Bill Hass is president of the United Nations Association of Southwestern Connecticut.
Today, he responds to an “06880” Opinion piece posted last Friday by Bob Neumann, headlined “Why We Protested The UN Yesterday.”
Bill writes:
I sympathize with the deep concerns of our Jewish community and many others about rising antisemitism and the threat of neo-Nazism, and I condemn it unequivocally.
At the same time, I cannot agree with the assertion by Mr. Robert Neumann, who protested our event at the Westport Library celebrating the 80th anniversary of the United Nations on October 23, claiming that “the United Nations is a deeply antisemitic organization.”
In evaluating UN performance, it is advisable to consider the statements of the current Secretary General regarding the UN’s actions, goals and policy recommendations. One must also carefully evaluate and verify the accuracy and sources of information relied upon, especially those received via social media.
Following World War II, the most destructive global conflict in human history, the UN was founded with the mission of promoting global cooperation to safeguard international peace and security, ensure basic human rights and promote economic and social progress for all people. The UN recognized the state of Israel in 1948, well ahead of many other nations.
Under the direction of the Secretary-General, the UN operates in accordance with the principles contained in the UN Charter. Among the most important principles and ideals guiding the work of the UN are the inadmissibility of acquisition of territory by use of force, and the right of people to self-determination.
As a forum for debate, the UN provides a unique platform for its 193 member nations who express a large variety of opinions and policy positions that are occasionally controversial and even counterproductive. Nonetheless, knowing another’s point of view, however disagreeable, is better than not knowing and can be a first step towards understanding.
Questions about motives or potential bias concerning UN voting behavior should be addressed to the governments concerned. Governments, not UN officials, determine the content of UN resolutions. Governments also choose the leadership of various intergovernmental bodies in the United Nations.
Less visible is the UN’s capacity for quiet diplomacy through the promotion of dialogue and communication between governments behind the scenes that can diffuse a crisis or promote progress towards a resolution of differences.
U Thant of Burma was the 3rd Secretary-General of the UN. His daughter Aye Aye is a longtime Westport resident.
There are numerous successful examples of these efforts, most notably during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, when Secretary-General U Thant helped secure an agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as the government of Cuba, that averted nuclear war and global catastrophe.
Since 1965, Westport has celebrated the United Nations through its annual jUNe Day event on the last Saturday of June, in observance of the signing of the UN Charter on June 26, 1945.
This initiative was established by our founder, the late Ruth Steinkraus Cohen, in cooperation with the town of Westport. Ruth had been Eleanor Roosevelt’s personal secretary, and was so moved by Eleanor’s commitment to peace and the UN that Ruth devoted her energies to promoting the UN’s mission.
In creating the United Nations Association of Southwestern Connecticut, she sought to build international friendship and understanding. Following her example, Westport has been proud to organize hospitality for UN staff and delegates based in New York City. In addition, for many years our town has celebrated United Nations Day, October 24, the date the UN was founded in 1945.
These have been occasions to learn more about the complexity of the world and the possibilities for peaceful global cooperation. Let us never forget that we are all together sharing this one planet. Learning about one another and cooperating with one another is not a pipe dream but an urgent necessity to assure the flourishing of humanity.
I hope that some of my thoughts have promoted a better understanding of the United Nations and its work.
(“06880″‘s Opinion page is open to all. Please send submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com)
Flags of many nations fly every jUNe Day on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge. (Photo/Jeff Simon)
What a load of cra….
Most of the countries are not ones with whom we share even the most basic values, other than sharing the planet, which we should do based on realities and not fantasies.
Absurd gaslighting, which has epitomized the UN and its apologists for many decades now.
IMHO- a pretty useless organization
UN is dominated by useless parasitic Third World countries, who contribute very little, yet take take take. The UN Charter and its driving force are not recognizable today. It would be a huge positive step forward, if they relocated out of NYC. No reason to host these subversives any longer.
https://www.mikepesca.com/thegist/episode/61c12770/no-capes-real-peace-u-thants-un-and-what-we-lost
This is a podcast from last week wherein U Thant’s grandson (a historian) discusses his new book all about where the UN has gone wrong since his grandfather’s day. (The rampant antisemitism is briefly name checked near the beginning and then never mentioned again.) I’m sure you will it educational; happy to help.
I’d like to thank the author Bill Hass for explaining that “Governments, not UN officials, determine the content of UN resolutions. Governments also choose the leadership of various intergovernmental bodies in the United Nations.”
The United Nations has clearly done so much good. I, for one, and glad that there is an international forum where countries can meet and discuss their views peacefully. While it is an imperfect institution, it is so much better than the alternative.
Says a lot that this is basically a reading of the charter of the UN and cites examples from the 1960s. The UN of today is none of those things and has failed in its original noble objectives. That’s the point.
Bill,
Where to begin….. First of all, any piece that start with “I sympathize with… but…. ” is inauthentic and disingenuous. I could dissect your op-ed line by line but it would be an encyclopedia so I’ll touch base on a few points in response to your preposterous argument which has absolutely nothing to do with why we protested.
1. The last time the UN supported Israel was 1948. We are now in 2025 and Israel is held to a standard that no other country in the world is held to. The UN has become increasingly hostile to Israel. As early as 1975, it declared Zionism an equivalent of racism.
2. In 2022, prior to any of the events subsequent to October 7, 2023, the UN General Assembly issue 15 resolutions against Israel and only 13 against the rest of the world. Even NORTH KOREA and IRAN was each sanctioned only ONE time. Explain how this isn’t antisemitic? In the seven years prior, Israel was singled out 140 times as compared to 68 times in the rest of the world.
3. Of the 193 nations belonging to the UN, 57 belong to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.. a veritable biased gang when it comes to issue on Israel and the UN has ZERO checks and balances for this.
4. UNRWA- a UN agency found to be complicit in the terror attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023 and indoctrinators of Jew Hate in Gazan and West Bank schools. Don’t believe me? Talk to Mossab Hassan Yousef (the Green Prince, Son of Hamas) and Dror Shacher who grew up in Gaza leaning “UNRWA Math”— (i.e. if there are 5 IDF soldiers in front of me and I kill 3, how many are left?) UNRWA employees are embedded in Hamas networks and responsible for the murder, kidnapping and massacre of Israelis. Don’t believe me? Look up YONATAN SAMERANO whose mother I heard speak to the press while I was in Israel.
5. UNIFIL- the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. Interim is a funny word here as they have been in Southern Lebanon since 1978.. You know who I’m referring to, the United Nations “peacekeeping mission” established to monitor the border between Lebanon and Israel and ensure that southern Lebanon does not become a base for hostile activities.. ie Hezbollah terrorists. Not only have they failed miserably at their job, they have actually facilitated Hezbollah’s rearming by ignoring them, accepting bribes, and failing to blow the whistle on terrorist activity. When Hezbollah joined in the attacks on Israel in October 2023, UNIFIL did NOTHING to stop them. And, to add insult to injury, instead of condemnation for their lack of action, they have been promoted to an integral role in the new Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. UNIFIL is putty in Hezbollah’s hands. They use them as human shields, and prohibit them from patrolling mass amounts of regional territory and they bribe them to turn the other way and “not see” while using their outposts and security cameras to spy on the Israeli military. UNIFIL is inept and corrupt but of course, mainstream media won’t report on this. Despite Israeli leaders warning UNIFIL of their lack of safety and offering protection, the IDF continues to be vilified by the UN.
6. FRANCESCA ALBANESE. Enough said. I hope the lawsuit by Christians Friends of Israeli Communities and Christians for Israel USA is successful in putting her out of her job.
I could go ON and ON.. But I think this suffices in getting the truth out there. Mr. Hass, you are a representative of the United Nations, don’t hide behind the pitiful excuse that “UN voting behavior should be addressed to governments concerned.” YOUR agencies, YOUR rapporteurs, UNRWA and UNIFIL must be held accountable.
The late Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen, active member of the international women’s Zionist organization, Hadassah, would be rolling in her grave if she knew she antisemitic anti-zionist (because they are inextricable) posture the UN has taken toward Israel in the last two decades!
Perhaps if Israel didn’t repeatedly bomb civilian populations or try to commit genocide against the Palestinians, there wouldn’t be so many resolutions against them.
In order for this statement to be credible, the following statement should also be true:
“Perhaps if Palestinian governmental bodies and surrounding Arab countries ceased their military aggression and terrorist acts against Israeli civilians, there wouldn’t be so many resolutions against them.”
The problem of course, is that this statement is not true: there have been very few resolutions against Arab countries or Palestinian governmental bodies for the atrocities they’ve committed since the UN was founded in 1945.
This is the definition of bias.
How would you attack the terrorists who openly position themselves under schools and hospitals. It’s tragic but necessary.
Alex.. you clearly need to review the definition of genocide so allow me to help you. 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 feeble minded not to understand this distinction and you have to be an antisemite 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.
In the words of Golda Meir: “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel.”
Sorry Mr.Hass,
Nice try. We all agree with Mr.Neumann on this. Fact check time.
Bill, I am not going to go into my view on the UN, and I have no issue with the United Nations Association of Southwestern Connecticut.
MY QUESTION relates to “Westport has been proud to organize hospitality for UN staff and delegates based in New York City.” Could you explain why $1 of Westport tax money should be spent on this? Even putting the flags on the bridge for the event=tax money spent.
Fresh Air Camp
The UN should relocate to another country!
That land can be put to much better use. Not to mention collecting real estate taxes!
Trump will reduce the USA contribution to the un.
Does nothing for us. And , enough of June day.
Niger, Somalia, or Yemen
In the meantime, the members of the UN are not the only ones troubled by Israel’s behavior in Gaza:
https://wapo.st/3LpIeqh
Can people stop using the term “antisemitism” when referring to opposition to actions by the current Israeli government? Wishful thinking, I know. But it is disingenuous.
A recent poll showed that while 46% of American Jews support Israel’s actions in Gaza, 48% oppose them. People who parrot Jonathan Greenblatt talking points don’t remotely speak for half of American Jews. (Though they do make up an extremely vocal minority in comment sections.)
If support for the Gazan atrocities is a purity test for not being antisemitic, I guess this means that most American Jews would be considered antisemites, by some of the commenters on here? Now how would that make the slightest bit of sense?
No one ever said any criticism of Israel is antisemitic and as the original post said, we Jews do it ourselves constantly and that per se is not at all what he’s talking about (and at the same time, I find it impossible to take seriously anyone who blanket criticizes Israel and only Israel’s actions as if Hamas doesn’t exist at all.) Brilliant straw-manning though.
“No one ever said any criticism of Israel is antisemitic”…
Sorry, but see #2 in Ms Bomback’s cut-and-paste.
To Mr Rosen – I’m simply responding to the manufactured outrage. I post one response and I don’t believe that is “all day posting.” What are you saying is inaccurate in the WaPo coverage of the State Department? Pretend to be serious.
Please take a break from your all day posting.
WaPo? really?
Totally agree. This guy is trying so hard. He also doesn’t seem to have actually read the wapo article he sent around which doesn’t say what he thinks it says.
Chris, just FYI there’s a “for real” genocide happening in Sudan. Blood can literally be seen from space satellites. What time are you guys planning to march?
I know I am burning through my five posts, but whataboutism is a logical fallacy. You tell me when you are marching for Sudan and I’ll be happy to join you.
If you think that is “whataboutism” you are missing the fundamental point a lot of people are making about the UN. It is disproportionately critical of Israel. Relative to other issues. It’s a relative point so pointing out the other issues isn’t a “logical fallacy,” it’s fundamental to one of the arguments.
Mr. Grimm you as they say” pissing in the wind”. No one here will accept basic facts on the ground or the Israeli Holocaust scholars who have come to the conclusion that it is in fact a genocide. There are so many Jews who are as horrified as I am and I would gather yourself included. Take the Israeli cabinet calling for the elimination of all Palestinian’s. When people tell you who they are believe them. Maya Angelou
Why is it OK to accuse Israel of a genocide against a people where their population is increasing? 65k dead during a two year war in an urban population of millions is minuscule in the history of war. Palestine and its terrorist government started a war to try and destroy Israel (that’s what they say – Maya angelou). And yeah, the Knesset has their psychos just like US congress, but cmon man, 20% of the country is Muslim, it’s a democracy, the people want peace, there’s free press, they don’t stone women and gay people, their school books aren’t anti Muslim, they don’t rape citizens, hide beneath hospitals, launch rockets from schools, kill their own people for disagreeing. I’m sure you’d be happy to let your terrorist neighbors destroy your family without fighting back, but Israel doesn’t have that luxury. Yeah, they make mistakes. But they survive and are arguably the only nation on the planet under ongoing existential risk of destruction.
If you care more about protecting people in the Middle East – which I suspect you do not, protest Hamas. Or ask the 50 normal and rich Muslim nations to try and help stop this festering terrorist haven from trying to destroy Israel (again, their words. Believe them)
Dermot, Must we write p——-g in the wind? Just like the other day I got criticized with someone who used WTF. I actually sent that comment to his boss from the 1980s at GE that I coincidentally keep in contact with. I don’t use this language in front of women.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Dan use’s that all the time. There is even an institution in town that has hats made with that. They apparently think it’s cute.
By the way, did my “former boss” have a reaction other than, “yeah, I taught him that”? More importantly, did you get the point?
There was a reaction. I actually go back a long way with GE. For example, VP William O’Brien, who became VP in 1954. He had a son around my age. Before your time obviously.
Did VP William by any chance have a grandson named Duncan? I worked with a Duncan O’Brien once. I believe he was from Westport. Good guy.
I knew his son who was a bit younger than me. Unfortunately, he passed away a while back. I didn’t know anyone named Duncan. I hope Dan doesn’t get upset that I’ve strayed from the topic at hand. Last comment I promise.
Bill, yes! Duncan ‘Donuts’ O’Brien we called him. Loved bowling and farming. I met him in Cuba, 1952 or so.
Liam, Cuba in 1952? You must be 88 or 90 years old.
Actually Liam pays very close attention to what I write.Bowling, farming, Cuba… he pays attention! Good boy!!
Go take a nap already Jack.
Comments?
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UN and Hamas Relationship:
No Official Terrorist Designation: While many individual member states (including the United States, the European Union, the UK, and Canada) have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization, the UN Security Council has not done so collectively. Efforts to pass a UN resolution to this effect have been vetoed, primarily by the U.S., for various reasons, including the resolutions’ language not going far enough in condemning Hamas or containing other clauses deemed problematic.
Condemnation of Violence: UN officials, including the Secretary-General, have strongly condemned the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas and other armed groups, the taking of hostages, and the targeting of civilians, calling for their immediate and unconditional release.
Diplomatic Engagement: The UN engages in diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict, often as part of the Middle East Quartet (alongside the US, EU, and Russia), and works with mediators like Qatar and Egypt. The UN Secretary-General has urged both Israel and Hamas to abide by recent US-brokered peace plans and ceasefires.
Humanitarian Operations: The UN’s primary relief agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, operates extensively in Gaza. The UN maintains operational contact with Hamas as the de facto authority in Gaza to facilitate the delivery of life-saving aid.
Allegations against UNRWA Staff: The UN has faced scrutiny and criticism from Israel and some member states over allegations that a small number of UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 attacks or had ties to Hamas. The UN has investigated these claims, terminated the contracts of implicated individuals, and has insisted that the agency’s vital work should not be jeopardized by the alleged actions of a few.
Calls for Ceasefire and Two-State Solution: The UN consistently calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the protection of civilians on all sides, and ultimately a two-state solution where Israel and a Palestinian state can exist side-by-side in peace and security.
Totally agree with Billy Cohen and most of the above comments. The UN of today is unrecognizable from the UN of the 50’s-70’s.
not 1 of these criticisms of today’s UN is inaccurate but intl relations for USA AND the world would be even worse – yes, there are levels worse, like Dante’s Inferno, unimaginable to good, normal healthy minded people – if the UN didn’t carry on, if these nations didn’t feel obligated to show up, present themselves and vote, i.e., even those member nations you reference, their habitual dishonesty made public via the UN forum informs the people of every nation and there’s real productive value in that inadvertent and intentional transparency.
United Nations – what does that mean today, and do we as a U.S. nation embrace and support the United Nations? Are the realities of today aligned with the original charter? Let’s get back to why the United Nations was created, and what purpose and value it provides the world today? All organizations have a useful life. Has the United Nations reached the end of it’s useful life?
I am pleased the United Nations was founded and that it continues to exist. It is usually a wrong idea to seek to eliminate an organization or to blindly support an organization because of the good or bad things that flow from it. Yes, sometimes replacement or elimination is appropriate. However, we live on one planet. We ought to be able to have an organization of nations that serves the many common purposes of our world. The hope remains that those common purposes expand, not shrink. To an extent our own nation confronts the same issue.
The UN as it exists today is a shadow of its former self, at least from a Jewish perspective. Its brief shining moment came in 1948 with establishment of the State of Israel.
It has since morphed into an organization with a clear double-standard: every member country has a right to territorial integrity and the sovereign right to defend it- except Israel.
When it comes to Israel, and its relationship with the UN, a paradox has emerged. A country born of Genocide, rising out of the ashes of the Holocaust, is now accused of that crime against humanity by the perpetrators of Oct 7th and their supporters. I suppose if the UN were in existence during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Jews would have been condemned of “crimes against humanity” for daring to rise up. The operations manual which drove the Holocaust was the “Final Solution” (Wansee, 1942)- the one remaining copy exists in Yad Vashem, Israel; its basis was Mein Kampf which was mostly derived from the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” a forgery published first in Eastern Europe, instigating the pogroms. It is no accident that copies of Mein Kampf were found in the terror tunnels of Gaza, translated into Arabic. These terror tunnels represent the “educational” conduit that tragically allowed October 7th to occur. This was all made possible by UNRWA, which for four generations has fanned the flames of antisemitism. Connecting to every building, school, mosque, hospitals – the perfect subterfuge for planting the seeds of hate.
While it is honorable to romanticize about the humble beginnings of the UN, it is reckless and immoral to look the other way when existential threats to the Jewish Nation raise their ugly heads. Terrorists should be immediately called out by the UN and not conflate Israel’s defense with the reprehensible acts of Hamas.
Rather, the UN should demand that the Muslim Brotherhood (Hamas’ parent organization) and countries like Qatar, Turkey, Iran, to name a few, refrain from arming physically and ideologically the Palestinian cause, which according to resolution 242, prescribed the handling of the “terriories” by DIRECT negotiations between the 2 parties – Israel and the Palestinians. Also the UN could call out the conference in Durban South Africa which had sought to deny the Holocaust for over 20 yrs; and also refrain from accusing the defenders of Israel’s right to exist, as “war criminals”, committing “genocide.” STOP THE PROPAGANDA AND DO THE RIGHT THING!