UN Human Rights Council President Scolds UN Watch

Read and watch the video of Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of UN Watch, as he addresses the Human Rights Council, at:

http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1313923&ct=3698367

He stated, in part: "Let us consider the past few months. More than 130 Palestinians were killed by Palestinian forces. This is three times the combined total that were the pretext for calling special sessions in July and November. Yet the champions of Palestinian rights—Ahmadinejad, Assad, Khaddafi, John Dugard—they say nothing. Little 3-year-old boy Salam Balousha and his two brothers were murdered in their car by Prime Minister Haniyeh's troops. Why has this Council chosen silence?

Because Israel could not be blamed. Because, in truth, the dictators who run this Council couldn't care less about Palestinians, or about any human rights.

They seek to demonize Israeli democracy, to delegitimize the Jewish state, to scapegoat the Jewish people. They also seek something else: to distort and pervert the very language and idea of human rights."

And what's the response of the UN Human Rights Council president? Here it is in its entirety:

LUIS ALFONSO DE ALBA:

"For the first time in this session I will not express thanks for that statement. I shall point out to the distinguished representative of the organization that just spoke, the distinguished representative of United Nations Watch, if you'd kindly listen to me. I am sorry that I'm not in a position to thank you for your statement. I should mention that I will not tolerate any similar statements in the Council. The way in which members of this Council were referred to, and indeed the way in which the council itself was referred to, all of this is inadmissible. In the memory of the persons that you referred to, founders of the Human Rights Commission, and for the good of human rights, I would urge you in any future statements to observe some minimum proper conduct and language. Otherwise, any statement you make in similar tones to those used today will be taken out of the records."
[end quote]

I do hope that the increased use of the Internet to broadcast UN proceedings will expose this kind of hypocrisy and inaction. Some of us still care about the ideals on which the UN was founded (and which helped to create and recognize the state of Israel, as well as many other countries, most recently East Timor). You've got to have faith, somehow. With thanks to Melanie Phillips, at http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/?p=1481 , for the link. She titled her post, "The UN Human Wrongs Council."
--Wendy Leibowitz