Supporters of Israel and of human rights are expected to rally in Geneva next Monday in an event involving 50 NGOs, including the World Jewish Congress.
The rally will coincide with the debate in the UN Human Rights Council of the Commission of Inquiry’s report into the 2014 Gaza conflict. Participants from numerous countries are expected in the Swiss city to express their support for the Jewish state and to urge the United Nations to treat Israel fairly.
WJC CEO Robert Singer declared: “We want to make it clear to the United Nations that applying double standards toward Israel, falsely portraying Israel as a serial violator of human rights, or even putting the democratic State of Israel into the same category as Hamas and other terrorist organizations is not only unfair, but also does great harm to the reputation of the United Nations and to the protection of human rights. This obsession with Israel has been going on for far too long. It has to stop!”
Singer said the Human Rights Council had an important mandate to fulfil, but it could only do so once it applied the same standards to everyone, in a fair and unbiased manner. “By the standards of the UN conventions, Israel does much better than most other countries, and certainly those in the Middle East. However, many Council members seem to have little or no interest in abandoning the constant Israel-bashing, because it helps them to deflect attention from the gross violations of human rights in their own countries,” said the WJC CEO.
The WJC and other non-governmental organizations accredited with the UN will also give oral statements to the Human Rights Council on Monday
