SPECIAL EVENT FOR MEDIA
Contact: Roz Rothstein
StandWithUs CEO and co-Founder
Community and religious leaders express outrage over modern antisemitism as United Nations Human Rights Council's aims to demonize the Jewish state with its biased report. October 27 at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (1st Ave. side) at 9:00AM
WHAT: StandWithUs, in partnership with dozens of other organizations, is holding a press conference to raise awareness about the virulent anti-Israel agenda of the UN Human Rights Council, whose modern-day antisemitism and obsession with Israel continue to distract the council's attention and resources from glaring human rights abuses in other countries.
On the morning of October 27th, Navi Pillay, Chair of the UNHRC’s “Commission of Inquiry” will present her latest report to the UN General Assembly. Similar to the findings of its first scandal-riddled anti-Israel report, which was released on June 7, 2022, this reflects the same bias, minimizing the role of Palestinian terrorism and instead overwhelmingly blaming Israel for the conflict.
The US State Department and bipartisan members of Congress have criticized the June 7 report. 22 nations have opposed it.
Gilad Erdan — Israel’s Ambassador to the UN — will receive evidence of hundreds of thousands of unique submissions that were sent to the Commission of Inquiry and were ignored, from Professor Anne Bayefsky - Director, Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust; President, Human Rights Voices. He will also receive a petition from StandWithUs with over 10,000 signatures from people around the world who are outraged by this latest UN display of modern antisemitism.
Testimonies from victims of Palestinian terrorism. Shani Avigal, mother of a 5-year-old child murdered in his home by one of Hamas’ thousands of rockets in May 2021, and Sarri Singer, a survivor of one of the many Palestinian bus bombing terror attacks, will both speak.
WHEN:
Thursday, October 27
9:00AM, prior to Pillay presenting the report of the Commission of Inquiry to the UN General Assembly
WHERE:
Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza - (1st Ave side)
E. 47th Street, NYC, NY
SPEAKERS IN ORDER OF PRESENTATIONS:
Host: Carly Gammill – Director of the StandWithUs Center for Combating Antisemitism Ambassador Gilad Erdan – Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Professor Anne Bayefsky – Director, Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust; President, Human Rights Voices Shani and Asaf Avigal – parents of a 5-year-old child murdered in their home by one of Hamas’ thousands of rockets in May 2021. The parents are flying in from Israel to talk about their tragic loss. William Daroff – CEO, Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations Eric Fingerhut – President and CEO, The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) Sarri Singer – Survivor of Palestinian Bus Bombing Terror Attack AND Founder and Director of Strength to Strength Colonel Richard Kemp – Retired British Army Commander Olga Meshoe-Washington – South African Native and Board member of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI). Rabbi Eric J. Greenberg – Director of United Nations Relations & Strategic Partnerships, The Simon Wiesenthal Center Pastor Robert Stearns – Founder of Eagles’ Wings Ministries and President of Israel Christian Nexus.
SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS: Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, Alums for Campus Fairness, American Zionist Movement, B'rith International, Club Z, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Eagles' Wings Ministries, #EndJewHatred, Endowment for Middle East Truth, Hadassah, Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Hindu American Foundation, Human Rights Voices, International Legal Forum, Israeli American Council (IAC), Israel American Coalition For Action, Israel Forever Foundation, Institute for Black Solidarity With Israel (IBSI), Israel Christian Nexus, Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, JNGOs to Reform UNRWA, The Lawfare Project, NGO Monitor, Reut Group, RI Coalition for Israel, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Shurat HaDin, Simon Wiesenthal Center, South African Friends of Israel, South African Zionist Federation, StandWithUs Center for Combating Antisemitism, StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department, Students Supporting Israel, UK Lawyers for Israel, Zionist Organization of America.
BACKGROUND: The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has created a permanent “Commission of Inquiry” (COI) targeting Israel. It is led by officials with long records of modern-day antisemitism. Its “findings,” which are based on anonymously-collected submissions, exclude thousands of submissions that don't support its anti-Israel agenda. Its proposed budget ($5.5 million annually) and staff are twice the size of a similar commission focusing on the Syrian Civil War. In contrast to nearly all other Commissions of Inquiry, this COI has no endpoint and can continue in perpetuity. The UNHRC abuses its power through systemic discrimination against Israel, the only proven democracy in the Middle East. It has condemned and investigated the Jewish state more than all other governments in the world combined. The UNHRC has only one standing agenda item dedicated to defaming just one country: Israel. Even UN Secretaries-General have publicly criticized the UNHRC’s bias, but nothing has changed. In fact, with the new “Commission of Inquiry,” the anti-Israel bias reaches a new low. The UNHRC espouses the hallmarks of modern-day antisemitism, thus lending credibility to a hatred that is already threatening Jews around the world with rising physical and verbal attacks in person and on social media. StandWithUs is an international, non-partisan education organization that supports Israel and fights antisemitism. www.standwithus.com
