Tag Archives: United Nations

The United Nations and various member states are poised to revisit the question of Palestine with renewed vigour.  This invariably means flushing more money into UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency], a special agency devoted to keeping Palestinians in refugee camps in preparation for their long foretold conquest of …

The International Criminal Court (ICC) wants to illegally extend its judicial gavel into areas beyond its jurisdiction and probe into Israeli actions in the disputed territories. Although the State of Israel is not a member of what has mutated into a politicized judicial club, the ICC is set to begin …

The Conservative Government has an 80-seat majority.  It means that for the first time in over a decade, we have a government with legroom.  The signs were good.  Boris has ridiculed the BDS movement and the Conservative party is publicly vocal about the anti-Israel bias in international forums such as …

The White House has announced that Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to sign a peace agreement which will see the two nations establish full diplomatic relations, and “the exchange of ambassadors and cooperation on a broad range of areas, including tourism, education, healthcare, trade, and security.”  The …

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointment of Philippe Lazzarini of Switzerland to be the new head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Upon hearing that the head was going to be from Switzerland and not England which …

Following publication by the United Nations Human Rights Council of a “blacklist” of businesses operating in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) is calling on the Australian Government to maintain its principled stance towards fairness at the UN and condemn the list. The …

The saga of the Stateless Arabs from Palestine (SAPs) which have cast their lot with UNRWA for generations may finally be coming to an end. Since 1949, the United Nations has promised Arabs who used to live and work in what became Israel, that they would be entitled to move …

New Zealand has now joined the Swiss, Dutch, and Belgium governments in suspending donations to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following an internal report that found “credible and corroborated” allegations of serious ethical abuses including “sexual misconduct, nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority, for personal …

The terminology used by the United Nations that Israel is “illegally occupying Palestinian Land” has angered Israelis for a long time. The Israelis do not believe that the land is “Palestinian,” that they are “occupying it” or that living in and controlling such land is “illegal.” The Trump Administration agrees …

The United Nations continues to be a place where Jew-hatred flourishes and sadly New Zealand has played a role in propping up antisemitic organs of the UN and supporting anti-Israel resolutions. And there is Jew-hatred in the United Nations – the actions of the global body have made the annual …

I can tell you, dear readers, that it is not annexation.  Before you panic, allow me to explain. My reasoning is quite positive: Last week, in an interview in the NYTimes, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said: “Under certain circumstances, I think Israel has the right to retain some, …

The United Nations may also be beyond repair. In May 2019, Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel hired to investigate the matter of whether US President Donald Trump conspired with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election said there was a limit as to what he could do in his investigation, …

Hanukkah (or Chanukah, or other spellings) is a Hebrew word meaning ‘rededication’.  The festival commemorates the Jews’ struggle for religious freedom from the Greek-Syrians more than 2,000 years ago (c160BCE). Jewish practice was outlawed by King Antiochus and the Temple (on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem) was turned into an …

Last week, the United Nations General Assembly’s decolonization committee, which includes all 193 member states, adopted nine resolutions against Israel, and zero on the rest of the world. New Zealand voted for 8 and abstained on one. In contrast, Australia voted no to 6 of the resolutions and abstained on …

The fires around Israel have been burning for weeks, a direct result of the hundreds of arson attacks launched by Palestinian Arab terrorists in Gaza.  And the United Nations has been silent. Well, not exactly. The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov made remarks …

National Party leader, Simon Bridges, has acknowledged that New Zealand “got it wrong” by co-sponsoring United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 alongside Malaysia, Senegal, and Venezuela. Though New Zealand First leader, Winston Peters, challenged the process at the time – that the decision was not put to cabinet – Mr …

This week US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, announced the US withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC). Haley stated that after a year of seeking to bring reform to the ‘deeply flawed’ institution that unfairly targets Israel while ignoring the behaviour of rogue states with ‘awful …

New Zealand has yet again supported a one-sided, biased United Nations General Assembly resolution that censured Israel, while ignoring the role of terrorist organisation Hamas. Another emergency session against Israel was held to condemn Israel (while systematically turning a blind eye to the world’s worst perpetrators of gross and systematic …

Sometimes, when considering the past, it is tempting to indulge in a “what if” thought experiment. 2017 is a year of milestones in the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is 50 years since the 6-Day War, 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, which was the British Government’s statement of support for the …

 I am a Zionist. If I announced that, on walking into a party in New Zealand, I would quite likely get a worse reaction than if I declared that I am a P-addicted, ISIS sympathising prostitute. It’s not the kind of thing that one can state in polite company, at …