On Nov. 24, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor delivered a blistering condemnation of UN hypocrisy in dealing with the Jewish state. It came during a commemoration of the international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people, and deserves attention for its important message and blunt language in a forum know for flowery rhetoric. And it merits quoting at some length because it received so little coverage.
“To the nations that continue to allow prejudice to avail over truth, I say ‘J’accuse,’” Prosor charged. “I accuse you of hypocrisy. I accuse you of duplicity. I accuse you of lending legitimacy to those who seek to destroy our state. I accuse you of speaking about Israel’s right of self-defense in theory, but denying it in practice. And I accuse you of demanding concessions from Israel, but asking nothing of the Palestinians.
“In the face of these offenses,” he continued, “the verdict is clear. You are not for peace and you are not for the Palestinian people. You are simply against Israel.”
In his remarks, Prosor asserted that while Israel is regularly condemned in UN resolutions, there have been none to address “tens of millions of victims of tyranny and terrorism in the Middle East.” He noted that “of the 300 million Arabs in the Middle East and North Africa, less than half a percent are free — and they are citizens of Israel.”
He insisted that the conflict “has never been about the establishment of a Palestinian state,” but “always … about the existence of the Jewish state.” And that while Israel absorbed 850,000 Jews forced to flee from Arab countries at the time of the 1948 war, launched by the Arab states, the 700,000 displaced Palestinians have never been sufficiently integrated into Arab society by their brethren and remain the topic of the annual UN debate.
Prosor accused European countries of offering only “hollow promises,” and the Palestinian Authority of “leading a systemic campaign of incitement” that leads to deadly terror attacks. He closed by challenging the UN delegates to “stand up here and do something constructive for a change …you can continue to steer the Palestinians off course, or pave the way to real and lasting peace.”
Final note: the UN Human Rights Council has passed more resolutions condemning Israel than against the rest of the world combined.
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