Bowing to pressure from pro-Palestinian Arab activists in America, the United Nations Children’s Fund is cutting ties with a billionaire Israeli donor, Lev Leviev, in response to allegations that one of his companies is financing the construction of settlements in the West Bank. Activists had campaigned for several months for the aid organization to reject financial donations and other assistance from Mr. Leviev… UNICEF said it had reviewed the matter at [Adalah-NY's] request and would meet its demands… The letter was posted on Adalah-NY’s Web site, alongside… Other groups opposed to Israel’s presence in the West Bank, such as Defence for Children International, have also issued statements lauding the decision. Mr. de Bono told The New York Sun that UNICEF usually screens only formal partnerships with corporate and nonprofit partners, not individual donors such as Mr. Leviev, for violations of U.N. resolutions or regulations. The agency decided to investigate Mr. Leviev, who was born in Uzbekistan and made his fortune in diamonds after immigrating to Israel, following complaints from advocacy groups, Mr. de Bono said.
Several months of activist, human rights, and United Nations resources spent in the interest of an unorthodox investigation directed at a single individual – explicitly because his Israel-related activities were so heinous as to warrant personal demonization and ostracism. No word on how the UNICEF board members representing Burma and Zimbabwe came down on the issue. I have no doubt that any representatives from either of those countries only have the best interests of the world’s children at heart. It’s not like UNICEF won’t be able to make up the difference with Saudi terror money.
Also too Jewish for the United Nations: the ultra-leftwing World Union of Progressive Judaism:
Last week, the United Nations Committee on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) met in New York to consider what was for them an important issue: redeeming the tarnished honor of their organization from the “insults” of its critics. The object of their concern was the World Union of Progressive Judaism, the Reform movement’s international arm, which has had observer NGO status at the world body since 1972. It now stands liable to lose its U.N. status for “insulting” the world body. This committee is comprised of such exemplary democracies as China, Cuba, Pakistan and Egypt as well as other countries. The current chair of the group is Sudan. Despite the fact that its government is responsible for genocide in Darfur, Sudan still parades around international forums as if it were not a pariah regime. What did the Reform movement do to put itself in such hot water? At a recent meeting of the U.N.’s Human Rights Council in Geneva, David Littman, a representative of Reform attempted to read from the Hamas charter calling for Israel’s destruction.
Just as a hypothetical: do you think putting Muslim countries on the UNSC will make these kinds of absurdities more or less common?
References:
* UNICEF Vows To Spurn an Israeli Donor [NY Sun]
* UNICEF Cuts Ties With Leviev, Joins With Moslem Terror Group [INN]
* UNRWA and NGOs: The Real U.N. ‘Insult’ [JWR]
* Islamic Nations Eye UN Security Council Seats [CNS]
Previously:
* The UN Has Been Screwing Israel For Decades
* UN Report On Security Fence Predictable In Every Way: Aggressively Contradictory, Blames Israel
* Hey Gals, Check This Out – Literally Picturesque Underage Marriages In Afghanistan (Plus: The NYT’s Take On Temporary Marriage Is As Awesome As It Is Predictable)
