Via NY Daily News:

The UN has just rolled out a new, overhauled website and the amount of UN webspace dedicated only to Palestinian claims is huge. There is the “UN Information System on the Question of Palestine,” and the anti-Israel “NGO network on the Question of Palestine.” Added to that is the material churned out by the only UN Division focused on a single people – the UN Division on Palestinian Rights. Then there is the UN Human Rights Council, which has adopted more resolutions and decisions condemning Israel than all other 191 UN states combined.

Islamic states win another resolution on ‘defamation of religions’; UN Watch leads 188 NGOs in global protest

The Islamic states scored another win today at the 47-nation U.N. Human Rights Council for their campaign to ban any criticism of religion, with a resolution calling for curbs on free speech to protect Islamic sensitivities. The 23 votes supporting the restrictions showed an increase of two in comparison to last year.

Eleven countries voted No: Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and Italy, while 13 abstained, including Bosnia, Brazil, and Mexico.

With the alarming rise in resolutions throughout the U.N. against individual rights, UN Watch initiated a global appeal, together with the International Humanist and Ethical Union, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, and Freedom House — along with 184 other non-governmental organizations from more than 50 countries around the world — calling on U.N. member states to protect basic liberties. Our campaign was covered by the Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France Presse, and numerous other media. (See joint NGO statement below, followed by media coverage.)

The resolution on “defamation of religions” is an attempt to gut the concept of human rights of its original meaning, which is to protect individuals from harm or state control, not to shield a set of beliefs from critical inquiry. Our freedoms of speech and religion are facing a combined assault this week by multiple regressive resolutions at the Council, and proposed provisions for next month’s Durban 2 conference that endorse the Islamic proposal to change a core UN treaty on racism.

For further information:

* Hillel Neuer, “The defamation of human rights, ” Radio Free Europe, December 22, 2008
* “Defamation of religions” postings on the UN Watch blog.
Following is the joint NGO statement and list of 188 signatories:

Joint NGO Statement on Danger of U.N. “Defamation of Religions” Campaign

We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations,

Deeply concerned by the pervasive and mounting campaign by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to produce U.N. resolutions, declarations, and world conferences that propagate the concept of “defamation of religions,” a concept having no basis in domestic or international law, and which would alter the very meaning of human rights, which protect individuals from harm, but not beliefs from critical inquiry;

Deeply concerned by the attempt to misuse the U.N. to legitimize blasphemy laws, thereby restricting freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press;

Deeply concerned that “defamation of religions” resolutions may be used in certain countries to silence and intimidate human rights activists, religious dissenters, and other independent voices;
Alarmed by the resolution on “defamation of religions” recently tabled at the current 10th session of the UN Human Rights Council;

Alarmed by the draft resolution on freedom of expression circulated by Egypt, whose amendments seek to restrict, not promote, protections for free speech;

Alarmed by the recently-announced initiative of the U.N. “Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards” to amend the International Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) by adding a protocol on “defamation of religions”;

Alarmed by provisions in the latest draft outcome document of the Durban Review Conference that, through coded language and veiled references, endorse and encourage these anti-democratic initiatives;

1. Call upon all governments to oppose the “defamation of religions” resolution currently tabled at the UN Human Rights Council, and the objectionable provisions of the freedom of expression resolution;

2. Call upon all governments to resist the efforts of the “Ad Hoc Committee on Complementary Standards” to alter the ICERD;

3. Call upon all governments not to accept or legitimize a Durban Review Conference outcome that directly or indirectly supports the “defamation of religions” campaign at the expense of basic freedoms and individual human rights.

www.unwatch.org

Via JihadWatch:

In the above video, David Littman of the Association for World Education and World Union for Progressive Judaism is stopped from describing the antisemitism propagated in publications of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. You can read all about it here. And here, in an interview with Pamela Geller, Littman explains that something is rotten in the state of the UN Human Rights Council, and that Islamic groups are aggressively pursuing a war against free speech at the UN in order to cover up the truth about Sharia:

May Italy remain safe and protected in return for its righteousness.  Via AP:

Italy said Thursday it is pulling out of a UN conference on racism seen by many Western governments as marred by Muslim attempts to attack Israel and shield Islam from criticism.

Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Italy has withdrawn its delegation from the preparatory negotiations ahead of the so-called Durban II conference due to “aggressive and anti-Semitic statements” in the draft of the event’s final document.

Ramsey Clark, a speaker at the United Nations praises the “End of Zionism”. Via www.EYEontheUN.org:

The UN provides a ready platform for advocates of the destruction of the state of Israel and February 24, 2009 was no exception. In a main conference room at UN New York Headquarters, the Permanent Mission of Bolivia and an NGO called Nord-Sud XXI co-sponsored a presentation and panel discussion called “Self-Determination: International law and politics.”

One of the panelists was Ramsey Clark, former US Attorney General and also a founder of Nord-Sud XXI. Clark chose to use his UN platform to applaud an end to a Jewish state.

He said:

“…a one state solution would be terrific; it would mean the end of Zionism.”

He continued his rant against Israel’s creation with: “What we have done to the Palestinian people is terrible. The recent bombing of Gaza – that was nothing compared to what happened in 1948.”

The UN had plenty of notice of exactly what this UN-accredited NGO was about when it made its facilities available for what was a public meeting and advertised it on its Daily Journal.

For more United Nations coverage see www.EYEontheUN.org.

For once, the monster on the East River has backed off Israel. Via RTTNews:

The United Nations Thursday backed down from a claim that one of its schools in Gaza was hit by an Israel Defense Force mortar attack last month, correcting its earlier media statements that a massacre occurred within the UN education facility.

The UN’s latest field report reads, “The humanitarian coordinator would like to clarify that the shelling, and all of the fatalities, took place outside rather than inside the school.”

The revelation reinforces the Israeli assertions that Hamas had been attacking the Israeli forces from civilian locations, thus the high civilian casualties from Israeli retaliation.

The UN is an Islamist cesspool.  Get the UN out of the US.  Via FoxNews:

The UN agency that administers a school in Gaza – where Hamas operatives firing mortars at Israelis led to the deaths of civilians by Israeli return fire last week – has admitted to employing terrorists to work at its Palestinian schools in the past, has no system in place to keep members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad off its payroll, and provides textbooks to children that contain hate speech and other incendiary information.

There is evidence that students educated in UNRWA schools are much more likely to become homicide bombers, said Jonathan Halevi, a former Israel Defense Forces intelligence officer who specializes in Palestinian terrorist organizations. Halevi has spent several years building an extensive database for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs of terrorist attacks by Hamas and other Islamic extremist groups. Halevi estimated that over 60% of homicide bombers were educated in UNRWA schools.

Join us in calling for the United States to say YES to racial and religious equality and freedom from anti-semitism by saying NO to attending the United Nations Durban II Conference. A 2008 U.S. State Department report on global anti-semitism highlighted the malicious role played by the 2001 United Nations Durban I Conference.

Durban I was, IN THEORY, intended to be an “anti-racism” conference. It was, in practice, anything but… Durban I ended just three days before 9/11. So deeply disturbed that the conference was hijacked by global harbingers of hate, that the United States and Israeli delegations walked out on principle in protest.

The agenda for Durban II?
Scheduled for April 2009 the stated purpose of Durban II is to “further the implementation of the (2001) Durban Declaration.”

What does the Durban Declaration declare?
That ISRAEL, and ONLY ISRAEL, is guilty of racism.

And who sits on the Planning Committee for the Durban II Conference?

Make no mistake, this conference will not combat racism, but will promote and fuel hatred toward Israel, America and the free world. This conference will not be about the spread of free expression, but how to curb it.

The United States has always been a world leader in the battle against anti-semitism.

We walked away once in protest… let us now stay away on principle.

Today, there is an immediate way to act against growing anti-semitism around the world … say no to Durban II. Declare that the United States will not participate in a dialogue that promotes prejudice. The United States has consistently opposed Durban II, its funding and planning. The latest October 2008 documents from the Planning Committee confirm that the Durban II platform will be used to demonize Israel and launch an attack on free speech.

We ask President-elect Obama and Secretary of State-designate Clinton to take the next step and deny legitimacy to Durban II.

We urge the United States to join the lead of Canada and Israel by announcing now that the U.S. will not fund or attend Durban II. Please make your views known—Write to the president-elect, secretary of state designate and Others—tell them to say no NOW, that America DECLINES to participate in the upcoming Durban II International Hatefest.

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Secretary of State-Designate
Hillary Clinton:
202-647-4000;

President-Elect Barack Obama:
202-456-1111;

Congressman Howard Berman (Chair, House Foreign Affairs Committee):
202-225-5021, 202-225-4695

Senator John Kerry:
202-224-2742, 202-224-8525;

Sponsored by Lawrence Kadish, Human Rights Voices

For more United Nations coverage see www.EYEontheUN.org.

Via JPost:

A new grassroots initiative to diplomatically isolate Iran and its leader, President Ahmadinejad, for incitement to genocide was unveiled Tuesday by attorneys in Canada, the U.S., England and Israel. The initiative calls for criminal charges and travel bans to be issued against Ahmadinejad and has demanded that the UN suspend Iran’s membership and levy stiffer economic sanctions against Tehran. The push for these measures was timed to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the UN’s Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Canadian MP Irwin Cotler told the Jerusalem Post.

Among those who have signed the initiative are former Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Per Ahlmark and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, as well as Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. On Dec. 16, Cotler will lobby the foreign minister and other officials in the Czech Republic, which is set to take over the EU presidency in January. A copy of the initiative has also been sent to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Click for the PDF Text: The Danger of a Genocidal and Nuclear Iran – The Responsibility to Prevent Genocide Petition

One of Colin Powell’s best moves as Secretary of State was to pull out of the 2001 UN Durban confab against racism once it became an anti-Semitic rant. One of the best moves the new U.S. leadership and Europe could make is to stay away from the Durban II meeting altogether as it promises to be worse than the first. Via WSJ:

“Durban II,” planned for April in Geneva, promises to be an encore of the same old Israel-bashing. The draft declaration says Israel’s policy toward the Palestinians amounts to no less than “a new kind of apartheid, a crime against humanity, a form of genocide and a serious threat to international peace and security.” We’ll spare you the rest of the diatribe.

Israel will be the conference’s main object of obsession, but it’s not the only target. The draft declaration also goes after the West’s freedom of speech and antiterror laws under the guise of protecting religion — read: Islam — from “defamation.”

The entire West will be in the dock for allegedly persecuting Muslims. “The most serious manifestations of defamation of religions are the increase in Islamophobia and the worsening of the situation of Muslim minorities around the world,” the draft reads.

“Islamophobia” is a vague term used to brand any criticism of Islam as a hate crime. The real Islamophobes, though, Islamic terrorists who have killed hundreds of thousands of their co-religionists, get a free pass.

For more on the Durban II Jew-hate fest, see this series of articles and videos.