(Geneva -- February 12th, 2020) -- StandWithUs strongly condemns the UN Human Rights Council's (UNHRC) discriminatory blacklist targeting companies that do business with Jews in the West Bank/Judea & Samaria released on February 12, 2020.
"Multiple UN Secretary Generals have publicly admitted that the UNHRC systematically discriminates against Israel," said Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs. "The UNHRC is the opposite of a human rights council. It is a body where the world's human rights abusers attack Israel to distract from their own crimes, which is what they are doing with this blacklist."
The blacklist is part of a global campaign to boycott and isolate Israel. Anti-Israel groups have explicitly stated that their efforts to target settlements are only a stepping stone towards a comprehensive boycott of all of Israel and its people.
"Many U.S. states have passed laws against contracting or investing in companies that comply with such an anti-Israel blacklist," said Peggy Shapiro, StandWithUs Midwest Executive Director & Director of Legislative Education. "As Airbnb has already learned, being complicit in the UNHRC's discrimination is bad for business."
Despite its mandate to promote human rights, the UNHRC has chosen to blacklist businesses where Israelis and Palestinians work and shop together, along with companies that help keep civilians safe from terrorist attacks.
The blacklist has also been widely criticized because the UNHRC has done nothing with regards to the many other disputed or occupied territories around the world. This is further evidence that the UNHRC is engaging in discrimination against the Jewish state.
The UNHRC is continuing a destructive pattern of one sided condemnation and pressure against Israel. The UN has yet to take any meaningful action to hold Palestinian leaders accountable for promoting and rewarding terrorism, inciting hatred, and oppressing their own people. This approach only fuels more injustice and conflict, rather than a negotiated peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
About StandWithUs
StandWithUs (SWU) is an international, non-profit and non-partisan Israel education organization that works to inspire and educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism.
Through university fellowships, high school internships, middle school curricula, conferences, materials, social media, educational films and missions to Israel, StandWithUs supports people around the world who want to educate their schools and communities about Israel.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has programs on five continents with chapters and offices throughout the U.S., in Israel, the UK, Canada and Brazil.
For the last 7 years, SWU has consistently received the highest possible ratings from Charity Navigator (4 stars) and Guidestar (Platinum).
