LONDON – The US has decided to reengage with the UN’s Human Rights
Council in order to pressure the body to fulfill its mandate, President
Barak Obama’s special envoy on anti-Semitism told a London audience.
Hannah
Rosenthal, who heads the State Department’s Office to Monitor and
Combat Anti-Semitism, was speaking at the Community Security Trust
(CST) annual dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in central London on
Thursday night.
She told guests, including MPs, diplomats,
policy advisors and community leaders, that the American administration
“felt it important for the US to deploy our stature and moral authority
to strengthen [human rights] and hold violators accountable,” adding
that it will pressure the council to fulfill its mandate, and would
challenge it when necessary.
“We will assertively exercise our
presence on the council, pressing it to live up to its mandate to
address human rights violations and make recommendations including, and
we will stress, anti-Semitism. We will support what they do well but
also challenge those aspects of its work that we think call for
fundamental change,” she said.
Rosenthal heaped praise on the
“crucial” work of CST, the community charity that provides security to
synagogues, schools, communal organizations and events, and represents
the Jewish community on a wide range of police, governmental and
policy-making bodies dealing with security and anti-Semitism. She said
that when the unit she heads produces Congress-mandated reports on the
UK, it relies on CST for their comprehensive data and information.
“I
want to applaud your work, not only in protecting members of the Jewish
community in the UK but sharing your best practices with other groups,
working with other members of vulnerable communities that have been or
could be targets also,” she said. “You’ve organized the community,
you’ve stood up for what’s right, you’ve educated others and you’ve
promoted tolerance.”
CST is the only organization in the UK
that collects, analyzes and publishes statistics and incidents relating
to anti-Semitism. It publishes an annual Anti-Semitic Incidents Report.
The 2009 report, published in February, showed a record high number of
incidents in one year since records began in 1984.
Rosenthal also spoke about the use of double standards, which she said often implicate Israel and cross into anti-Semitism.
“Anti-Semitism
and anti-Israel sentiment often overlap. It is important to note that
criticism of Israel is not necessarily anti-Semitic, but it crosses the
line when that criticism applies a double standard comparing the
current policy of Israel to that of the Nazis, [or] holding all Jews
collectively responsible for the actions of the sovereign state of
Israel,” she said.
The special envoy was scathing of the UN, questioning its seeming double standards.
“Looking
at UN statistics over the last six years, where there have been
negative remarks against a country, 170 have been against Israel.
Compare that to North Korea that had eight... Israel has had 50
resolutions condemning alleged human rights abuses. Compare that to the
Sudan which has had five. Clearly Israel is being held to a different
standard and that means it has crossed the line from anti-Israel policy
to profound anti-Semitism,” she said to enthusiastic applause.
“We will continue to see that Israel is treated fairly at the UN and in other international bodies,” Rosenthal said.
Speaking
also at the dinner, Deputy Commissioner Tim Godwin – chief operating
officer of the London Metropolitan Police, the second most powerful
position in British policing – emphasized the importance and strength
of the relationship between UK police and CST.
“I am very proud to be here to celebrate what is a very effective and
strong partnership we have with CST, forged over many years working
together both in the prevention and response to anti-Semitism,” he said.
The
deputy commissioner said that the effective response to the backlash to
the Gaza conflict in London last year, which saw often violent protests
and anti-Semitic incidents soar, was in part a result of working with
CST.
Godwin affirmed the police’s commitment to protecting the Jewish community and fighting anti-Semitism.
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