Treatment of Israel in the United Nations (2005)

WHEREAS over many years the United Nations General Assembly earned a reputation of being hostile toward Israel, and Israel was ostracized by all blocs of countries; and

WHEREAS in October 2005 Israel's ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, was elected a Vice President of the UN General Assembly, the first Israeli to be elected to that post since 1952, when Abba Eban held the position; and Whereas in October 2005 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution which establishes January 27, the day the Auschwitz death camp was liberated, as the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day, firmly rejects any type of Holocaust denial, encourages individual member states to engage in Holocaust commemoration activities, and commits the UN to produce Holocaust education materials; and

WHEREAS this is the first time a resolution proposed by Israel has been accepted in the UN and is part of a general improvement in Israel's status in the UN, which also includes the General Assembly's adoption of a resolution denouncing anti-Semitism for the first time in the history or the UN, and the convening of a special session in order to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps; and

WHEREAS that as the UN is an association of states, there are limits to what can be accomplished if the effort to effect change is directed exclusively at the diplomats in New York who are not heads of state or heads of government, and we need to work with our elected officials and with representatives of other countries in order to effect change.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism applauds these positive actions of the United Nations General Assembly and hopes that this time of change at the UN will include the elimination of discriminatory conditions and practices against the State of Israel; and Be it further resolved that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism congratulates Ambassador Dan Gillerman, and the entire Israel Mission to the United Nations on achieving a permanent acknowledgement of the Shoa by the United Nations, since UN recognition of the need to remember those who perished in the Holocaust can only help all who strive to combat the hatred that can lead to genocide anywhere in the globe; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism supports the United Nations' efforts for reform and calls upon United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Anan and others who are working on UN reform to end the worldwide anti-Israel campaign led and financed by the UN; and Be it further resolved that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism calls upon those who are working on UN reform to alter the compositions and structure of the UN Commission on Human Rights, so that it truly reflects the United Nations' concern with human rights for all people throughout the world, as stated in the UN charter; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism encourages member synagogues to adopt, as part of their Social Action initiatives, a program of meeting with their elected officials and with representatives of other countries and speaking to them (i) about Israel and the role Israel can play in the Middle East, in the United Nations and in the world, (ii) about continuation of efforts to reform the United Nations.