Thwart Effort to Undermine Status of Jewish Ngos at the United Nations

A concerted effort, which ultimately failed, was made by the Soviet Union and several Arab countries to undermine the accredited status of international Jewish organizations at the United Nations during a committee meeting of the Economic and Social Council last Friday. The effort emerged at what was scheduled to have been a routine review of activities of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) affiliated with the UN.

When the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations began its session, the delegates from Costa Rico, Chile and Sweden pointed out that the Committee could determine the positions of the NGOs but not speculate on the organizations themselves, that the organizations could not be strait-jacketed with regard to their spheres of activities and that distinctions should be made between the nature of the NGOs and governmental bodies.

GROUNDWORK LAID FOR LINE OF QUESTIONING

The first monkey wrench in the review was tossed by the Soviet representative, Eduard Sviridov, who demanded to know why these proposals were not made at the beginning of the Committee’s session which had begun two days earlier rather than at this point when Jewish organizations were due to appear.

Ali Nahi Hasson of Iraq followed by stating that he wanted information on the relations between several of the organizations and Zionism and also wanted information on their relations with Israel, in view of the fact that the UN had adopted a resolution in 1975 which equated Zionism with racism.

The organizations involved in the review were the Agudas Israel World Organization, the Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations, the International Council of Jewish Social and Welfare Services and the Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO). The Committee avoided challenging the consultative status of the World Jewish Congress.

‘TIES TO ZIONISM’ SOUGHT

The NGOs were subjected to repeated questioning about their “ties to Zionism” and their refusal to adhere to the appeal of the recent General Assembly resolution calling on all UN bodies to severe their links with Israel. The NGOs were also asked to detail their activities in support of the human rights of the inhabitants of the “occupied Arab territories.”

Some of the Committee members expressed concern over this line of questioning and wanted to know why only those organizations with the words “Jewish,” “Zionist” or “Israel” in their titles were being subjected to this treatment.

Jaime Lagos of Chile said he was concerned that the Committee had no difficulty with reviewing the activities of those organizations which had the words “Arab” or “Moslem” in their titles. Why then, he asked, did the Committee have such difficulty with those whose organizations had a reference to “Jewish” or “Israel” in their titles. He expressed hope that this was merely coincidental.

When some of the Arab members of the Committee insisted on knowing whether the NGOs adhered to the various political resolutions adopted by the General Assembly, including those which were anti-Israel, a number of Western delegates pointed out that not even every member of the Assembly agrees with all the resolutions adopted.

Rodolfo Piza Escalante of Costa Rico pointed out that an NGO could criticize UN resolutions, so long as it did not undermine the UN. lain Mathewson of Great Britain said there was no mandate for the NGOs to be public relations agents for the UN, although they were expected to support the aims of the UN. He noted that the Secretary General had last year awarded the Agudas Israel World Organization a peace medal and Mathewson said he interpreted that act as supportive of Agudas Israel.

Jean Fernand-Laurent of France also pointed out that NGOs need not defend every political resolution of the General Assembly and said that a distinction has to be made between Zionism, Judaism and Israel. He defined Zionism as a form of patriotism and rejected the view that it was racism.

The Committee on NGOs comprises Chile Cuba, France, Ghana, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Sweden, the Ukraine, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. Its chairman is Sajjad Ali of Pakistan and the vice chairman is Vladamir Lapitski of the Ukraine.