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The UN-NGO Connection: Anti-semitism gets a global handshake

The annual UN General Assembly resolution on the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People calls for vigorous outreach and support to non-governmental organizations.

Here are some of the UN-NGO links the Committee has forged, as listed specifically on the UN website (UNISPAL) at "The Question of Palestine: NGO Database"

"Palestinians for Peace and Democracy." Using the link provided by the UN site, we find references to the Star of David as a symbol of "hate and evil...I couldn't imagine a more hateful sign" and "Israel's Nazi-like savagery."

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"Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition" (with an active New York chapter). This site puts the word Israel in quotation marks and refers to the "racism and discrimination inherent in Zionist ideology."
"Friends of Al-Aqsa: Defense of Al-Aqsa and Peace in Palestine," whips up emotions with the tale of "Plots Against Al-Aqsa Mosque." Blame is placed on "at least one out of every 10 Americans" encouraged by "all major U.S. Christian church leaders;" the "strange alliance between millions of U.S. Christians...[and] Israel [which] influences and often controls political decisions made in the White House and Congress."

The UNISPAL site, paid for from the UN regular budget, is produced by the UN secretariat Division for Palestinian Rights "in consultation with the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and under its guidance..."

The UN posts a disclaimer on the site which says of its external links "No endorsement by the United Nations is implied." The finger-pointing away from the UN, however, is not credible. For one, the UN website's link is accompanied by a grossly distorted characterization of the NGO which promotes the NGO site's credibility. Here are the UN's descriptions of these NGOs which appear alongside the links:

"Palestinians for Peace and Democracy": "Its goals are to educate and increase awareness of the Palestinian cause; to promote nonviolent resistance; to build bridges with Israeli and international peace and human rights organizations..."

"Al-Awda": "Al-Awda is a broad-based, non-partisan, global, democratic association of grassroots activists and organizational representatives. Its objective is to educate the international community to fulfill its legal and moral obligations vis-à-vis the Palestinian people..."

"Friends of Al-Aqsa": "Friends of Al-Aqsa is a non-governmental organization concerned with bringing a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. To that end, it is dedicated to defending the human rights of the Palestinian people..."

And by the way, the UN ought not to be in the business of providing links to websites encouraging anti-semitism or the destruction of a UN member state.