incidentally, is something the U.S. government chose to ignore until President Barack Obama decided to give it legitimacy--a policy both Susan Rice and Samantha Power fully support. Bayefsky live-tweeted the event, and her comments are both darkly amusing and revealing about the extent to which the Human Rights Council has become a forum for brutal dictators to taunt Jews--while we watch: