“06880” reader Bob Neumann writes:
Last night, 60 Westporters protested the United Nations’ appearance in town in the person of Undersecretary-General Christian Saunders.
It was the third time in 2 years that we have protested the UN’s appearance, and it’s important that the town understand why we do it.
Whatever good work the UN does in attacking poverty and providing elegant meeting rooms for debate, it is also a deeply anti-Semitic organization, and it has been at least since 1975, when it declared Zionism is racism — when it declared that the world’s one Jewish nation, built from the ashes of the Holocaust, had no right to exist as a Jewish state.
These photos are from last night’s protest at the Imperial Avenue parking lot, near the Westport Library.
The UN, its agencies and courts, demonize Israel. They have attempted to isolate it, to strangle it, to boycott it, to force it into actions they dictate. And they might well have succeeded without US vetoes.
More recently, through the actions of UNRWA, the UN bears some direct responsibility for the butchery of October 7. (Mr. Saunders, it must be noted, was Acting Commissioner of UNRWA in 2020.)
UNRWA encouraged the self-destructive beliefs of Gazans that they were still refugees who would eventually return to live inside Israel, and educated its young with textbooks that demonized Israel and Jews. The result has been a generation of radicalized young Gazans intent not on building their own country but on destroying their neighbor — Israel.
Further, by pouring money and aid into Gaza, UNRWA in effect left Hamas to build tunnels and buy weapons to further its murderous aims. Hamas leaders are actually on record saying it is not their job to protect Gazans — it is the job of the UN.
UNRWA and the UN also turned a blind eye for weeks or months to the savagery of October 7 and particularly the violence done to women. (Mr. Saunders is currently special coordinator on improving the United Nations response to sexual exploitation and abuse).
We ask Westporters to see the UN for what it is. The UN (as per UN Watch) passed 140 resolutions against Israel in the 7 years before October 7, and only 68 condemning other nations in total — including Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and other such states. The town would never invite an institution that similarly demonized any other group for racial, ethnic, gender preference or identity — so it must not invite the UN.
Some, such as the International Hospitality Committee, also known as the United Nations Association, Southwest CT Chapter, who bring the UN to Westport twice each year, argue that the institution is simply a forum that should not be blamed for the actions of its member states.
Do they really mean to tell us that the UN, meant to stand for a better, inclusive future, should not be blamed for both failing and for intensifying the abuses heaped on Israel? Who would ever make excuses for, say, a PTA whose member parents demanded use of racist textbooks?
To ask the question is to laugh without reply. The UN, more than a forum, is the world’s largest hotbed of antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-Zionist rhetoric.
A video preceding Mr. Saunders’ speech illustrated some of the good work the UN does in impoverished regions. We demand that the respect and dignity the UN accords others must be given Israel.
Inside the Westport Library. (All photos courtesy of #EndJewHatred)
If the UN can’t pass that very low bar of decency, it must not be welcomed here. It shouldn’t be welcome anywhere, really, but especially not in a town where so many know firsthand from their families of the abuse Jewish people have faced in many corners of the world.
Please note that we do not seek to squelch legitimate criticism of the policies of Israel’s government. Israelis do it themselves — it’s practically a national sport.
People are entitled to their opinions. But the UN, an international forum, is not entitled to repeatedly denounce Israel alone in a world filled with nations that richly do deserve a denunciation they never receive.
The UN demonizes Israel. Unless and until it finds a way to reform itself, to rid itself of its antisemitic poison, the town of Westport and its people should not welcome it back. Surely we can find other ways to celebrate international community without inviting an organization who raises its voice loudly day after day in denunciation of the world’s one Jewish State.
We were respectfully silent yesterday in our protest, but I’m going to end with a shout to the United Nations: Treat Israel and world Jewry with the respect and dignity you treat everyone else. If you can’t bring yourself to do that — we don’t want you here. Stay home.
(The “06880” opinion pages are open to all. Please send submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com)
Bravo! I could not have said it better myself!
Well said!
Brilliantly said! Thank you, Dan Woog, for posting this on your blog!
The UN has always been a progressive pipe dream to create a better world where they make things worse. What did we think when we signed up with all these other countries that don’t share even our most basic values? They should convert the building to subsidized housing it’ll finally contribute something positive in the world.
It has been over two years since the October 7 massacre. The United Nations Security Council has still not officially condemned it.
It is time for Westport to rescind its biannual celebration of the United Nations and admit that showing hospitality to an antisemitic organization is an affront to our town’s reason, morality, and sanity. Thank you Bob Neumann for so eloquently stating the facts.
You do not get to claim that objections to actions of the Israeli state are automatically anti-Semitic. Millions believe:
— Israel has been an apartheid state since 1967, with illegal settlements in the West Bank, the taking of Palestinian lands, and unlawful restrictions on Palestinian movement
— Israel has committed genocide in Gaza since October 8th
— the U.S. has been complicit all along, with $3 billion in subsidies every year and unlimited lethal weapons that allowed Israel to prosecute this war.
You cannot hide behind the holocaust. It is not a get out of jail free card. Israel must take accountability for its actions as a state.
I couldn’t agree more!
Hi John,
Millions also believed:
– The earth was flat
– The sun revolves around the earth
– Bloodletting cures diseases
While I do not agree with the notion that anti-zionism necessarily equates to anti-semitism and do not support the current Israeli regime, a sovereign nation must take decisive action against those that threaten its existence.
Matt – I appreciate that you don’t just post ADL talking points for your comments. The thoughtfulness is refreshing. Which is why I’m responding to you.
Setting aside the many dead Palestinians (I won’t cite a particular number, because that will inevitably lead to somebody trying to veer the conversation into “it’s not XX,XX2 people, it’s only XX,XX1 people,” which is beside the point…)
Lets just stick to some specifics. 270 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza. (For perspective, 69 active journalists, covering the Allied campaign, were killed in WWII.) And no doubt, many of those media workers were targeted. IDF said as much.
565 aid workers, including 376 UN staff members have also been killed in Gaza.
2,000 hostages – yes, they are largely hostages – were released by the IDF.
1,700 of the 2,000 were seized during the hostilities and held without charge. Of the 11,000 Palestinians held by Israel (before this release) 3,500 were detained without charge. The IDF only identified one-quarter as “fighters.” That is not to say that everyone detained is an innocent – far from it – but the detentions are indiscriminate, including an estimated 300 children.
But whenever anyone points out these kinds of facts, someone will shout “antisemite!” or “pro Hamas!” I could point out the specific commenters but, for the moment, I’ll save them the embarrassment.
At some point, is Israel held accountable for atrocities? Because if they aren’t, while John’s words seemed impolitic to some, they hit a true point.
Israel, under its current regime, and its supporters, constantly pulls the “the rhetoric of our enemies…” card. But when Israel commits atrocities, it’s suddenly, “we never do that on purpose.” Why does it matter?
Hi Chris,
Just curious why you did not mention the atrocities of Oct 7 and dismissed them the same exact manner in which the UN has.
How would you have preferred Israel to respond to Oct 7, the biggest attack on Jews since the Holocaust?
Criticizing Israel’s government isn’t antisemitic, it’s holding a state accountable for its actions, like we would with any other country. Too often, you people call any criticism of Israel as hatred toward Jewish people, which shuts down important discussion. The tragedy of October 7 was horrific and inexcusable, but that doesn’t mean every response by Israel is beyond scrutiny. When religion and government get blurred together, it becomes harder to have an honest conversation about policy or human rights. The UN’s criticism isn’t about hating Jews—it’s about civilians being killed, displaced, and starved in Gaza. We should be able to mourn Israeli victims and still question actions that lead to thousands of Palestinian ones.
” you people”?
Stephanie:
The 10/7 attacks were horrific, I’ve never not said that. I’ve mentioned it many times in comments over the last two years. That doesn’t excuse wanton slaughter from a well armed Israeli military.
I would prefer that Israel not respond by killing tens of thousands of civilians, more than two-hundred members of the press, and hundreds of aid workers. If you are okay with that, that’s on you.
Do you think that Netanyahu’s approach of the last two years has had anything to do with saving the lives of hostages?
Do you remember when, early on, the three Israeli hostages were killed by the IDF when they were trying to escape? Terrible thing, right?
If three shirtless men, carrying white flags, and screaming for help were killed by the IDF, BUT they were Palestinians, would that have made it any less of a tragedy to you?
“Wanton slaughter” – get real. Israel has the power to obliterate the Palestinians. It hasn’t because it doesn’t want to. If Palestinians (or any of the 50 arab nations) had the power to destroy israel, it would do so.
If this is genocide, it’s the first genocide in history where the population of the targeted group actually went up. Seems like the one thing Israel is bad at is genocide.
Oh the mendacity….how ironic.
Chris — I could debate a lot of the specifics with you, from the innocence of many of the killed journalists to the claim that prisoners held in Israel were hostage, but that’s another thread. I can’t speak for everyone on this thread, though I do think most remained on point, but let me repeat what i said to John: my original article never claimed that Israel is always right. I made the very specific claim that the United Nations is relentless in its condemnation of Israel, and has been since the 1970’s. If you have facts that show the UN is even remotely close to fairminded in its treatment of Israel, please tell us. If you don’t, my argument stands, and you’re debating the nature of Israel’s retaliation to Oct. 7. That’s a different subject, and you’re muddying the waters, in my view, when you introduce it here.
You can’t really separate the UN’s criticism from Israel’s actions—that’s what the criticism is about. The UN responds to repeated violations of international law and humanitarian standards. Calling that bias ignores the pattern that created it. If Israel wants fewer condemnations, it needs to change its behavior, not blame the organization pointing it out.
May I remind you about the Samson Option?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_Option
This is a very important point that Ryan makes.
The reason given to not invite the UN is that the UN has been biased and has condemned Israel more than any other nation. And the conclusion is that UN is antisemitic. The counter argument is that this conflict is one of the longest conflicts in our modern history, and comparing resolutions to other shorter conflicts is just ridiculous. Especially when most of the resolutions are just adopting same previous resolutions.
The United Nations has its own failures, but its main objective is to keep the dialogue open between nations in hope to deescalate and aspire for peace. We should keep listening.
Jo — Are you saying we should break down the numbers by conflict and duration? Let’s do that. The UN condemned Israel 140 times between 2015 and 2022, the rest of the world 68 times. So, the UN condemned Israel 17.5 times each year, the rest of the world 8.5. Are you saying that each year, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict deserved twice as much attention — virtually all of it critical of Israel — as all the world’s other conflicts combined? Really? Each of those years saw a great number of conflicts worldwide. Not that the UN cared. So, no, it really is NOT a ridiculous comparison, but a telling one. The nations of the world who gather in the UN are in a typical year twice as interested in condemning Israel as they are in addressing any of the world’s other conflicts. We can debate whether that’s anti-semitic if you insist — but there’s no debate that it’s anti-Israel. No other nation receives such treatment. Go count the number of resolutions passed against Iran, N. Korea, Russia, China, Venezuela, Syria under Assad, etc. etc.
Bob,
The list of resolutions concerning Israel I was looking at is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Nations_resolutions_concerning_Israel
I went onto the UN Watch website you mentioned, and it is clear that this website is extremely pro-Israel biased.
I looked at some of the 140 resolutions you mentioned, and many of these resolutions are concerning the Palestinians. For example, “The right of the Palestinian people of self-determination” is listed as one of them. How is that antisemitic?
Joe — I’ll say it once more, then I’m going silent on this. The U.N. is obsessed with Israel. It cares not a whit about the national aspirations of others, the territorial encroachments, the abuse of civil rights. Iran can try to encircle Israel all it wants, Russia can invade Ukraine, African civil wars slaughter millions — and the UN doesn’t much care. All we ask is that the UN treats Israel as it treats virtually every other nation on the planet.
For comment #5, I will cite a few stats of my own:
– 25,000 civilians killed in firebombing of Dresden (may be understated)
– 200,000 civilians killed in bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
– 400,000+ civilians killed in Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
If anyone has a comment left, please explain to me why these casualties were justified, but the ones in Gaza are not. Or if they weren’t justified, please explain why you continue to reap the benefits of living in this country instead of moving somewhere else?
I have a couple left, so I’ll chime in.
I’m not sure what actions that took place in WWII have to do with this – genuinely an apples and oranges point. The nuclear bombings in Japan effectively ended the war in the Pacific. The bombing of Dresden, as horrific as it was, was also part of an effort to end a world war. It was going on while the Blitz was going on.
Compared to those actions, Israel’s are more along the line of shooting fish in a barrel. Killing aid workers. Killing members of the press. The Saudis kill Jamal Khashoggi and people are rightfully outraged. The IDF kills 270 journalists and nobody cares? WTF?
I won’t defend the scale of the deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although there were different scales to the responses to 9/11 and to 10/7, I think the US and Israel made comparable mistakes. Treating crimes (even crimes of epic proportions) as existential threats. Can anyone look back at our response to 9/11 and say that anything good came of our response?
I think our motivations might have been a little less… wicked (?). But the mistake was treating the actions of relatively small groups of people as an act of war. Iraq was a complete cluster f**k based on bad intelligence, pushed along my GWB’s desire to finish a job that his father could be perceived as having not. Monumentally stupid.
Similarly, the actions of the Hamas terrorists did not reflect an existential threat to Israel, as horrific as the attacks were. But that situation was complicated by an unpopular (and indicted) Benjamin Netanyahu trying to keep power and stay out of prison.
So I am really not sure how these comparisons aren’t completely dubious. (The WWII ones at least.) The Iraq/Afghanistan wars ones have at least some parallels that I noted, though it might also be appropriate to compare what Israel is doing with what Russia is doing in Ukraine.
Really not sure what your “why you continue to reap the benefits of living in this country instead of moving somewhere else?” comment means at all. Why would someone leave the US because of what Israel is doing in Gaza? Should the people who think that US foreign policy should revolve around Israel leave the country?
As I posted somewhere else in here, 46% of American Jews support the actions of Israel and 48% of them oppose. Having a bunch of organized commenters on 06880 doesn’t change that. It didn’t help save any hostages. It seems designed to influence local attitudes to the actions of the Netanyahu regime, nothing more and nothing less. Trickle up efforts (as it were) to sway voters to support Netanyahu-friendly candidates.
I hope that I addressed your questions at least somewhat adequately.
I would argue the actions of Hamas, a terrorist group running a quasi-state that borders israel and targets civilians, are a much more existential threat to Israel than Japan was to the US in WWII (via its successful attack on a military base in hawaii). The idea that attacks on israel aren’t like other wars are absurd. There is no other nation on earth ever that is surrounded by so many enemies and has to live with actual existential threats. And yes, 10/7 is different than 9/11. if 9/11 had been done by the government of Canada, then they would be more comparable.
I don’t think you really understand the situation that israel faces. If Iran gets a nuclear bomb, they will use it on israel. If palestine gets a chemical weapon they will use it on israel. These people have in their charters (and school books) that the objective is death to israel. Not freedom. Not life. Death to israell. Israel is surrounded by enemies who hide beneath the civilians whose death we all mourn. 65k casualties is a miracle (in no small part to the IDF warning in advance) as hard as that is for you to hear.
No one is hiding behind the Holocaust, John. We are simply not forgetting it. The homicidal attack on Israel on October 7 by Hamas and its supporters could have been the start of another genocidal war against Israel. It has failed. And now many innocent lives have been lost because of this initial terrorist act.
Become a peacemaker, John, not an agitator.
I used strong words to condemn the UN. Perhaps you are a strong supporter, and wished to respond in kind. Okay. You’re allowed. That’s how I understand your utterly tone deaf use of “hiding behind the holocaust” as my “get out of jail free card.”
But at least respond to what I actually said. I defended the right of individuals or bodies to criticize Israeli government policies. What I criticized was the UN obsession with Israel to the point where, even before Oct. 7, it condemned Israel twice as much as it did the rest of the world’s nations combined. I called THAT anti-Semitism. If you feel it is reasonable for the world body to spend that much time condemning Israel and so little condemning the world’s true malefactors, please tell us why.
So much to say John.. please, allow me to shed some light.
I will begin with your claims about “genocide.” There is no genocide going on in Gaza.
Genocide, by definition, must have the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Israel is fighting a war in defense of what happened to its thousands of innocent civilians on October 7, 2023. They did not start it, they did not ask for it, and they certainly did not perpetrate it.
There is a difference between tragedies of war and intent to obliterate an entire population. You have to be morally bereft to think that Israel derives pleasure from war and would voluntarily go in and try to eliminate the population of Gaza.
Israel left Gaza to its own devices in 2005. It’s Hamas and many Gazans who can’t leave Israel alone. If anyone’s plotting a genocide, it’s the Islamic Jihadists.
According to the US census studies, the Palestinian population of Gaza was approximately 266,000 in 1960. It was 2.1 million in 2023 and there is speculation that the population in Gaza has actually increased since October 7.
None of this would happen if there was indeed a genocide.
Using Hamas’s own statistics, and subtracting natural deaths and fatalities caused by munitions fired by Gazan combatants, one gets a total of about 33,000 civilian casualties. The widely accepted number of combatant casualties is at about 25,000.
Every one of those 33,000 civilian casualties is a tragedy and a testament to the effectiveness and ruthlessness of Hamas’s human-shield strategy.
That number also means that there are fewer than 1.5 civilian deaths for each combatant war death.
In fact, the opposite is true: In pursuing Hamas, Israeli soldiers sacrificed their own lives to protect civilians. This is not an interpretation of some contextless video floating around social media; this is established fact.
Regarding Apartheid:
Apartheid is a specific term that was literally created to describe the situation in pre-1990s South Africa, nowhere else.
Secondly, Apartheid refers to a system of racial segregation within ONE STATE, Israel and the “Palestinians” are not one state.
Israel left the Gaza Strip in 2005. It has nothing to do with Gaza.
Let’s talk about the so called “West Bank.” The “West Bank” is its own independent territory. It has its own government. It has never been annexed by Israel and therefore it is not governed by Israeli law. The Palestinian Authority rules the “West Bank” and they have their own autonomy.
“Palestinians” are NOT Israeli citizens, and thay do not WANT to be. Thay have their own leadership and laws.
As such, it is impossible for Israel to be an Apartheid state.
For clarification purposes, let’s contrast this with Israeli Arabs (who make up 21% of Israel’s population) and are full citizens with equal rights including- voting, serving in the Knesset, serving as judges, in the media, entertainment and so much more.
And thirdly, let’s discuss the words racial segregation. With regard to Israel, this is an American lens that has been imposed upon the Middle East. Labeling Israel as ‘White’ misapplies a US racial category to an extraordinarily ethnically diverse population.
We Jews do not “hide behind the Holocaust” as you so insensitively say. And so you know, the massacre of October 7 was one of the worst atrocities committed against Israel and Diaspora Jews since the Holocaust.
For some reason, part two of my response with regard to US money to Israel didn’t post so here are my thoughts, Mr. Hartwell.
The victimization of Israel in her dependence on the USA is infuriating. The USA is undoubtedly Israel’s strongest ally,
however, the media, public and some politicians will have you believe that US support for Israel is some sort of favor.
It is not. Israel is not a puppet for the US. It is its own, amazing, strong, world power.
The US helps Israel because it is in the US interest to do so.
The billions of dollars given to Israel for military aid in reality assists US defense manufacturers, and weapons system development, all using cutting edge Israeli technologies.
The F-35 combat aircraft is a case in point.
Israel was the first country to use it in combat, providing the US with an incredible amount of technical data and billions of dollars saved on research and development.
This military interaction is a mutually beneficial two-way-street interaction. The US does not extend foreign aid to Israel, but makes an annual investment in Israel, which yields to the US taxpayer an annual ROI of a few hundred percent.
If you went to Israel, you would see for yourself it is not an apartheid like the rest of the surrounding Muslim nations that do not allow freedom of religion and LGBTQ rights.
We don’t hide behind the holocaust. We hide behind our exceptionalism. That – and a good dose of classic antisemitism – is why 15mm Jews are the considered the oppressor of 2bn Muslims.
No one who is sane believes this hasbara especially the young people. And why were the founders of Zionism all atheist’s. Didn’t care much for the religious Jews.
I’m happy I walked out of the Library to see protesters and did not stay for this ” event”
PLEASE don’t invite the UN back ever again 🙏
FULL STOP
Mark Rubio just announced UNWRA is a subsidiary of Hamas. The UN should not be welcome in Westport anymore.
A very well written summary thank you. What else needs to be done to stop Westport honoring the UN and inviting speakers like this? There is a petition going around but what else do we need to do to not repeat this again next year, and in June (UN Day/ Duck day etc)???
John Hartwell words are disgusting. Hiding behind the Holocaust is offensive on many levels. You should be ashamed of yourself for using words like that. As far as Israel’s response to Oct 7, it took 2 years to get hostages back. What would America have done if in addition to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, hostages were taken. What about after 9-11, if hostages were taken. Hundreds of thousands of lives sadly taken in war post those events, not in rescue of our own, but to respond to their aggression and get the bad guys. Unfortunately that is war. These animal terrorists that shot up a music festival and raped and killed, deserve the worst kind of death. They hide amongst innocent Palestinians, and unfortunately it all could have ended much sooner if hostages were released, or Palestine revolted against their internal terrorist leadership. What would America do to get our people back, probably much more. Israel is the only place of democracy and pure freedom in the Middle East, and frankly their way of life is the American way of life.
Thank you, Bob for such a well written explanation of why we don’t want the UN to speak at our library. The truth is that wars going on in many areas of the world, but only when it’s Jews and Israel is every single death reported in the media. I am against war, but unfortunately, they have gone on too often and for too long in many parts of the world.
Here are some facts about three wars going on and the war casualties.
Russia–Ukraine War (Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine)
February 2022 → still ongoing (~3+ years)
Estimated ~300,000-400,000 killed (military + civilian) and possibly ~1 million+ total casualties (killed, wounded, missing) through 2025.
Israel–Gaza War (following the October 7 2023 Hamas attack)
October 2023 → ongoing (~1.5+ years)
Palestinian fatalities reported at over 60,000 as of mid-2025, with additional injuries and missing. Israeli casualties fewer but still significant.
Sudanese Civil War (2023–present) (between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces)
April 2023 → ongoing (~2+ years)
Estimates suggest over 150,000 deaths so far (including from combat, famine, disease) although figures remain uncertain.
There was violence only against Jewish students on college campuses during Gaza Israeli war that Hamas brutally started. And college students and professors put up tents and protested at Columbia university and screamed, “We love, Hamas”. It was only against Jews. I didn’t see anyone protesting, Russia or beating up Russian students.
Hiding behind the Holocaust. Disgusting.
I am against war. I was heart sick as the media reported every Gazan casualty. It did not go past me that the rocket attacks kept coming into Israel and were never reported on by mainstream media and that the horrors of October 7 were forgotten on October 8. If the other war’s casualties were reported on daily, we would be outraged as we should be. But of course they were not because they never have been in such detail, except when it’s Jews.
The world is in a very dark place right now. I for one am trying to bring light and unity where I can. I pray for our country and the world. 💖🎶💖
What happened on Oct 7 was a tragedy, and Hamas are nothing less than savages.
As for the UN, here is a link to the UN resolutions that concerns Israel:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_Nations_resolutions_concerning_Israel
It seems that the 100+ resolutions since 1975 have many of the same resolutions repeated time and time again:
– 48 resolutions regarding the human rights and occupied territories
– 38 resolutions that mention nuclear free zone.
– 11 resolutions calling on Israel not to collaborate with South Africa
– 7 resolutions regarding occupying West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights, Lebanon, and annexation of Jerusalem
– 5 resolutions not to build a canal between the Dead Sea and Mediterranean
And there was a resolution after Oct 7 that condemned all acts of violence aimed at both Palestinians and Israeli civilians. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_General_Assembly_Resolution_ES-10/21
Maybe it did not mention Hamas directly as Israel would have liked, it did have a strong message condemning violence against ALL civilians.
This is from 2022, the year BEFORE Oct. 7
2022 UN General Assembly resolutions on:
🇰🇵 North Korea 1
🇦🇫 Afghanistan 1
🇻🇪 Venezuela 0
🇲🇲 Myanmar 1
🇱🇧 Lebanon 0
🇵🇰 Pakistan 0
🏴☠️ Hamas 0
🇩🇿 Algeria 0
🇹🇷 Turkey 0
🇷🇺 Russia 6
🇨🇳 China 0
🇶🇦 Qatar 0
🇸🇦 Saudi 0
🇮🇱 Israel 15
🇨🇺 Cuba 0
🇸🇾 Syria 1
🇮🇶 Iraq 0
🇮🇷 Iran 1
🇺🇸 U.S. 1
wow, sick… so biased and disgusting. We have to protest the UN coming to a town w so many Jews. I never knew this stat.
Bob,
I see that you got this from the UN Watch, which in my opinion is a pro-Israel biased website.
I looked at the 2022 GA resolutions in the UN Watch database, and I can see that the count is flawed because it is considering any resolution that mentions Palestinians rights as a resolution against Israel.
Here is the full list of the UN General Assembly 77th session (before Oct 7) that you can search for yourself:
https://research.un.org/en/docs/ga/quick/regular/77
There are two resolutions that mention Israel by name. There are 13 resolutions that mention Palestinians by name.
And let’s not forget that many of these resolutions are resubmitted each year for a vote. So when the UN Watch site is tallying the numbers over several years, it is just counting the same resolutions multiple times.
And we can’t ignore that this is an ongoing and very old conflict. It is not a surprise that there are many resolutions on this matter. We need to keep the dialogue going now more than ever. This is not the time to entrench.
Joe, look at that list again. Look at the countries on it. Then ask if a territory like Palestine, that essentially elected a collection of terrorist groups as its government, and prefers terrorism to freedom, deserves 15x the worlds’ attention than nuclear armed enemies of the west, regimes that castrate it’s females, the source of 9/11, etc etc. 15x. Feel free to also take that list and order it by countries you would feel comfortable visiting.
Let me get this straight.
Palestinians are all terrorists? Therefore they don’t deserve any attention nor have any rights?
I don’t think you meant to say this out loud. But it does explain why you would want to make the UN go away.
Not sure which post you read. The point is that if the UN focused its efforts based on suffering and evil in the world, the list would look nothing like it actually does. The only way Israel (or Palestinian suffering) is 15x worse than those other nations (or 15x worse suffering than larger genocides and humanitarian disasters on earth) is if the UN focuses its efforts based on antisemtic principals. Hopefully that makes more sense but I suspect you understood it and just decided to be purposefully reductive.
Dan Woog asked me not to comment anymore. But I will post this and stop.
You said ” if a territory like Palestine, that essentially elected a collection of terrorist groups as its government, and prefers terrorism to freedom, deserves 15x the worlds’ attention”.
You are dehumanizing Palestinians and devaluing their lives by portraying them as hateful and terrorists. And then you continue to justify that they do not deserve that much attention.
But, we have diverged from the original topic of this post. The poster claimed that the UN is antisemitic because it has issued far more resolutions against Israel than anyone else. I pointed out that the UN Watch data is flawed and that the majority of these resolutions concern Palestinians., and not Israel.
Just to clarify: My request to Joe to please stop had nothing to do with the content of his comments. It was to adhere to our 5-comments-per-thread rule. Thank you.
And I’ll reiterate: Commenters have had their say on this thread. We know where everyone stands. Let close this, except to anyone who has not yet commented. Thank you.
It isn’t dehumanizing to question whether Palestinians deserve 15x the attention of other, larger, global issues: Uyghurs in China, actual ethnic cleansing in Sudan, North korea, the congo, Syria, and on and on. Why do they get 15x? Because they are 15x more human than human beings suffering in those parts of the world? No – it is because they are in conflict with Israel. That is why the UN is antisemetic.
And your “original topic” on “concerning Palestinians” being different than “condemning israel” is a distinction without a difference. Unless you show me how in those resolutions the UN has concerned itself with Hamas executing Palestinians, LGBTQ gazans being thown off roofs, militants hiding under schools, women’s rights being non existent, about the wall between Egypt and Gaza being closed, sharia law being cruel, various other human rights abuses, etc…show me in those resolutions (that are technically not anti-israel), where the UN concerns itself with these issues. They don’t. Because it isn’t about Palestinians. It is about Israel.
Bob – thank you for doing this and your clear explanation!
you’re better off inviting-allowing them to continue to speak at your library, don’t let them off the hook which is what you’re doing if you stop hosting them in WSPT at your library. and see who/the titles who accept the invites are, make sure they’re decision makers &/or spokespersons for the decision makers who’s words can hold their nations accountable.
What I would really like to know is exactly who in Westport is involved in inviting and lavishly entertaining the UN? Who is on the committee and are they accountable to the town? Perhaps they meant well, years ago, when the feting began but with the UN’s clear record of Jew hatred, that time has passed.
The UN has never lived up to its potential because the US is the only major country that has funded it and supported it with financial, military and humanitarian resources. This has been true since the end of WWII. Until and unless the other UN Security Council members step up to the plate and live up to their commitments the UN will continue to be a platitudinous joke and a disgrace to the memory of its founding principals.
Just a reminder: Israel killed 34 American sailors and wounded 171 more when it attacked the USS Liberty in 1967. It’s worth remembering that when people claim Israel has always been a “greatest ally”.
Yes Ryan, and joint investigations by the U.S. and Israel concluded the attack was a mistake – the Israelis thought the ship was Egyptian. Israel apologized and paid out millions of dollars to families and survivors of the attack. Which is exactly what an ally should do in such a situation.
That’s the official line, sure, but a lot of people, including U.S. intelligence officers and Liberty survivors have serious doubts about that conclusion. The ship was clearly marked, flying an American flag, and visibility was excellent that day. Several crewmen reported that Israeli aircraft made multiple low passes before opening fire.
Even the NSA and senior military officials at the time questioned whether it could’ve been a simple case of mistaken identity. Israel eventually apologized, but that doesn’t erase the fact that 34 Americans were killed and 171 wounded in an attack that’s never been fully explained. Calling that the behavior of an “ally” is generous, to say the least.
Give me a break. You don’t need to search very hard to uncover multiple examples of friendly-fire situations, including the UK, Poland and others. Maybe they’re not really our allies either? Cherry picking this one incident from 68 years ago just reinforces what the protestors were protesting last week – that Israel for some reason gets singled out and held to a higher standard than other nations.
Friendly fire does happen, but the USS Liberty wasn’t a split-second battlefield mistake. It was a sustained attack lasting over an hour against a slow-moving, clearly marked American ship in international waters with radio communications jammed and life rafts fired upon. That’s not the same as accidental fire in combat.
It’s not “singling out” Israel to expect accountability when American servicemen are killed and the investigation leaves major questions unanswered. Every ally should be held to the same standard — not given a pass because the incident is politically inconvenient.
Ryan — I’m not following your logic. If that incident is somehow personal to you, I can understand you have strong feelings about it, but are you saying you believe Israel deliberately fired on a allied ship? For what possible reason? And why would you introduce that into this thread in any case?
It’s personal because my grandfather (a CT3) was severely injured in that attack—he suffered burns and was lucky to survive when 34 of his shipmates didn’t. He never got any real acknowledgment or apology—some compensation, and a lifetime of pain, and an early grave. He told me his story and I’ll never forget it. So yes, I take it seriously when people downplay or dismiss what happened. Whether it was deliberate or not, it was a tragedy that deserves more than a shrug, especially when it cost American lives at the hands of an “ally”. Do American sailors lives not matter anymore? Or does it only matter who was responsible?
Ryan — I’m sorry to hear that. Out of respect to your family’s pain, I won’t press the subject.
The reason Israel remains a key U.S. ally is that it is one of the only democracies in an extremely volatile region and neutralizes dangerous enemies like Iran.
While what happened to your grandfather was indeed unfortunate, a single, disputed incident that happened more than half a century ago should not serve as the determining factor for whether or not a country is a worthy long-term ally.
The UN has not condemned Oct 8, the hostages that were taken, the rapes, the beheadings, the hostages still in Gaza. The UN has been an arm of Hammas essentially echoing their propaganda. In fact UNRWA was involved directly in some of the masacres on Oct 8. I would say that the UN being a part of the disinformation arm of Hamas has directly led to Jews being targets of antisemitism worldwide.
I see the UN now as a hostile organization towards Jewish suffering. I do not see them as an inspiration at all.
Correction: Oct 7th. By Oct 8, the UN was already condemning Israel, the victim.
Palestinians supported and kept in power a warmongering regime intent on trying to destroy its much more powerful neighbor for decades. So, like many citizens in German and Japan and other citizens of nations that lost wars that they started, they have been subject to a tragic suffering. It is terrible. War is terrible and evil.
Shame on the 50 muslim nations of the world that look at this and do nothing to actually help. The 1 jewish nation of the world would never allow something like this to happen to its citizens anywhere.
Well said Tim! I would like to know where are all the protestors protesting Hamas killing their own people right now?
I would also like to know why Glamor Magazine gave women of the year honors to Miss Rachel and Rachel Zeigler NOT Rachel Goldberg Polin. The blatant antisemitism is outrageous.
Exactly, where are all the protestors?? Palestinians are being dragged out of their homes and shot dead in the street…insane.
Cannot blame Israel for this one, delivering AID and having it stolen by Hamas, occupying underneath a hospital, and yet the UN is still oh so blind…outrageous.
Am Yisrael Chai!!
65,000 dead Gazans and you know who isn’t protesting? Andrew or Stephanie.
@ Bob Neumann – maybe you can tell me who, outside of Russia, has slaughtered as many civilians in the last couple of years as Israel? That’s the issue here.
You want to quibble with my numbers? Be specific. Because what you are doing is suggesting those numbers aren’t perfectly accurate (without evidence) and then using that as (to borrow Mr Hartwell’s term) a “get out of jail free” card for the Netanyahu regime.
Your comments to Mr Heemeyer only reinforce what I have said. When it comes to the Palestinians, the rhetoric in the region seems to be more important than actually military capability. But when it comes to Israel, when atrocities are committed, they should just be considered oopsies.
Netanyahu supporters expect every resident of Gaza to be held responsible for the actions Hamas. But they don’t think that they should ever be held responsible for any of the actions of Netanyahu and the IDF. “Never again” now means “never again, unless we’re committing the atrocities, and then it is okay.” Who can defend that?
As Nietzsche said, “wrest ye not with monsters lest ye become a monster.” I’m not the one defending people acting like monsters, here.
The only people happy about 65,000 dead Gazans are Hamas. It helps their cause. It’s why they hide beneath civilians. It’s literally their war strategy. Qatar and the rest of the Muslim world pretends to mourn but doesn’t lift a finger to help as it’s stoking of antisemitism soothes its population and lets them send their rich to Harvard and the Beverly wilshire.
Supporting Israel is supporting humanitarian rights for everyone who wants peace, and progress over terror.
Israel doesn’t target Palestinians; it targets Hamas, a group that hides behind and under them, literally.
There’s a difference between standing for humanity and standing with those who weaponize it. 65,000 dead is a tragedy — but blaming Israel for Hamas’s war tactics is like blaming the firefighter for the fire. Stephanie and I actually understand that nuance. Try harder.
This is my fifth and final comment.
Andrew, I get that you are doing nothing but practicing tribalism here. It’s shallow and sad, like walking around in an American flag suit on the 4th of July and pretending that makes one patriotic.
“Israel doesn’t target Palestinians; it targets Hamas” carries all the intellectual legitimacy of “the dog ate my homework.” Keep it up, Andrew.
This came out in the Washington Post today. It refers to a report from the State Department. Not from the UN, but the United States State Department.
I understand that you will make excuses for what is says here, because that is what you do. Or maybe you think the State Department is in cahoots with the UN?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/10/30/state-department-report-israel-gaza-human-rights-violations/
lol. Chris read the article you sent. It doesn’t say what you think it says. But the link headline is deceiving for anyone who doesn’t read the article, I agree.
Also, if Israel targets terrorists hiding beneath women and children, who is Israel targeting? Israel would say terrorists. The UN, you and Al Jazeera would say women and children.
Over 150k civilians have been killed in Sudan thus far and still counting Chris, to answer your question. Hamas did not have to start a war and hence no one would have been killed. They also could have ended the war they started at any point by releasing the hostages and laying down their weapons. But everyone knows Hamas will sacrifice their entire pollution until they reach their goal of destroying Israel. Sorry if Israel is choosing to protect itself. And Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran are still attempting to destroy israel as many Arab states have attempted in the past. Why should any country have to put up with this. Maybe if the world and the UN came down on these terrorists from the start the war could have ended sooner.
I think everyone has had their say on this. Please respect the “06880” 5-comment-per-thread rule. Thank you.