A top United Nations investigator slammed the Trump administration for killing the Iranian terrorist leader Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January, calling the action “unlawful.”
Agnes Callamard, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, stated in her report, which was to be submitted to the Human Rights Council on Thursday, “To the extent that evidence points to the U.S. and Iranian strikes being retaliations or reprisals, each would be unlawful.” The report also said that the attack on Soleimani violated the territorial integrity of Iraq.
State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus asserted, “It takes a special kind of intellectual dishonesty to issue a report condemning the United States for acting in self-defense while whitewashing General Soleimani’s notorious past as one of the world’s deadliest terrorists. This tendentious and tedious report undermines human rights by giving a pass to terrorists and it proves once again why America was right to leave” the UN Human Rights Council, <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-accuses-un-expert-of-whitewashing-iran-general-soleimani/">The Times of Israel</a> reported.
A State Department official echoed, “The strike in Iraq was necessary to achieve these purposes and, given its limited nature, proportionate to that aim,&#8221; <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-killing-of-top-iranian-general-was-unlawful-u-n-expert-says-11594224293">The Wall Street Journal</a> added.
“Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him,” President Trump said on  Jan. 3. Days later, he said simply, “Soleimani has been called a monster. And he was a monster. And he&#8217;s no longer a monster. He&#8217;s dead. He was traveling with the head of Hezbollah; they weren’t there to discuss a vacation; they weren’t there to go to a nice resort somewhere in Baghdad; they were there to discuss bad business, and we saved a lot of lives by terminating his life.&#8221;
Trump continued, &#8220;We had tremendous information; we’ve been following him for a long time. We followed his path for those three days and they were not good stops. We did ourselves and we did a lot of countries a big favor. I’ve been hearing from countries; they were extremely happy with what we did. And if you look inside Iran itself, there were plenty of those leaders that were happy because they feared him and didn’t like him in many cases.&#8221;
Callamard told the Journal, “I can only work and analyze the facts on the basis of the information that is being made available by the United States to the Security Council,” adding, “They provided no proof whatsoever that Mr. Soleimani was planning an imminent attack.”
She attacked the Trump administration’s justification for the attack, saying the claim of self-defense was in “complete contradiction” with international jurisprudence, and patronizing, “International law is international. It is not American.”
The Journal said the U.N. report noted the attack “was the first in which a U.N. member state invoked self-defense as a justification for an attack against a state actor, rather than nonstate militant groups, in the territory of another state.”
Callamard concluded, “It opens the door to constant international warfare.”
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UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard

Top U.N. Investigator Slams Trump Administration For Killing Of Soleimani: ‘Unlawful,’ Says ‘International Law Is International. It Is Not American.’

Qassem Soleimani

United Nations

The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) has become notorious for opposing basic human rights and siding with communist nations and dictatorships since so many of these countries have been allowed a seat on the council.
The latest example of the council’s flippancy toward human rights came this weekend when delegates from Cuba delivered a statement praising China’s adoption of a national security law imposed on Hong Kong. The United Kingdom offered a statement condemning China’s new law. As has come to be expected with the HRC, which allowed China to join its ranks on April 1 of this year, the council overwhelmingly supported Cuba’s statement praising China’s actions toward Hong Kong. In total, 53 countries ended up backing China’s new law while 27 condemned it.
The International Business Times <a href="https://www.ibtimes.com/list-53-countries-support-chinas-hong-kong-national-security-law-3004962">reported</a> that critics of China’s new law “cited harsh penalties for vaguely defined political crimes and claimed it was the death knell for Hong Kong&#8217;s autonomy.” Axios obtained <a href="https://www.axios.com/countries-supporting-china-hong-kong-law-0ec9bc6c-3aeb-4af0-8031-aa0f01a46a7c.html">a list</a> of the countries that supported or opposed China’s actions:
<blockquote>Supporting: China, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahrain, Belarus, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo-Brazzaville, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia,  Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Syria, Tajikistan, Togo, UAE, Venezuela, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Opposing: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Belize, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.K.</blockquote>
Axios’ Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian explained that “Beijing has effectively leveraged the UN Human Rights Council to endorse the very activities it was created to oppose.&#8221; Further, the outlet reported, at least 43 of the countries that supported Beijing “have signed onto China’s Belt and Road infrastructure project.” Many of the countries in Africa that praised China’s actions are, according to Axios, “trying to renegotiate debt payments to China amid sharp COVID-related downturns.”
The outlet also explained that countries who have challenged China in the past have paid a price, including Australia and Canada.
“After pushing for an independent probe into China&#8217;s initial response to the coronavirus, Australia found itself in a costly trade dispute with its largest trading partner,” Axios reported. “Two Canadian citizens are still being held in China, meanwhile, after Canada arrested Huawei&#8217;s CFO on behalf of the U.S.”
IBT explained that many thought the announcement that China was joining the HRC was an April’s Fools Day prank:
<blockquote>Because the council deals with topics like freedom of speech, health, enforced disappearances, and arbitrary detention, some may have thought this to be an April Fools joke. Unfortunately, it was not, and the appointment has sparked protests by international human rights activists.</blockquote>
The U.S. withdrew from the HRC in June 2018, calling the council “hypocritical and self-serving.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers with the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe"> member</a>.

Human Rights Council

U.N. Human Rights Council Overwhelmingly Supports China’s Crackdown On Hong Kong

China

Hong Kong

The United Nations received some strong criticism from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over a resolution passed by the organization’s controversial Human Rights Council that targeted the United States.
The HRC’s resolution criticized America’s alleged problem with policing and race, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pompeo-un-human-rights-council-race-police">reported</a>, even though the council itself ignores egregious human rights abuses from some of the countries that sit on the council.
“The United Nations Human Rights Council, now comprised of Venezuela and recently, Cuba and China, has long been and remains a haven for dictators and democracies that indulge them,” Pompeo said in a statement, Fox reported. “It is a grave disappointment to those genuinely seeking to advance human dignity. Even so, the Council’s decision to vote yesterday on a resolution focusing on policing and race in the United States marks a new low.”
More from Fox:
<blockquote>The Council, which the U.S. left in 2018 over concerns over both its membership and its anti-Israel bias, passed by unanimous consent on Friday <a href="https://undocs.org/A/HRC/43/L.50">a resolution</a> on the “promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of Africans and of people of African descent against police brutality and other violations of human rights.”
The resolution, which was drafted by Iran, Burkina Faso and the “State of Palestine”  expresses concern about the “continuing racially discriminatory and violent practices perpetrated by law enforcement agencies against Africans and people of African descent, and the structural racism endemic to the criminal justice system in the United States of America and other parts of the world recently affected.&#8221;</blockquote>
The resolution also expressed &#8220;alarm at the recent incidents of police brutality against peaceful demonstrators defending the rights of Africans and of people of African descent,&#8221; while making no note of the violent protesters who have attacked cops.
Pompeo’s criticism comes after the United Nations as a whole faced an intense backlash when it defended the violent leftist organization Antifa. President Donald Trump has moved to designate Antifa a terrorist organization. The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/united-nations-faces-intense-backlash-after-defending-antifa-from-accusations-of-terrorism">reported</a> that the United Nations’ Office at Geneva tweeted in defense of Antifa.
“UN #HumanRights experts express profound concern over a recent statement by the US Attorney-General describing #Antifa and other anti-fascist activists as domestic terrorists, saying it undermines the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly in the country.”
As The Daily Wire reported:
<blockquote>The tweet from the U.N. comes after the organization <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-un-human-rights-council-coronavirus-response">appointed</a> communist China to its Human Rights Council, despite the fact that China has millions <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/a-spreadsheet-of-those-in-hell-how-china-corralled-uighurs-into-concentration-camps/2020/02/28/4daeca4a-58c8-11ea-ab68-101ecfec2532_story.html">locked up</a> in concentration camps, engages in <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-forcefully-harvests-organs-detainees-tribunal-concludes-n1018646">forced</a> organ harvesting, has a surveillance state that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/china-surveillance/552203/">restricts</a> the rights of its citizens, and has <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/05/china-covid-19-discrimination-against-africans">engaged</a> in a widespread discrimination against Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic.</blockquote>
As Fox reported, the U.N. Human Rights Council met early last week to discuss racism and police brutality, but the discussion quickly turned into an outlet for countries to bash the U.S. Venezuela, for example, condemned “Yankee imperialism.”
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

Mike Pompeo

Pompeo: U.N. Hit ‘New Low’ With Resolution Critical Of US Race And Police Issues

The United Nations faced widespread backlash on Friday after its Office at Geneva defended Antifa, a far-left extremist organization that President Donald Trump has sought to designate as a terrorist organization, from allegations that it is a domestic terrorist organization.
U.N. Geneva tweeted: &#8220;UN #HumanRights experts express profound concern over a recent statement by the US Attorney-General describing #Antifa and other anti-fascist activists as domestic terrorists, saying it undermines the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly in the country.&#8221;
The tweet from the U.N. comes after the organization <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/china-un-human-rights-council-coronavirus-response">appointed</a> communist China to its Human Rights Council, despite the fact that China has millions <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/a-spreadsheet-of-those-in-hell-how-china-corralled-uighurs-into-concentration-camps/2020/02/28/4daeca4a-58c8-11ea-ab68-101ecfec2532_story.html">locked up</a> in concentration camps, engages in <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-forcefully-harvests-organs-detainees-tribunal-concludes-n1018646">forced</a> organ harvesting, has a surveillance state that <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/02/china-surveillance/552203/">restricts</a> the rights of its citizens, and has <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/05/china-covid-19-discrimination-against-africans">engaged</a> in widespread discrimination against Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
UN <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HumanRights?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HumanRights</a> experts express profound concern over a recent statement by the US Attorney-General describing <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Antifa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Antifa</a> and other anti-fascist activists as domestic terrorists, saying it undermines the rights to freedom of expression and of peaceful assembly in the country. <a href="https://t.co/2Pz2dMyq8k">pic.twitter.com/2Pz2dMyq8k</a>
&mdash; UN Geneva (@UNGeneva) <a href="https://twitter.com/UNGeneva/status/1274007783864627201?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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After violent riots broke out in the U.S. in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Trump said that he planned to designate Antifa as a terrorist organization.
In a tweet that received over 331,000 retweets and 827 &#8216;likes,&#8217; Trump wrote: &#8220;The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The United States of America will be designating ANTIFA as a Terrorist Organization.
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267129644228247552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Tens of thousands of people responded to the U.N.&#8217;s tweet on Friday, with the majority appearing to express shock and disgust over the tweet.
The following are just some of the responses that the U.N.&#8217;s tweet received online:
Security expert Benjamin Weingarten: &#8220;Reminder that the UN elevates the Chinese Communist Party, and dozens upon dozens of countries that explicitly bar free speech by law.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Reminder that the UN elevates the Chinese Communist Party, and dozens upon dozens of countries that explicitly bar free speech by law <a href="https://t.co/gvkViw6Acp">https://t.co/gvkViw6Acp</a>
&mdash; Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) <a href="https://twitter.com/bhweingarten/status/1274150766186561537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Defense expert David Reaboi: &#8220;Two years after Palestinian terrorists under command of Yasser Arafat slaughtered 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, Arafat was honored with a speech at the UN and a standing ovation. Go f**k yourselves, @UNGeneva .&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Two years after Palestinian terrorists under command of Yasser Arafat slaughtered 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics, Arafat was honored with a speech at the UN and a standing ovation. Go fuck yourselves, <a href="https://twitter.com/UNGeneva?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UNGeneva</a>. <a href="https://t.co/kZ4Ez9BLyK">https://t.co/kZ4Ez9BLyK</a> <a href="https://t.co/MbhUrqwZ6x">pic.twitter.com/MbhUrqwZ6x</a>
&mdash; David Reaboi (@davereaboi) <a href="https://twitter.com/davereaboi/status/1274103480836333570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Political strategist Arthur Schwartz: &#8220;Are we still funding this heaping pile of dog crap?&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Are we still funding this heaping pile of dog crap? <a href="https://t.co/5cFMbbFTPA">https://t.co/5cFMbbFTPA</a>
&mdash; Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/1274097673314893826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The Reagan Battalion: &#8220;It’s time to abolish the United Nations.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
It’s time to abolish the United Nations. <a href="https://t.co/isDQYunyth">https://t.co/isDQYunyth</a>
&mdash; Reagan Battalion (@ReaganBattalion) <a href="https://twitter.com/ReaganBattalion/status/1274096375710564355?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Philanthropist Adam Milstein: &#8220;UN once again proving their worthlessness calling #Antifa &#8216;peaceful'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
UN once again proving their worthlessness calling <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Antifa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Antifa</a> “peaceful” <a href="https://t.co/m6vVHdVDaV">https://t.co/m6vVHdVDaV</a>
&mdash; Adam Milstein (@AdamMilstein) <a href="https://twitter.com/AdamMilstein/status/1274120542245793792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ): &#8220;I can’t believe the United States helps fund this garbage.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I can’t believe the United States helps fund this garbage. <a href="https://t.co/9n2TWpmeSK">https://t.co/9n2TWpmeSK</a>
&mdash; Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (@RepGosar) <a href="https://twitter.com/RepGosar/status/1274116056622280705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Political commentator Ned Ryun: &#8220;Wait a minute. I was assured, ASSURED, that Antifa wasn’t a thing. So you’re saying it’s a thing?? Got it. Duly noted.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Wait a minute. I was assured, ASSURED, that Antifa wasn’t a thing. So you’re saying it’s a thing?? Got it. Duly noted. <a href="https://t.co/vBMps9WxyG">https://t.co/vBMps9WxyG</a>
&mdash; Ned Ryun (@nedryun) <a href="https://twitter.com/nedryun/status/1274139218919460864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Australian political commentator Rita Panahi: &#8220;UN advocating for an extreme, violent Marxist group responsible for multiple beatings, fire bombings &amp; other criminality. Defund these dangerous imbeciles.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
UN advocating for an extreme, violent Marxist group responsible for multiple beatings, fire bombings &amp; other criminality. Defund these dangerous imbeciles. <a href="https://t.co/dM2BYS7bUC">https://t.co/dM2BYS7bUC</a>
&mdash; Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) <a href="https://twitter.com/RitaPanahi/status/1274101649653424128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward: &#8220;Another reason to stand firm for United States #sovereignty &#8211; we don’t bow to the mob or to the #UN; terrorists organizations are called out, not given leadership roles.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Another reason to stand firm for United States <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sovereignty?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sovereignty</a> &#8211; we don’t bow to the mob or to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UN?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UN</a>; terrorists organizations are called out, not given leadership roles. <a href="https://t.co/XqPR5piKR3">https://t.co/XqPR5piKR3</a>
&mdash; Dr. Kelli Ward 🇺🇸 (@kelliwardaz) <a href="https://twitter.com/kelliwardaz/status/1274202353164414976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Political commentator Jeff Giesea: &#8220;This is a mask-off moment for the UN. And a reminder that the tensions within America are playing out across the West. The post-War order is dead. Global, techno-neo-Marxism is on the march.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is a mask-off moment for the UN. And a reminder that the tensions within America are playing out across the West. 
The post-War order is dead. Global, techno-neo-Marxism is on the march. <a href="https://t.co/RwOoPNOogW">https://t.co/RwOoPNOogW</a>
&mdash; Jeff Giesea⛱ (@jeffgiesea) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeffgiesea/status/1274134520967712774?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Journalist Andy Ngo: &#8220;Antifa groups instruct adherents to maim or kill political opponents. They tell comrades to destroy property through vandalism &amp; arson attacks. They provide literature that calls for destabilizing societies so that governments can be overthrown. This is not peaceful assembly.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Antifa groups instruct adherents to maim or kill political opponents. They tell comrades to destroy property through vandalism &amp; arson attacks. They provide literature that calls for destabilizing societies so that governments can be overthrown. 
This is not peaceful assembly. <a href="https://t.co/FQm5dvOjkt">https://t.co/FQm5dvOjkt</a>
&mdash; Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1274101722248474625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>.

GERMANY-POLITICS-LABOUR-MAYDAY-DEMONSTRATION

United Nations Faces Intense Backlash After Defending Antifa From Accusations Of Terrorism

Antifa

On Monday, the United Nations, which may be the leading bastion of political correctness on Planet Earth, tweeted its support for making the world gender-neutral, writing, “What you say matters. Help create a more equal world by using gender-neutral language if you&#8217;re unsure about someone&#8217;s gender or are referring to a group.”
Below that message, the United Nations wrote, “If you don’t know someone’s gender or when talking about a group, use gender-neutral language.” Then the U.N. offered some examples of its preferred mode of speaking, replacing “mankind” with “humankind,” “chairman” with “chair,” “congressman” with “legislator,” “businessman” with “representative,” “policeman” with “police officer,” “landlord” with “owner,” “boyfriend/girlfriend” with “partner,” “salesman” with “salesperson,” “manpower” with “workforce,” “maiden name” with “family name,” “fireman” with “firefighter,” and “husband/wife” with “spouse.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
What you say matters.
Help create a more equal world by using gender-neutral language if you&#39;re unsure about someone&#39;s gender or are referring to a group. <a href="https://t.co/QQRFPY4VRn">https://t.co/QQRFPY4VRn</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GenerationEquality?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GenerationEquality</a> via<a href="https://twitter.com/UN_Women?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UN_Women</a> <a href="https://t.co/koxoAZZuxq">pic.twitter.com/koxoAZZuxq</a>
&mdash; United Nations (@UN) <a href="https://twitter.com/UN/status/1262322788687323136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The United Nations’ concern with political correctness at a time of a global pandemic, not to mention its coddling of some of the most brutal regimes on earth, triggered myriad tweets mocking it. Last October, <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/10/20/the-united-nations-latest-sick-human-rights-joke/">The New York Post editorial board</a> noted:
<blockquote>Venezuela just <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/10/17/outcry-after-venezuela-wins-seat-on-un-rights-body-a-vote-for-torture/">won a seat on the UN Human Rights Council</a>, though it transparently does not “uphold the highest standards” on rights, as members are supposed to. The nation’s rulers are destroying it. Food and medicine are scarce, vaccine-preventable diseases are spreading and maternal and infant mortality are soaring. The government routinely tortures political prisoners and, according to a July UN report, death squads break into homes, assault women and execute the men.</blockquote>
U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft snapped, “That one of the world’s worst human-rights abusers would be granted a seat on a body that is supposed to defend human rights is utterly appalling,” adding that it was “an embarrassment to the United Nations and a tragedy for the people of Venezuela.”
Thus, this tweet responding to the U.N.’s Monday tweet:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Kick Venezuela off of the UN Human Rights Council, and then we can talk about politically correct nonsense. <a href="https://t.co/qcuAJsDH1V">https://t.co/qcuAJsDH1V</a>
&mdash; YAF (@yaf) <a href="https://twitter.com/yaf/status/1262409042028367872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Some examples of the U.N.&#8217;s moral compass: In October 2018, The International Court of Justice at the United Nations <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-n-court-orders-u-s-to-lift-iran-sanctions-on-humanitarian-goods-1538570665">issued</a> an &#8220;order&#8221; demanding that the United States lift sanctions against Iran.
The Daily Wire has reported, “The Human Rights Council (of the UN) has no problem inviting a man cited as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/27747/un-human-rights-council-shows-its-evil-lets-brutal-hank-berrien">one of the most brutal men </a>in the world address it, and a look at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/12076/look-new-members-un-human-rights-council-what-joke-hank-berrien">new members inaugurated in 2017</a> into the Council shows a list of some of the most anti-human rights governments in existence.”
In December 2016, after the Obama administration stabbed Israel in the back by <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/11858/happy-chanukah-obama-obama-backed-un-resolution-ben-shapiro">abstaining</a> from a vote at United Nations Security Council on Israeli settlement construction, allowing a resolution to condemn the settlements and brand East Jerusalem, including Judaism’s holiest site, the Temple Mount,  as non-Jewish territory, the late pundit Charles Krauthammer <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-krauthammer-unload-united-nations-trump-amanda-prestigiacomo">stated</a> of the U.N., &#8220;It is an organization that exacerbates tensions, it does not assuage them.” He said of U.N. headquarters in New York City, “I think that’s good real estate in downtown New York City. And Trump ought to find a way to put his name on it and turn it into condos.&#8221;
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Let me say this, right from the bottom of my heart: go f*** yourselves, you dictatorship-enabling bulls*** artists. <a href="https://t.co/DVfRrbKnSZ">https://t.co/DVfRrbKnSZ</a>
&mdash; Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) <a href="https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1262422726465032192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Why do you get any of our tax money <a href="https://t.co/AvNCCg26wM">https://t.co/AvNCCg26wM</a>
&mdash; Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) <a href="https://twitter.com/DLoesch/status/1262422525293797376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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NBA says &#39;owner&#39; is no good, sorry UN. Try &#39;governor&#39; or &#39;caretaker&#39; <a href="https://t.co/rDrHLPtLSw">https://t.co/rDrHLPtLSw</a>
&mdash; Seth Mandel (@SethAMandel) <a href="https://twitter.com/SethAMandel/status/1262398251589910528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Ah, the <a href="https://twitter.com/UN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UN</a>, always tackling the issue of the moment&#8230; <a href="https://t.co/fLuFLWyYW2">https://t.co/fLuFLWyYW2</a>
&mdash; Daniel Hannan (@DanielJHannan) <a href="https://twitter.com/DanielJHannan/status/1262365372205932544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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UN Human Rights Council 2020:
Sudan: 12 million women have suffered from genital mutilation in the last decade.
Mauritania: Refuses to legally define rape.
Libya: limits number of women who can serve in parliament.
Indonesia: conducts “virginity testing.”
Address this first. <a href="https://t.co/QUr4hyMo0I">https://t.co/QUr4hyMo0I</a>
&mdash; Yoni Michanie (@YoniMichanie) <a href="https://twitter.com/YoniMichanie/status/1262466962246025217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Literally every single crossed-out word is better than the proposed replacement, and some those aren&#39;t even remotely synonymous. For example, since when does it make sense to call a &quot;businessman&quot; a &quot;representative?&quot; <a href="https://t.co/rUdChSfRK0">https://t.co/rUdChSfRK0</a>
&mdash; Jeff B, fightin&#39; the COVID one bootleg at a time (@EsotericCD) <a href="https://twitter.com/EsotericCD/status/1262421702849572865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The <a href="https://twitter.com/UN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UN</a> was formed &quot;to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.&quot; Now that it&#39;s taken care of that problem, it can move on to more important stuff, like reminding you to call your landlord your &quot;owner.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/fnQGcFspxX">https://t.co/fnQGcFspxX</a>
&mdash; Jeff Jacoby (@Jeff_Jacoby) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jeff_Jacoby/status/1262406552767643651?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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Defund <a href="https://t.co/fi0oAVZ9AO">https://t.co/fi0oAVZ9AO</a>
&mdash; Benjamin Weingarten (@bhweingarten) <a href="https://twitter.com/bhweingarten/status/1262400565981655043?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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What a load of codswallop. Stuff the UN &#8211; say what you like. <a href="https://t.co/FBwAv4CLXt">https://t.co/FBwAv4CLXt</a>
&mdash; David Kurten (@davidkurten) <a href="https://twitter.com/davidkurten/status/1262427235572756482?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2020</a></blockquote>
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he Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">member</a>. 
&nbsp;

United Nations Hosts World Leaders For Annual General Assembly

U.N.: Stop Using Gender-Based Language. Social Media: Shut Up.

Gender Neutral

U.N. World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director David Beasley warned this week that the coronavirus pandemic, which originated in China, could have a devastating impact on world hunger and could push well over 100 million people to the brink of starvation. Beasley also warned that there was a &#8220;real danger&#8221; that more people could die from the economic fallout than from the actual virus.
&#8220;This sounds truly shocking, but let me give you the numbers: 821 million people go to bed hungry every night all over the world, chronically hungry, and as the new Global Report on Food Crisis published today shows, there are a further 135 million people facing crisis levels of hunger or worse,&#8221; Beasley said. &#8220;That means 135 million people on earth are marching towards the brink of starvation. But now the World Food Program analysis shows that, due to the Coronavirus, an additional 130 million people could be pushed to the brink of starvation by the end of 2020. That’s a total of 265 million people.&#8221;
Beasley highlighted conflict and economic turmoil throughout Africa and the Middle East as being the major factors that are driving starvation in those regions, which are some of the most underdeveloped places on earth.
&#8220;There is also a real danger that more people could potentially die from the economic impact of COVID-19 than from the virus itself,&#8221; Beasley said. &#8220;Lockdowns and economic recession are expected to lead to a major loss of income among the working poor. Overseas remittances will also drop sharply – this will hurt countries such as Haiti, Nepal, and Somalia just a name a couple.&#8221;
&#8220;The loss of tourism receipts will damage countries such as Ethiopia, where it accounts for 47% of total exports. The collapsing oil prices in lower-income countries like South Sudan will have an impact significantly, where oil accounts for 98.8% of total exports. And, of course, when donor countries’ revenues are down, how much impact will this have on life saving foreign aid,&#8221; Beasley continued. &#8220;The economic and health impacts of COVID-19 are most worrisome for communities in countries across Africa as well as the Middle East, because the virus threatens further damage to the lives and livelihoods of people already put at risk by conflict.&#8221;
Beasley warned that a worst-case scenario would be a famine breaking out in dozens of countries in the most vulnerable regions on earth where more than a million people face starvation on a daily basis.
&#8220;In a worst-case scenario, we could be looking at famine in about three dozen countries, and in fact, in ten of these countries we already have more than one million people per country who are on the verge of starvation,&#8221; Beasley continued. &#8220;In many places, this human suffering is the heavy price of conflict.&#8221;
The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/subscribe">subscriber</a>.

SKOREA-NKOREA-DIPLOMACY-AID-FOOD-UN-HEALTH

Top U.N. Official Suggests Economic Fallout From Pandemic Could Kill More Than The Virus

Coronavirus

COVID-19

White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro explained to Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum on Wednesday night how communist China is trying to take control of United Nations&#8217; agencies and how China harmed the rest of the world by trying to cover-up the coronavirus outbreak in their country.
&#8220;Martha, let me — let me give you a kind of bigger look at the chessboard here, because the U.N. itself has 15 specialized agencies including the WHO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, things like that,&#8221; Navarro said. &#8220;And what China has been doing very, very aggressively over the last decade is to try to gain control of those by electing people to the top. It already controls 5 of the 15. And also by using proxies, colonial type proxies like Tedros, at the WHO.&#8221;
&#8220;And as you can see in this crisis, the damage that that kind of control by China, the key health organization, has been just absolutely enormous. They suppressed the human to human transmission. They refused to call this a pandemic&#8230; They basically discouraged travel ban,&#8221; Navarro continued. &#8220;So I mean this is one of the most serious things we’ve ever seen. And it all tracks to China’s view of the world and how they want to control different types of international organizations, even as they don’t play by the international rules.&#8221;
Navarro said that the problem and the threat that China poses to the world is unique to China and the U.S. does not have the same problems with other countries.
&#8220;I think any other country in the world would have been transparent about the problem, would have invited CDC people in. I mean we lost about five weeks because of China’s non-transparency,&#8221; Navarro said. &#8220;So if you’re asking me how are we going to fix this, it’s really kind of more of a China problem than anything else. And I don’t have the answer at this point. That’s outside of my lane.&#8221;
Navarro added, &#8220;All I can keep telling you is that China’s attempt to control basically every organization within the United Nations through their colonial powers, through bribery, through other things — [has done] tremendous damage to this country and to this world.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe title="Navarro slams China: They caused &#039;tremendous damage&#039; to US, the world" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lz46RQDM4LA?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
TRANSCRIPT:
<blockquote>MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Peter, thank you very much for being with us this evening. I want to start &#8212; good to have you sir. I want to start with asking you a little bit about the WHO. Should the United States not be part of this organization anymore? Should we cut off funding?
The president just outlined the huge disparity between the money that we put into it and the money that China puts into it.
PETER NAVARRO, WHITE HOUSE TRADE ADVISER: Yes, Martha, let me — let me give you a kind of bigger look at the chessboard here, because the U.N. itself has 15 specialized agencies including the WHO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, things like that.
And what China has been doing very, very aggressively over the last decade is to try to gain control of those by electing people to the top. It already controls 5 of the 15. And also by using proxies, colonial type proxies like Tedros, at the WHO.
And as you can see in this crisis, the damage that that kind of control by China, the key health organization, has been just absolutely enormous. They suppressed the human to human transmission. They refused to call this a pandemic. They — they basically discouraged travel ban.
So I mean this is — this is one of the most serious things we’ve ever seen. And it all tracks to China’s view of the world and how they want to control different types of international organizations even as they don’t play by the international rules.
So it’s going to be up to the president to look at this. But Martha, this is a really serious issue and the president is absolutely right about this.
MACCALLUM: Yes. So let me ask you this. You know, in the past we’ve seen three major viruses come out of China.
And so if we can’t rely on the World Health Organization, we need to perhaps have our own medical professionals or assessments similar to sort of the IAEA, or something along those lines, where you have independent people who can take a look at what’s going on in various countries around the world to give us a heads up in terms of the actual virus or the actual future pandemic that’s happening.
There has been some criticism that maybe some of those — those outreach groups don’t exist anymore under the current framework of the White House Organization. Is that something that should be put back in place, would you say?
NAVARRO: Well, I think the problem here is sui generis to China. I think any other country in the world would have been transparent about the problem, would have invited CDC people in. I mean we lost about five weeks because of China’s non-transparency.
So if you’re asking me how are we going to fix this, it’s really kind of more of a China problem than anything else. And I — I don’t have the answer at this point. That’s outside of my lane.
All I can keep telling you is that China’s attempt to control basically every organization within the United Nations through their colonial powers, through bribery, through other things — tremendous damage to this country and to this world.
MACCALLUM: OK. There’s been a lot of discussion about the memos that you sent out at the end of January and towards the end of February to the National Security Council.
Here’s what Steve Bannon said about that. He said — let’s put that up there. He said the principles reason — this is a quote, “The principle reason that Peter wrote this memo is to make sure that real information got to the president, because the real information was being suppressed by the chief of staff at the time, Mick Mulvaney.” Is that true?
NAVARRO: Let me make something crystal clear about this memo, because I heard a lot of chatter this morning on some of the left wing side of the cable news. That memo was a memo that went not to the president but to a small distribution list to the task force.
So people this morning who were criticizing the president for not bothering to read the memo or whatever, he never got the memo. It was not sent to him.
And what’s interesting to me, Martha, even as I was trying to present a significant issue to the task force itself, the president was one step ahead of me, because as I was advocating for the travel ban in that memo to the task force, the president was already moving to do that. And he did that on January 31st.
So I think that’s what important to understand about this.
MACCALLUM: Yes, we’re aware of that.
NAVARRO: And what I can tell you about the task force itself, why that memo went there is that there was disagreement. And that’s not a bad thing. I think part of the strength –
MACCALLUM: So it went to the –
NAVARRO: Go ahead.
MACCALLUM: It — I just want to ask you — it was addressed, I believe, to the National Security Council. Is that correct? There was no task force on coronavirus at that point.
NAVARRO: It was addressed – well –
MACCALLUM: So it was addressed to the National Security Council?
NAVARRO: That’s — that’s not exactly right. The task force began kind of unofficially that Monday. I appeared Tuesday at the task force to present the case verbally and based on the discussion there I felt the need to write that memo.
So that — and the chief of — the memo went to chief of staff Mulvaney.
(CROSSTALK)
MACCALLUM: So — OK. That’s — that’s what I want to ask you about. You say based on the situation there &#8212;
NAVARRO: — to the NSC, yes.
MACCALLUM: OK. Did Mick Mulvaney — is Steve Bannon right — did Mick Mulvaney push back at you? And did you feel the need to push harder and that’s why you put this memo out, is that true or not true?
NAVARRO: So what happens in the Situation Room, by definition, Martha, needs to stay there. I can tell you simply that there was disagreement among the taskforce about this, and I tried to provide some clarity with a fairly straightforward analysis of the costs of the travel ban which would entail disruptions to business and travel, versus the bigger cost in case the — and we didn’t know this at the time, but in case the seriousness of the pandemic emerged.
So I think what’s important here is that the president independently of that memo made, what I think in the history books will be judged as the pivotal decision in the crisis, and it started in motion a set of events that have led to the largest industrial mobilization since World War II.
It’s led to the use of the Defense Production Act for the first time since the Korean War, it took (ph) great effect. It led to a quarantine which we’d never done before, which — and all these things the president got tremendous resistance, but as every day goes by we see that he was exactly right in doing what he did.
He has a greater sense of the chessboard, I think, than anyone. And I’ve said — and I’ve said this repeatedly prior to the crisis, I think he will go down as the greatest president in modern history for his positions on trade and immigration. But I think in this particular case what we’re seeing is somebody playing the chess game better than anyone.
And Martha, we’ve just got to beat this virus. We are at war, he’s a wartime president. And all this stuff about memos and things like that – you know, we need to focus on getting medicines to the people.
MACCALLUM: Well, absolutely. And that’s been our focus in terms of watching this virus and looking at it. It is instrumental at some point to figure out how it all went down in terms of the response which has been, I think, very strong in many ways with the possible exception of the testing—
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: Can I say just one quick thing?
MACCALLUM: — that was a little bit botched at the beginning.
NAVARRO: Just one quick thing—
MACCALLUM: Yes, real quick — thank you, go ahead.
NAVARRO: Yesterday we got 9 million doses of hydroxy out to Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, and New York. Today as we speak&#8211;
MACCALLUM: Yes.
NAVARRO: — (inaudible) arriving, that will — there’ll be another eight million doses going to 10 different cities.
This is moving in Trump time. These are the kinds of things I do every day in an office about 40 yards across the street. And we’re going to beat this virus.
MACCALLUM: All right. We’re going to talk about that drug as well, coming up.
Peter Navarro, thank you very much.
NAVARRO: Thank you, Martha, appreciate it. Bye-bye.
MACCALLUM: Good to see you tonight. Thanks for being here — you too.​</blockquote>

White House Coronavirus Task Force Holds Daily Briefing

Peter Navarro: China ‘Very Aggressively’ Trying To ‘Gain Control’ Of U.N. By Using ‘Colonial Type Proxies’

Peter Navarro

On Monday, seven GOP senators sent a <a href="https://www.cornyn.senate.gov/sites/default/files/Letter%20to%20UN%20SecGen.pdf">blistering letter</a> to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres opposing the appointment of the Minister of the Chinese Mission in Geneva to the U.N. Human Rights Council Consultative Group.
Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz from Texas, Macro Rubio from Florida, James Inhofe from Oklahoma, Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee, Kevin Cramer from North Dakota, and Martha McSally from Arizona fired off a missive stating, “The Chinese government&#8217;s decision to deceive the international community about the grave dangers of the initial 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan, China, violates any credibility on human rights and should disqualify them from a position on the Human Rights Council Consultative Group.”
They continued, “Through intimidation of its medical first responders, censorship of online forums, and threats of severe punishment for anyone who dared to speak out with the truth, the Chinese Communist Party engaged in its most egregious human rights abuse: the unchecked spread of a new and dangerous virus on an unwitting global population.” They concluded, “all member states to condemn in strongest terms the human rights violations committed by Chinese Communist Party.”
The issue was brought to the fore by Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch, which monitors the U.N. Human Rights Council and has championed the rights of victims in China, who <a href="https://unwatch.org/china-joins-u-n-human-rights-panel-will-help-pick-experts-on-free-speech-health-arbitrary-detention/">stated</a>, “Allowing China’s oppressive and inhumane regime to choose the world investigators on freedom of speech, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief. It’s absurd and immoral for the UN to allow China’s oppressive government a key role in selecting officials who shape international human rights standards and report on violations worldwide.”
The full text of the senators’ letter is below:
<blockquote>We write to express our profound disappointment and opposition to the appointment of Jiang Duan, Minister of the Chinese Mission in Geneva, to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council Consultative Group. As you know, in this position, Jiang will provide China with the opportunity to play a central role in picking at least 17 human rights investigators, including those who look at freedom of speech, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary detention, rights abuses which the Chinese regime routinely perpetrates.
The Chinese government&#8217;s decision to deceive the international community about the grave dangers of the initial 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Wuhan, China, violates any credibility on human rights and should disqualify them from a position on the Human Rights Council Consultative Group. Through intimidation of its medical first responders, censorship of online forums, and threats of severe punishment for anyone who dared to speak out with the truth, the Chinese Communist Party engaged in its most egregious human rights abuse: the unchecked spread of a new and dangerous virus on an unwitting global population. Chinese government actions in the early days of the outbreak are not commensurate to influencing a council responsible for upholding human rights throughout the world. Even now, China withholds critical information about the spread and death toll of the virus and continues to silence and intimidate its critics.
In addition to its willful deceit and gross negligence regarding its handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, China is guilty of widespread and well-documented cases of human rights abuses targeting the Uyghur Muslim community in Xinjiang province. Over one million Chinese Uyghurs sit in so-called re-education camps against their will, in what can only be described as ethnic cleansing on an industrial scale and millions more are treated as second-class citizens in their own country at the hands of the regime in Beijing. It is tragic such terrible crimes against humanity can be committed by a power wanting to be seen as a responsible international actor, and even more egregious such behavior can be rewarded.
The UN was created following the most devastating conflict humanity had ever endured and to safeguard against repeating the most aw l crimes ever perpetrated. We must expect more om its leadership and from its member states. China should not occupy a position of prestige or influence on the UN Human Rights Council while it engages in human rights violations of the worst kind both at home and abroad. We implore you to intervene on behalf of our shared values of freedom and dignity by suspending Jiang&#8217;s appointment to the Human Rights Council Consultative Group, and to implore all member states to condemn in strongest terms the human rights violations committed by Chinese Communist Party.
 </blockquote>

President Trump Awards Medal Of Honor To U.S. Army Master Sgt Matthew Williams

Cruz, Rubio, 5 Other GOP Senators Blast U.N. Appointing China To Council Overseeing Human Rights Investigators

James Inhofe

John Cornyn

Kevin Cramer

Marco Rubio

Marsha Blackburn

Martha McSally

Ted Cruz

Even as questions persist as to how China handled its own coronavirus pandemic &#8212; including whether the Chinese government effectively silenced doctors and nurses who spoke out in the early days of the virus&#8217; spread &#8212; the United Nations has reportedly appointed China to serve on a UN Human Rights panel designed to help identify threats to the freedom of speech, and governments who are carrying out &#8220;enforced disappearances&#8221; and &#8220;arbitrary detention.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/asia-pacific/1586076330-china-appointed-to-un-human-rights-council-panel">International news reports</a> that China&#8217;s appointment came Wednesday, just as countries like the United States began to probe deeper into how the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, was allowed to spread so quickly inside mainland China, and whether China&#8217;s reported death count &#8212; just over 2,500 &#8212; from the virus was, indeed, accurate.
It now seems, according to reports cataloging the return of thousands of cremated remaisn to families in and around Wuhan, China, the coronavirus epicenter, that more than 40,000 likely died from the virus in the Wuhan area alone.
The UN, always on the cutting edge of global matters will allow China to &#8220;have a say in selecting at least 17 UN human rights &#8216;mandate-holders&#8217; over the next year. China will also assist in screening candidates for UN human rights positions.&#8221;
“It’s absurd and immoral for the UN to allow China’s oppressive government a key role in selecting officials who shape international human rights standards and report on violations worldwide,&#8221; the executive director of UN Watch, which first reported China&#8217;s appointment to the panel, told media in a statement. “Allowing China’s oppressive and inhumane regime to choose the world investigators on freedom of speech, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief.&#8221;
The appointment seems particularly egregious in light of China&#8217;s approach to the coronavirus pandemic and reports that the Chinese government, already well known for curbing the freedom of speech of its constituents as well as their access to vital information, silenced doctors who raised the alarm on coronavirus.
The <a href="https://redirect.viglink.com/?format=go&amp;jsonp=vglnk_158610329830912&amp;key=07fc33cfae8c975920593b7e84c31bbc&amp;libId=k8n8hpqf0102c1o6000DAc0rkektd&amp;cuid=xid%3Afr1586103199681gai&amp;loc=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedailybeast.com%2Fchina-silenced-doctor-who-first-raised-alarm-about-coronovirus-nyt-reports&amp;v=1&amp;out=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2020%2F02%2F01%2Fworld%2Fasia%2Fchina-coronavirus.html%3Faction%3Dclick%26module%3DTop%2520Stories%26pgtype%3DHomepage&amp;ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F&amp;title=China%20Silenced%20Doctor%20Who%20First%20Raised%20Alarm%20About%20Coronavirus%3A%20NYT&amp;txt=%3Cspan%3ERead%20it%20at%20%3C%2Fspan%3E%3Cspan%20class%3D%22ReadItAtLink__name%22%3ENew%20York%20Times%3C%2Fspan%3E">New York Times reported</a> in early February that &#8220;Chinese officials’ initial handling of the coronavirus epidemic allowed it to spread.&#8221;
&#8220;Back in December, weeks before China admitted the outbreak, Dr. Li Wenliang sent a warning about seven people with a &#8216;mysterious illness&#8217; to an online chat group that included medical students,&#8221; per the NYT. &#8220;&#8216;Quarantined in the emergency department,&#8217; the doctor wrote to the group. Hours later, officials from the health department summoned the doctor and sanctioned him for sharing information. He was then compelled to sign a statement of secrecy and told his warning constituted &#8216;illegal behavior.'&#8221;
“In those weeks, the authorities silenced doctors and others for raising red flags,” the NYT adds. “They played down the dangers to the public, leaving the city’s 11 million residents unaware they should protect themselves.&#8221;
As for &#8220;arbitrary detention,&#8221; in the weeks and months before China suffered the first coronavirus outbreak, the Chinese government was being investigated for a series of &#8220;concentration camps,&#8221; where millions of ethnically-Chinese Muslims, known as Uigurs, were reportedly being kept in cramped, unsafe conditions and forced to work as slaves in Chinese factories.

China Appointed To UN Human Rights Panel To Help Identify Threats To Free Speech

On Wednesday despite its litany of reported human rights abuses, Communist China was appointed to a United Nations Human Rights Council panel called the Consultative Group, a panel that will choose some of the U.N.’s human rights investigators. The Consultative Group has only five members who help select at least <a href="https://unwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Vacancies-HRC44-46-.pdf">17 UN human rights mandate-holders</a> who investigate, watch over and publicly report on violations, as <a href="https://unwatch.org/china-joins-u-n-human-rights-panel-will-help-pick-experts-on-free-speech-health-arbitrary-detention/">UN Watch</a> reports.
The United Nations <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/SP/Pages/BasicInformationSelectionIndependentExperts.aspx">writes</a> of the selection and appointment process for independent United Nations experts of the Human Rights Council:
<blockquote>Independent United Nations experts of the Human Rights Council are appointed through a competitive and transparent process which involves an online written application in response to a call for candidatures issued by the Secretariat. Shortlisted candidates are then interviewed by telephone by the Consultative Group composed by five Ambassadors nominated by each of the five regional groups. The Consultative Group makes recommendations to the President of the Human Rights Council through its public report. The appointment is finalized when the selected candidate put forward by the President is approved by the Human Rights Council.</blockquote>
Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, which monitors the UN Human Rights Council and has championed the rights of victims in China, stated, “Allowing China’s oppressive and inhumane regime to choose the world investigators on freedom of speech, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief. It’s absurd and immoral for the UN to allow China’s oppressive government a key role in selecting officials who shape international human rights standards and report on violations worldwide.”
<a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/china-and-tibet">Human Rights Watch</a> reported in 2018:
<blockquote>In October, Meng Hongwei, then-president of Interpol, the international police organization, and China’s vice minister for Public Security, disappeared upon return to China and was assumed to be held in “liuzhi.” … Authorities dramatically stepped up repression and systematic abuses against the 13 million Turkic Muslims, including Uyghurs and ethnic Kazakhs, in China’s northwestern Xinjiang region. Authorities have carried out mass arbitrary detention, torture, and mistreatment of some of them in various detention facilities, and increasingly imposed pervasive controls on daily life. New regulations in Tibet now criminalize even traditional forms of social action, including community mediation by religious figures. In Hong Kong, a region promised “a high degree of autonomy” under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the Chinese and Hong Kong governments hastened their efforts in 2018 to undermine people’s rights to free speech and political participation.</blockquote>
<a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/china/">AmnestyUSA</a> echoed:
<blockquote>Repression conducted under the guise of “anti-separatism” or “counter-terrorism” remained particularly severe in the <a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/china/xinjiang/">Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region</a> (Xinjiang) and Tibetan-populated areas (Tibet). Authorities subjected Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang to intrusive surveillance, arbitrary detention and forced indoctrination. From early 2017, after the Xinjiang government had enacted a regulation enforcing so-called “de-extremification”, an estimated up to one million Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other ethnic minority people were sent to internment camps.Police detained human rights defenders outside formal detention facilities, sometimes incommunicado, for long periods, which posed additional risk of torture and other ill-treatment to the detainees.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
No joke: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/China?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#China</a> joins U.N. Human Rights Council panel, where it will help select the U.N.&#39;s next world monitors on freedom of speech, enforced disappearances &amp; arbitrary detention—and on health. That&#39;s like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief. <a href="https://t.co/DqFY90rd6I">https://t.co/DqFY90rd6I</a>
&mdash; Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) <a href="https://twitter.com/HillelNeuer/status/1245890358342553603?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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United Nations Building

China Appointed To U.N. Council That Helps Pick Human Rights Investigators

The Trump administration secured a key victory yesterday at the hostile United Nations, as Holocaust-denying, kleptocratic, jihad-subsidizing Palestinian Authority (PA) chieftain Mahmoud Abbas failed to rally sufficient support to merely force a U.N. Security Council vote on a Palestinian draft resolution that would have rejected the Trump administration&#8217;s recently unveiled <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trumps-deal-of-the-century-for-israel-palestinians-a-realistic-plan-with-arab-states-backing-it">&#8220;deal of the century&#8221; peace plan</a>.
The Security Council vote assuredly would have been vetoed by the United States, a permanent member, but the failure to even successfully garner support to stage a symbolic vote represents a monumental embarrassment for Abbas, the PA successor to unrepentant terrorist Yasser Arafat — himself a mentee of <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-official-record-what-the-mufti-said-to-hitler/">Hitler ally Haj Amin al-Husseini</a>, the former grand mufti of Jerusalem. The diplomatic effort to stymie the symbolic vote, halting it dead in its tracks, thus also represents a clear win for the Trump administration&#8217;s United Nations diplomatic team. The United Nations, of course, is a body <a href="https://unwatch.org/2019-un-general-assembly-resolutions-singling-out-israel-texts-votes-analysis/">infamously hostile to the Jewish state</a> and infamously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-palestinian-frauds-unrwa-called-out-lying-josh-hammer">mollycoddling of the Palestinian-Arab cause</a>.
Abbas is speaking today at a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council. He had initially hoped to stage a Security Council vote on the &#8220;deal of the century&#8221; to follow his speech.
&#8220;This is a significant setback for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,&#8221; Barak Ravid <a href="https://www.axios.com/palestinian-mahmoud-abbas-security-council-vote-81c12553-d692-4a77-a122-10dd7cc141ff.html">opined</a> yesterday for Axios. &#8220;The postponement follows efforts from Jared Kushner and other administration officials over the last few days to dilute the text of the resolution and prevent a vote.&#8221;
&#8220;U.S., Israeli, and Palestinian officials say the text had to be softened because several Security Council members wanted to avoid a confrontation with the U.S.,&#8221; Ravid continued. &#8220;Several sentences that referred directly to the Trump plan were removed.&#8221;
According to Ravid, PA officials still hope to bring the condemnatory resolution up for a Security Council vote later this week.
&#8220;There was immediate speculation that the delay was a backhanded way of pulling the resolution because it lacked the requisite support of nine members for passage,&#8221; The Jerusalem Post <a href="https://www.jpost.com/International/US-suggests-amendments-for-UNSC-resolution-on-Trump-peace-plan-617115">reported</a>. &#8220;Otherwise, it would have been considered that the resolution had failed. The delay comes amid U.S. pressure to soften the language of the resolution towards the U.S. and Israel. A U.S. source with direct knowledge of the negotiations between the members of the Security Council told the Post earlier on Monday that if the resolution would get a vote, a number of countries are expected to abstain.&#8221;
&#8220;The softening of the language comes after U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner’s briefing with [Security Council] members last Thursday,&#8221; the Post continued. &#8220;Kushner was accompanied by Trump&#8217;s assistant and special envoy for international negotiations Avi Berkowitz, and U.S. envoy Brian Hook. The source added that &#8216;there are numerous countries who are considering abstaining&#8217; if the wording is not changed.&#8221;
The U.S. has historically often used its permanent seat the Security Council to veto anti-Israel measures — a trend <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/choosing-not-to-veto-obama-lets-anti-settlement-resolution-pass-at-un-security-council/">notably bucked in December 2016 by the outgoing anti-Israel Obama administration</a>, with respect to U.N. Security Council Resolution 2234.
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RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-pairagraph-trumps-israel-palestinian-peace-plan-is-fair-and-just-part-1">Hammer At ‘Pairagraph’: Trump’s Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan Is Fair And Just (Part 1)</a>
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-pairagraph-trumps-israel-palestinian-peace-plan-is-fair-and-just-part-2">Hammer At ‘Pairagraph’: Trump’s Israel-Palestinian Peace Plan Is Fair And Just (Part 2)</a>

Abbas Embarrassed: Trump Admin Secures Key Victory At Hostile United Nations

Benjamin Netanyahu

Foreign Policy

Israel

Jared Kushner

Mahmoud Abbas

Middle East

Palestinians

Trump Administration

“Jerusalem is ours, our weapon is our Islam, and our ammunition is our children. And you, O my son, are meant for martyrdom.” 
This <a href="https://palwatch.org/page/16939">statement</a>, uttered by a Palestinian mother to her son, was posted on the official Facebook page of Fatah, the political party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Unfortunately, the sentiment expressed in this Facebook post is not a rare one. The use of Palestinian children as child soldiers and terrorists has been prevalent in the Levant for decades — and not just by Fatah. Hamas, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other organizations indoctrinate children and regularly send them to their deaths. With more light being shed on the issue recently, it is time for all people of good conscience to stand up and tell these children what their leaders will not: They deserve life.
The practice of using children in warfare and terrorism is immoral and contradicts the norms outlined in the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx">U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child</a> in 1989. The U.N. articles ban the use of children in any military capacity — such as combatants, laborers, and support staff. Thankfully, many countries have signed and ratified the convention, thereby committing to the protection of the most vulnerable amongst us. However, this ban means nothing if the international community fails to speak up against violations of this norm, or even address the issue in any serious way.
There are roughly <a href="https://www.un.org/youthenvoy/2015/02/4-10-child-soldiers-girls/">300,000 estimated child soldiers</a> around the world in over 20 countries. About 40% of the children are girls, sometimes as young as eight years old. While there has been much attention and even some <a href="https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/2020/02/south-sudan-comprehensive-action-plan-to-end-prevent-all-grave-violations-against-children-signed-by-government/">successes</a> in addressing the issue in African countries (though of course, much more is necessary), the issue of Palestinian-Arab child soldiers, specifically, has thus far failed to grasp the world’s attention. Worse, it is sometimes even excused.
For too long, the systemic abuse that Palestinian minors suffer at the hands of their oppressive leaders has gone largely ignored by the international community. Far too many children have been sent to their deaths, either as suicide bombers or while carrying out stabbing attacks. The abuse extends from &#8220;traditional&#8221; combat roles to every imaginable dangerous auxiliary capacity. Children are used by Gaza-based terror groups as <a href="https://nypost.com/2015/05/02/un-report-outlines-how-hamas-used-kids-as-human-shields/">human shields</a>, whether it’s protecting adult terrorists on the front lines of violent riots, or protecting weapon stores and rocket launching silos intentionally placed in proximity to, or even inside, Gaza schools.
Indoctrination in violence frequently begins in the Palestinian-Arab education system. Countless reports of inflammatory material propagated on official Palestinian Authority- or Hamas-run media have been published, yet have received little condemnation internationally. It took until August 2019 for the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to issue its first ever <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-un-panel-calls-on-palestinians-to-halt-hate-speech-against-israelis/">condemnation</a> of incitement and anti-Semitism found in Palestinian Authority textbooks. The textbooks included glorification of terrorists like <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5161024,00.html">Dalal Mughrabi</a>, who viciously slaughtered 38 civilians, including 13 children, during the 1978 &#8220;Coastal Road massacre.&#8221; Even <a href="https://www.terrorism-info.org.il/Data/articles/Art_20997/E_080_16_1749675127.pdf">kindergarteners</a> are not off limits from Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based terror group, even runs terrorist <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/100000-children-attend-radical-Hamas-summer-camps">summer</a> boot camps for about 10,000 children.
The tragedy of Palestinian child soldiers — or any child soldier, for that matter — does not end once the child takes off the uniform. Those who survive their ordeal often exhibit severe psychological trauma that hinders their ability to adjust to civilian life. The evil people who turn children into tools of war for their own political gain do not merely rob children of their childhoods; they rob them of the joy of living normal lives.
On February 12, 2020, the word commemorates the annual “Red Hand Day,” which is meant to draw attention to child soldiers. There is no better time to shine a light on the plight of Palestinian-Arab children suffering at the hands of their oppressive, corrupt leaders.
Indeed, some have already to take matters into their own hands. A <a href="http://www.pcsweek.org/">multi-NGO campaign</a> is underway on social media and college campuses to raise awareness about the nightmare that so many Palestinian-Arab children are forced to endure. This campaign encourages citizens to send open letters to their governments and public leaders. Yet this is merely the first step.
We all have a duty to raise awareness and pressure Palestinian-Arab leaders to cease these exploitative practices. Palestinian-Arabs must know that they can have more to life than death and murder — and are worth more than ammunition. Even if no one else will tell them this, we must.

FISCHBERGER: Palestinian Child Soldiers Can No Longer Be Ignored

Anti-Semitism

Hamas

Radical Islam

Radical Islamic Terror

American Jews are now embroiled in an important election battle over the U.S. seats at the World Zionist Congress (WZC) for the next five years. Record numbers of Jewish U.S. residents have been casting votes in this <a href="https://www.zionistelection.org/election/2a3b7a80-ba00-42ec-957e-c0375167a065">online election</a>, which ends on March 11.
The World Zionist Congress has a major impact on both Israel and Diaspora Jews. It helps control Israel’s major national institutions’ polices and funding priorities for a $1 billion annual budget.
This election is so important that Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu just called on every eligible Jewish U.S. resident to vote for our slate, the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) Coalition (slate #11). Watch the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBtQ4wfTsaY">video of Netanyahu&#8217;s endorsement here</a>. In addition, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Justice Minister Amir Ohana, several other cabinet ministers, and numerous other Knesset member have all publicly endorsed the ZOA Coalition.
The ZOA Coalition includes 27 of the strongest pro-Israel groups and is leading the battle at the World Zionist Congress to defend Israel, sovereignty, and the safety and well-being of the entire Jewish people.
At the 2015–16 World Zionist Congresses, ZOA Coalition led a difficult, successful two-year battle to pass an anti-&#8220;Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction&#8221; (BDS) resolution to combat boycotts against all Jews, including Jews living in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria. The ZOA Coalition also initiated a WZC program to encourage buying Israeli products, as well as promoting other anti-BDS efforts.
At the most recent (2019) World Zionist Congress, the ZOA Coalition initiated every single pro-Israel and pro-Jewish resolution.
Because rapidly rising anti-Semitic violence in Europe and elsewhere is a major threat, the ZOA Coalition initiated and obtained passage of a WZC resolution giving highest funding priority to rescuing and bringing to Israel Jews who are endangered by global anti-Semitism.
But, despite anti-Semitic murders and frequent attacks on Jews in France, other slates blocked the ZOA Coalition’s efforts to also establish an emergency Aliyah program for endangered French Jewry. If ZOA Coalition obtains more votes in the current election, this won’t happen again. The safety of endangered Jews will always come first.
ZOA Coalition initiated and obtained passage of resolutions condemning UNESCO for denying the Jewish people’s connection to Jewish sites in Jerusalem and Hebron, as well as requiring use of the proper names “Judea and Samaria” — instead of the de-Judaized name “West Bank.” ZOA Coalition also led the 23-year battle to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
We’re extremely concerned about what will happen if the ZOA Coalition does not do well in this WZC election.
Our opponents used the power they obtained in previous WZC elections to stop Israel’s national institutions from purchasing lands in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and even in the Negev. This anti-Jewish discrimination could become even worse.
Shockingly, at the most recent World Zionist Congress, our opponents tried to pass a resolution smearing Israel’s tolerant, multi-faceted society as replete with “institutional racism.” We were only able to defeat this resolution — which reminded us of the notorious 1975 United Nations “Zionism is racism” resolution — by one vote.
An opposition group now openly says that it is running in the WZC election to “divert” the $1 billion per year of Israel’s national institution funding “away from the entrenchment of the occupation.”
“Occupation” is a false propaganda term used to attack Jewish persons’ rights to continue living on historic Jewish lands designated for the Jewish homeland <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-the-trump-administration-is-absolutely-correct-to-call-israeli-settlements-legal">under international law</a>. Anti-Israel boycott groups use the term “occupation” to demonize Israel.  It is frightening that groups running in the WZC election are using the same rallying cry.
The ZOA Coalition (slate #11) needs many more votes now, so that the next attempt to use the World Zionist Congress to smear Israel has no chance of passing. The full slate includes the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), Aish HaTorah, Students Supporting Israel, NORPAC, The Lawfare Project, American Friends of Likud, Dov Hikind’s Americans Against Antisemitism, One Israel Fund, Young Jewish Conservatives, Z Street, American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, American Friends of Likud, Chovevei Zion, Eretz Israel Movement, National Conference on Jewish Affairs, major Russian-Jewish and Persian-Jewish and Ukrainian-Jewish groups, Beta Israel, and more.
Make sure to cast your vote; you have the chance to determine the Jewish future for the next five years. <a href="https://www.zionistelection.org/election/2a3b7a80-ba00-42ec-957e-c0375167a065">Vote Here.</a>
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Mort Klein (<a href="https://twitter.com/mortonaklein7">@mortonaklein7</a>) is national president of ZOA. Mark Levenson is national chairman of ZOA.

United States and Israel flags, Jerusalem, Israel

KLEIN & LEVENSON: Netanyahu Makes Endorsement In American World Zionist Congress Election

Judaism

Zionism

It takes time for attitudes to change, and changing attitudes in the Middle East is a tough proposition. Moving the Europeans may prove harder.
An Israeli general once told this story (I was there):
<blockquote>The Israeli general commanded a unit that crossed the Suez Canal in 1973 after repulsing Egypt’s surprise Yom Kippur War attack. In his headquarters, he received a message that purported to be from an Egyptian general, telling him to come — alone — in a jeep to a certain spot in the desert and “hear something.” The general told the group, “I was sure I was going to die, but I did it.” The Egyptian proved to be the chief of the Egyptian general staff and he, too, was alone.
The Egyptian said, “The war is over.”
The Israeli general said, “Yes. I know.”
The Egyptian general sighed, “Not this war. In 1948, Egypt was within 11 miles of Tel Aviv and you pushed us back. In 1956, you drove through Sinai — but it wasn’t fair because you had the French and the British. In 1967, you did it again — by yourselves. Now you have crossed the Suez Canal and are 99 kilometers from Cairo. I’m here to tell you that you won’t get any closer. The war is over.”
He got back in his jeep and left.
The Israeli returned to his headquarters and told the story to the general staff in Tel Aviv. “No one believed me,&#8221; the Israeli said.</blockquote>
But it was true. The Egyptian government had determined that fighting, losing, and regrouping was not a plan. In 1979, Anwar Sadat went to Jerusalem, and in so doing met Israel’s primary condition for peace — recognition of Israel as a legitimate and permanent state in the region, entitled to “secure and recognized boundaries, free from threats or acts of force” (the language of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242). Today, Egypt and Israel cooperate on energy, security (including for the Gaza Strip), and trade.
In the broader Arab world, it is taking longer. Unable to countenance Jewish sovereignty in the region, the Arabs went to war in 1948 to erase it. They failed. They tried again in 1967. They failed again. After that war, an Arab League Summit convened in Sudan and issued what became known as the Khartoum Resolution: &#8220;No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel.&#8221;
Then there were the conflicts of 1973 and 1982, intifadas, and rocket wars with Gaza.
President Trump called them on it in announcing his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-donald-trumps-vision-for-the-middle-east">“Vision” for the Middle East</a>. “It is time for the Muslim world to fix the mistake it made in 1948, when it chose to attack instead of to recognize the new state of Israel. The Palestinians are the primary pawn in this adventurism, and it is time for this sad chapter in history to end.” Three Arab ambassadors were in the room.
The <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/arab-league-holds-emergency-meeting-trump-plan-200201105251740.html">Arab League hastily convened a summit</a>, responding to the flat rejection of the plan by Palestinian Authority strongman Mahmoud Abbas, who had declined to read or even discuss it. This was not a “three noes” meeting. While the bloc as a whole rejected the Vision, the head of the Arab League said that there was time only for an initial study of the plan, adding that the Palestinian response would be key in shaping a &#8220;collective Arab position.” It should be noted that a day after announcing it would scrap security cooperation with the U.S. and Israel, the Palestinian Authority announced that, in fact, it <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Palestinians-wont-halt-security-ties-with-Israel-US-Ramallah-officials-616503">would not do so.</a>
<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/02/oic-hold-emergency-meeting-trump-middle-east-plan-200203064919675.html">Al Jazeera</a> wrote, “The announcement of Trump&#8217;s plan drew mixed responses from Arab states.” While joining in the vote, Egypt and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-jewish-journal-saudi-arabia-is-now-more-pro-israel-than-the-democratic-party">Saudi Arabia said separately that they “appreciated”</a> Mr. Trump’s efforts and called for renewed negotiations. Sudan’s leader announced a “principled stance on the Palestinian issue and the right of its people to establish its independent state &#8230; in accordance with the Arab consensus and Arab League decisions,” even as in a bit of irony — having hosted the Khartoum Declaration meeting — it established a mechanism for <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israel-Sudan-set-up-normalization-teams-616526">opening diplomatic relations with Israel.</a>
OK, yes, the <a href="https://www.memri.org/reports/qatar-qatar-backed-international-union-muslim-scholars-blast-trumps-peace-plan-it-belongs">International Union of Muslim Scholars</a> (IUMS) consigned the Vision to the “dust heap of history,” but the IUMS is a creation of Qatar and Qatar is a puppet of Iran.
And speaking of Iran, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Josip Borrell met with Iranian leaders and shortly afterward tried to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-reportedly-blocked-from-resolution-condemning-trump-plan-annexation/">ram a condemnation</a> of the Vision though the EU. But EU statements have to be unanimous and, of its 27 countries, six refused — including Italy, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Borrell then issued the statement in his own name.
The interim commissioner-general of UNRWA said, “The plan … is extremely unsettling for the Palestine refugees living under occupation, under blockade and through conflict after conflict and crisis after crisis, hoping for justice and human rights. The international community must send a clear message to Palestine refugees and to the world at large that the international community stands firmly behind them.”
Rightly, Israel chose to <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2020/02/04/israel-harshly-criticizes-eu-over-rejection-of-trump-middle-east-peace-plan/">respond more harshly</a> to the EU and <a href="https://www.algemeiner.com/2020/02/03/israel-slams-unrwa-head-for-attacking-trump-peace-plan/">UNRWA</a> than it did the Arab League.
It has been hard for Arab states to move on from decades of adamant rejection of Israel to talk and trade, and generally accept the nation-state of the Jewish people. That is the reality, not an excuse. But for the EU and UNRWA, to encourage Palestinians in outmoded, fanatical, and dangerous thinking is inexplicable.
Except it isn’t.
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Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/">The Jewish Policy Center</a> in Washington, and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly.

President Trump Meets With Israeli PM Netanyahu At The White House

BRYEN: The Arabs And Europeans React To Trump’s Middle East ‘Vision’

Egypt

Europe

European Union

Iran

Jerusalem

In the United States, “The Cognitive Campaign to Co-opt Zionism” is in full force. This is a movement, sometimes intentional, sometimes unintentional, consisting of one simple goal: The complete separation of Judaism and <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/a-definition-of-zionism">Zionism</a>, which is the belief in the right of the Jewish people to a state in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel.
But what exactly is a cognitive campaign?
In the information era, war is often not waged in any physical space. Instead, the battlefield lies inside peoples’ hearts and minds — where influence is the weapon of choice. As Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser and David Siman-Tov of Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) <a href="https://www.inss.org.il/publication/the-cognitive-campaign-strategic-and-intelligence-perspectives/">explain</a>: “The purpose of the cognitive campaign is to cause target audiences to adopt the perception of reality held by the side wielding the effort, so that it can more easily advance the strategic and/or operational objectives that it sees as critical.”
Campaign activists accomplish this via a wide array of tools, ranging from traditional diplomacy, mass media, social media, grassroots efforts, and so forth. Cognitive campaigns have become such powerful weapons in both domestic and international affairs that governments have created entire agencies to operate exclusively in the field of public perception.
However, the cognitive campaign to co-opt Zionism is one that is seldom discussed, likely due to the sensitivity surrounding the subject within the Jewish community. Jewish identity has many different characteristics. Some emphasize the community aspect of Judaism, others the religious aspect, and others the Zionist aspect. And in a society that puts such an emphasis on personal identity, it is galling to see broad swaths of the public, Jews included, disparage Zionists because of their beliefs. Many American Jews simply do not see Zionism as a legitimate component of Jewish identity. Unfortunately, it is often Jews themselves who take prominent roles in the campaign against Zionism.
The cognitive campaign to separate and redefine Zionism from Judaism is longstanding. For decades, Zionism has been compared, in some quarters, to colonialism, imperialism, and white supremacy. In 1975, a shameful <a href="https://mfa.gov.il/MFA/InternatlOrgs/Issues/Pages/40-years-since-UN-resolution-equating-Zionism-to-racism-10-Nov-2015.aspx">resolution</a> was passed at the U.N. declaring that Zionism is racism (it was later reversed in 1991, but by then the damage was done). Today, this cognitive campaign is led by anti-Israel activists, such as <a href="https://ukmediawatch.org/2016/08/25/guardian-again-whitewashes-the-extremism-of-students-for-justice-in-palestine-sjp/">Students for Justice in Palestine</a>, <a href="https://www.camera.org/article/jewish-voice-for-peace-jvp-what-the-media-is-concealing/">Jewish Voices for Peace</a>, and BDS supporters, who relentlessly promote misinformation that Israel is a non-democratic, oppressive, apartheid state.
In the digital age, almost everyone spends time on social media, where cognitive campaigns thrive, and where people live in echo chambers that oftentimes expose them to only one perspective on a given issue. When combining this one-sided social media exposure with the blatant lies constantly told about <a href="https://israelforever.org/israel/reading/industry_of_lies_media_academia_and_the_israeli_arab_conflict/">Israel in the media and academia</a>, people fall victim to the <a href="https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/illusory-truth-effect/">“illusory truth effect,”</a> which causes them to believe misinformation due to repeated exposure. If someone ignorant of the facts were to stumble upon all the terrible things said about Zionism and Israel, it’s no wonder he might distance himself.
This brings us to President Donald Trump’s recent Israel-related moves. Part of the controversy surrounding the president’s actions is that they amplified the already fraught tension inside the Jewish community about the connection between Judaism and Zionism.
Take, for example, the Trump administration’s <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-pompeos-statement-on-settlements/">declaration</a> that Israel’s &#8220;settlements&#8221; in Judea and Samaria do not necessarily violate international law. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit the nail on the head when he <a href="https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Benjamin-Netanyahu-Mike-Pompeo-speak-at-Kohelet-Policy-Forum-WATCH-613535">stated</a> that the declaration “establishes the truth that we are not strangers in our land.&#8221;
Then there’s President Trump’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-anti-semitism/">executive order</a> (EO) combatting anti-Semitism on college campuses — an EO that many <a href="https://www.heritage.org/religious-liberty/commentary/trumps-executive-order-against-anti-semitism-will-protect-us-jews">erroneously claimed</a> would &#8220;redefine&#8221; Jews as a race or nationality. In fact, the EO merely enshrines that Jews will enjoy the same protections under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act as other racial, ethnic, or national groups. It also implicitly links Zionism with Judaism, by relying on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s <a href="https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/working-definition-antisemitism">Working Definition of Anti-Semitism</a>, which stipulates that “denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination” (i.e., Zionism) is inherently anti-Semitic.
Of course, one cannot forget President Trump’s statement regarding the American embassy move to Jerusalem, when he <a href="https://il.usembassy.gov/statement-president-trump-jerusalem/">reminded the world</a> that Jerusalem was “the capital the Jewish people established in ancient times” — a fact which he reinforced in his newly unveiled vision for a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/peacetoprosperity/">comprehensive peace agreement</a> between Israel and the Palestinians.
All these actions by President Trump not only reaffirm the connection between Jews and Zionism, but also subvert decades of the cognitive campaign’s attempt to separate the two.
Make no mistake — the cognitive campaign to co-opt Zionism is consequential for the Jewish people. Will large sectors of Jewish society continue to distance themselves from Zionism? Or will they re-embrace it?
The most effective way to combat this campaign is through what can be described as a “Counter-Cognitive Campaign.” Obviously, this campaign must spread some much-needed truth about Zionism as a legitimate national movement. Equally important, the campaign must clarify that although Judaism and Zionism need not always be conflated, they must not be disassociated from each other. Of course, not every Jew needs to consider Zionism a core part of his individual identity. We do, however, need to recognize that every Jew enjoys the right to identify as a proud Zionist — and nobody can demonize him or her for that.

Israeli flag

FISCHBERGER: The Cognitive Campaign To Co-Opt Zionism

Donald Trump

Students for Justice in Palestine

We have to wait until President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan is unveiled to discuss it; those already discussing are likely to be wrong. But it is worth reviewing where Israelis, Palestinians, Arab states, and Americans have been — and why this time may be different.
The central flaw in the “Palestinian-Israeli peace process” has never been addressed. There has not been — and there is not now — a shared goal toward which Israelis and Palestinians can be induced to work. Instead, each side has three specific and irreconcilable objectives.
The Palestinians — both Hamas and Fatah — seek:
<ul>
<li>An independent state without recognizing a legitimate and permanent state of Israel in any territory. Both factions are willing to accept a temporary agreement with Israel on the way to the fulfillment of the <a href="https://iris.org.il/plochart.htm">PLO Charter</a> to which both are committed. (Reading the Charter will tell you what else they are committed to, and it isn’t a “two state solution.”)</li>
<li>Sovereign control of East Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state.</li>
<li>The right of entry for all remaining 1948–1949 Arab refugees from Britain’s Mandatory Palestine, as well s their descendants, to any place within pre-1967 Israel in which they or their antecedents claim to have lived.</li>
</ul>
Israel seeks three different things:
<ul>
<li>Recognition of the legitimacy and permanence of Israel within finalized “secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force”: U.N. Resolution 242’s security promise to Israel.</li>
<li>The capital of Israel in Jerusalem and Israeli protection for Jewish patrimony in the eastern part of Jerusalem.</li>
<li>“End of conflict; end of claims.” After an agreement, the Palestinians will not be able to press additional claims against Israel for territory or other “rights.”</li>
</ul>
Beyond the issue of objectives, all previous “Palestinian-Israeli peace processes” were doomed because they operated as if the protagonists were on an island in the middle of the sea rather than in the middle of the Middle East. Until recently, the Palestinians counted on lip service, at a minimum — guns and money in better cases — from the so-called “Arab world” and a variety of African and Middle Eastern states. This broad, if shallow, support covered up the fact that the Palestinians were the weakest link in regional politics. It was impossible for Palestinian Authority (PA) strongman Mahmoud Abbas — let alone Hamas — to recognize the legitimacy of Jewish nationhood and accept a split, rump state squeezed between Jordan and Israel if the Arab states with the money and the guns didn’t go along.
The more the U.S. pressed for Palestinian concessions that would rile the bankers, the more the Palestinians retreated. Intransigence and violence were their defense against being told to defy their Arab state patrons.
The core issue was never jobs or civil society or drinking water — or even a state — for the Palestinians; it was never about Palestinians at all. It was about the failure of the Arab states to accept the reality of 1948 and their losses in 1949, and recognize the legitimacy and permanence of the state of Israel in the region. “Secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force,” says U.N. Resolution 242, and that is the obligation of Arab States to Israel.
And finally, they’re getting there. Anwar Sadat’s bold move has never been the vision of conservative Arab leaders; Sadat, after all, died. But today, Israel’s relations with the Sunni Arab world are closing in on something real. Yes, it is based on threat perception on both sides. Yes, it is tentative. Yes, it has a lot to do with the price of oil. No, it isn’t closeness borne of shared values and governing systems. OK, let’s not get carried away. But this is the Arab-Israeli process. It doesn’t need Palestinians, but maybe they can benefit. If not, not.
Palestinians patrons today are Iran, an increasingly bellicose and Islamist Turkey, and weak European states with little to contribute.
And finally, the Americans.
The PA appears to have mistaken America as an “honest broker” for America as a “neutral party.” Between Palestinians and Israelis, the United States is not, and should not, ever be &#8220;neutral.&#8221; With Israel we share goals, values, and history; with the Palestinians we do not. &#8220;Honest broker&#8221; is something else. The U.S. has an obligation to state clearly the requirements of peace and ensure that both players understand the consequences of breaking the rules.
Pursuit of arrangements between Israel and the Palestinians is not for the faint-hearted. The parties deserve honest brokerage — American &#8220;neutrality&#8221; would be a betrayal of an ally.
Now, let’s see what the Trump administration has in mind.
&nbsp;
Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/">The Jewish Policy Center</a> in Washington, and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly.

US President Donald Gives A Speech At Israel Museum

BRYEN: Running Up To The Peace Process

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Visiting Jerusaelm for the World Holocaust form, French President Emmanuel Macron used the site of a holy church to <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/macron-yells-at-israeli-security-to-leave-french-church-during-jerusalem-visit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.timesofisrael.com/macron-yells-at-israeli-security-to-leave-french-church-during-jerusalem-visit/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579878466728000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGd1lyLaA_FJ-ZMS6QNqiuEPliWKw">yell at the Israeli Police</a> who were protecting him.
This is just another episode of French antagonism to Israel’s presence in Jerusalem. In 2016, France supported a ludicrous UNESCO resolution that implied Jerusalem has no Jewish or Christian historical connection. The French prime minister at the time, Manuel Valls, subsequently expressed regret for his country’s action, but it did not stop France from doing it again: A year later, it abstained on a similar UNESCO resolution.
The following year, when President Trump announced that the United States will recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move its embassy, France was at the forefront of the passionate and angry European opposition — itself more aggressive than the Palestinian and Arab reactions. Macron repeatedly claimed that the recognition would have negative security repercussions well beyond Jerusalem, stating that “the status of Jerusalem is a question of international security which concerns the entire international community.&#8221;
Such European position is based on a 1949 U.N. resolution that designated Jerusalem and Bethlehem as a “corpus separatum” to be placed under an international legal regime — essentially a European colony.
Macron did not stop there, and tried to link the May 2018 Hamas-led &#8220;Nakba day&#8221; Gaza riots to the opening of the new U.S. embassy: “Experience shows that whether you like it or not, things like that provoke violence in response. … This leads to people dying.” He said.
French disruptive meddling in the Middle East is not new. In 1920, French actions triggered the first shots in what became the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. France invaded Syria in order to dethrone the pro-Zionist Arab Emir Faisal and to instill a French regime instead (nominally posing as a League of Nation mandate). While Jews attempted to stay neutral in the French-Arab conflict, local Arab commanders suspected French soldiers were hiding in the Jewish village of Tel-Chai and a deadly battle ensued.
The residue of French colonialism was very much on display in Macron’s visit to Jerusalem on January 22. Indeed, it traces back as far as the inter-colonialist dealings of the 1850s, when the Ottoman Empire gave the Church of Saint Anne to France as a reward for France’s support in the Crimean War.
“Get out,” Macron yelled at Israeli Police as they entered that church with him. Analysts view this as an orchestrated show directed at Macron’s Muslim and far-left anti-Israel voters. Previous French President Jacques Chirac pulled a similar stunt during his 1996 Jerusalem visit. Walking through the narrow alleys of the Old City — a venue of multiple stabbings and other terrorist attacks — Chirac confronted his Israeli security detail for their tight protection.
What is alarming about the January 22 incident is not that Macron, like Chirac, decided to take a shot at Israel for seemingly internal political grains, but that he chose to do so in one of Christianity’s holy sites, located right on the Via Dolorosa. As Macron ordered Israeli Police out, he yelled at them that those rules have been in place for centuries and “that will not change with me.” Macron got it wrong. This colonialist-era arrangement could have only been in place for one century and a half.
While Macron might wish for Jerusalem and Bethlehem to be taken away from the locals and given to the “international community,” this particular part of Jerusalem should apparently belong to France. His spokesperson even clarified this point. Israeli Police stated that Macron’s team later apologized for the incident, and Macron went on to shake the hands of his security detail as they continued their tour of the Old City.
Notwithstanding the apology, one cannot ignore the disturbing pattern. This week’s actions come just a year after Macron outraged the world in announcing his plans to honor Marshal Petain, murderer of the Jews of France and head of the collaborative Vichy government, for his role in World War I. Macron later retracted the plan. Symbolically, the Macron incident occurred as he gathered along with 45 world leaders in Jerusalem to remember the Holocaust — a genocide for which France is still in the early stages of recognizing its previous occupied government&#8217;s complicit guilt. For example, a recent <a href="http://www.claimscon.org/france-study/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.claimscon.org/france-study/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579878466728000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEVIoRCH-fCTziIpPRiSTN_v0QSVQ">study</a> showed that 45% of French millennials are unaware of the occupied French government’s collaboration with the Nazi regime during the Holocaust.
Let us be clear — France is an important ally of both Israel and the United States, and Macron is a friend. He is a courageous fighter against anti-Semitism, including in his repeated proclamation that there is no difference between anti-Zionism and anti Semitism. But friendship requires honesty and France should be told that it is time to take a deep look inside.
France’s repeated episodes of opposition to Jerusalem should not be taken lightly, even if followed by some sort of retraction or apology. Moreover, anti-Semitism in France is rising yet again and trickling up into the mainstream of French society. This was just as it did in the 1890s during the Dreyfus Affair — a stunning case of state-sponsored anti-Semitism spanning multiple levels of French government and society — and just as it did in the 1940s with the Vichy government&#8217;s collaboration with the Nazis.
Rather than yell at Israeli Police that things &#8220;will not change with me,&#8221; it is time for Macron and France to enact radical changes that will put an end to the French government&#8217;s stance against Jerusalem. This should not be done to please Jews or Christians. It should be done for the sake of France itself.
<div></div>
Gol Kalev analyzes trends in Zionism, Europe and global affairs. For more of his articles: <a href="http://europeandjerusalem.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://europeandjerusalem.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1579878466728000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFitK7ujW6YkWYwdOOdDlab9h_iRg">europeandjerusalem.com.</a>
</div>
</div>

Emmanuel Macron

KALEV: Macron Must End France’s Colonialist-Like Stance Against Jerusalem

France

This will not be Tehran 1979. Nor Benghazi 2012.
There were, apparently two groups of invaders at the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-iran-behind-attack-on-u-s-embassy-in-baghdad-will-pay">U.S. embassy in Baghdad</a> — hordes of rioting protesters in the streets and well-covered, professional-looking, careful militia members entering the out building. Security forces (and some contractors) used tear gas and stun guns against the demonstrators as the United States protected its embassy compound — <a href="https://www.tribuneledgernews.com/opinion/embassies-and-consulates-are-not-foreign-territory/article_781a9a04-d64a-11e8-9977-334e978bea56.html">sovereign American territory</a> by international convention.
A bit of U.S.-Iranian history is instructive here. When the Iranians overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, President Jimmy Carter dubbed the Ayatollah Khomeini “<a href="https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Father-of-the-Iranian-revolution">a holy man</a>” with whom, presumably, one could do business. President Barak Obama was certain, in 2015, that “the only alternative to the JCPOA is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obamas-defense-of-the-iran-deal-comes-with-a-tough-love-message/2015/07/15/a7614b4a-2b04-11e5-bd33-395c05608059_story.html">war with Iran</a>,” presumably meaning that the so-called “Iran nuclear deal” was the way to avoid war and restore Iran to the family of nations.
The result of Carter’s assistance to the ayatollah, and Obama’s lapse in memory — the Iranians had, actually, been in a declared state of war with the United States (and Israel) since 1979 — was to allow the juggernaut of Shiite expansionist theology to ruin Iran, invade Iraq, incubate ISIS, occupy Syria, bring its proxy to power and ruin Lebanon, run the Houthi war in Yemen, undermine Bahrain, attack Saudi Arabia, and spread its tentacles across Africa. And this transpired all while Iran violated the U.N. ban on Iranian arms imports and exports, the U.N. ban on the development of Iranian ballistic missiles, and the P5+1-ratified-by-the-U.N. ban on the development of nuclear weapons technology.
President Donald Trump harbors no such fantasies. He has already shown that <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2018/03/05/punishing-syrian-chemical-weapons-use/">retaliation</a> for acts of war is in his playbook. But he has also shown that it isn’t necessary to retaliate every time for every single thing — including Iran’s attack on <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/19/world/middleeast/saudi-iran-attack-oil.html">Saudi oil facilities.</a>
As Iran’s tentacles have <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2019/09/03/the-shiite-crescent-and-regional-disaster/">spread farther</a>, it has begun to show signs of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bryen-irans-imperial-overreach">imperial overreach</a>.” The re-imposition of American sanctions means Iran has fewer and fewer resources to stoke the flames of revolution extraterritorially. Rebellion against the clerical regime actually began in December 2017 — not 2019, when The New York Times began to report on it. Uprisings in Lebanon and Iraq began earlier this year — both decidedly anti-Iran and anti-clerical. And, as Iran watches Russia swallow Syria’s <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/78261">reconstruction money</a> for its own purposes, the mullahs appear to have decided it is now time for Iran to reassert itself.
Iranian forces are <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-says-it-shot-rioters-after-rights-group-claims-200-n1094651">out in the streets</a> of multiple Iranian cities and the U.S. confirms that the death toll among demonstrators is <a href="https://www.voanews.com/middle-east/voa-news-iran/us-confirms-report-citing-iran-officials-saying-1500-killed-protests">more than 1,500</a>, including hundreds of women. The ayatollahs have cut off the internet, to the extent they can, to prevent Western understanding of the devastation. Iranian-backed Shiite militias have been out in force in Iraq — not only in Baghdad, but in Shiite cities across the south of the county. The <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/11/lebanon-military-forces-must-end-arbitrary-arrests-and-torture-of-protesters/">Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)</a> plus Hezbollah militias are <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-defund-lebanon-and-do-it-yesterday">trying to get Lebanon</a> under control with some brutal tactics.
It hasn’t been working very well.
A wounded adversary is the most dangerous. The 1944 Battle of the Bulge reflected Hitler’s understanding that the Allies would not be held off forever, so he wanted to make it harder and bloodier to reach V-E Day. Emperor Hirohito’s determination that every Japanese civilian would fight to the death on the mainland — knowing defeat was inevitable — was the impetus for President Truman’s use of the atomic bomb (in part) to short-circuit the casualty count, assessed by analysts to be in the millions.
This is NOT a suggestion that the U.S. storm Iran — or heaven forbid, use an atomic or other weapon against Iranian cities. Not, not, not!
It is, however, a reminder of what we face. Iran has been begging for the sort of American retaliation that it could (A) use to try to bring its population together in opposition to the “Great Satan,” or (B) use to launch Hezbollah to attack Israel, presenting the U.S. with the conundrum that legitimate American retaliation might harm an ally. The death of an American contractor and wounding of several American soldiers last week in Iraq — in a barrage of more than 30 rockets — followed weeks of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-launches-strikes-in-iraq-and-syria-targeting-iran-backed-militia-pentagon-says/2019/12/29/28c12e22-2a64-11ea-be79-83e793dbcaef_story.html">Pentagon warnings</a> that Iranian-backed groups in Iraq were likely to attack U.S. forces there.
American retaliation was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/us-launches-strikes-in-iraq-and-syria-targeting-iran-backed-militia-pentagon-says/2019/12/29/28c12e22-2a64-11ea-be79-83e793dbcaef_story.html">precise, hitting three sites</a>: Weapons storage facilities and locations the militia used to plan attacks against coalition forces.
What happens next is unclear. At this writing, reinforcements for the U.S. embassy have been called in. But there is a clear understanding in Washington that this is not an uprising of Iraqis against the United States. These are Iranian acts of war. Where American retaliation goes will, no doubt, take that into account.
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Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org">The Jewish Policy Center</a> in Washington, and Editor of inFOCUS Quarterly.

Outraged Iraqi protesters storm US embassy in Baghdad

BRYEN: The Unyielding Iranian Menace

Iraq

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Islamic State (ISIS)

Lebanon

New York Times

Nuclear Weapons

The war on motherhood continues. Feminists at the United Nations decried one of the most cherished aspects of being a woman as a “penalty” that keeps them from achieving their potential.
In a tweet posted on Christmas Eve, the verified U.N. Women Twitter account published a picture of a fake “violation” related to motherhood, saying, “Not every woman can afford the penalty #WomensProgress2019 #FamiliesOfToday.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Not every woman can afford the penalty.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensProgress2019?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WomensProgress2019</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FamiliesOfToday?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FamiliesOfToday</a> <a href="https://t.co/86DxuKJedJ">pic.twitter.com/86DxuKJedJ</a>
— UN Women (@UN_Women) <a href="https://twitter.com/UN_Women/status/1209709117297831936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The words “Motherhood penalty” appear in big, bold letters at the top of the photo. Below that an “Issue No.” appears, followed by the name of the “officer” (P. Atriarchy, because of course). Following that, the “Date” and “Time” for the ticket says “Beginning of Time.”
The “violation” is listed as “being a mother.” Next to that, a list of “penalties” allegedly incurred. Here’s the list:
<blockquote>-More unpaid care and domestic work
-Irregular work
-Reduced employment
-Limited maternity benefits
-Gender-based occupational segregation
-Gender pay gaps
-Higher rates of poverty in older age</blockquote>
Forget for a moment that most women find motherhood to be a blessing and a joy, and remember that the alleged penalties listed by the U.N. relate to the choices women make once they become mothers.
For example, most mothers wouldn’t count caring for their children as a penalty, yet the U.N. does. Reduced employment comes from women choosing to leave the workforce to care for their children full-time instead. Men tend to take on more work in order to support the family so that women can be with the children.
Limited maternity benefits, if we’re talking about employer-provided benefits, is an actual issue. Women need time to recover after giving birth, and employers should see the benefits that come from motherhood.
Gender-based occupational segregation likely refers to women gravitating toward certain jobs. This is not a problem. Women are better at some jobs and men are better at others. So what if women end up taking careers that allow them the flexibility to spend time with their children? That makes them smarter. Life is not all about work.
It&#8217;s funny, the Left complains about capitalism and the wealthy, yet they are the ones who reduce people to how much money they make.
Speaking of earnings, no list that tries to paint women as natural-born victims would be complete without mentioning the gender wage gap. As I’ve written too many times to count, the wage gap is a myth. It is actually an earnings gap due to the different choices men and women make in their careers. Countries with more freedom tend to have larger wage gaps because, gasp, when people are allowed to make their own choices, they will choose what works best for them, not for gender studies majors.
Women do not suddenly see their salaries slashed when they become mothers, nor do fathers get raises. Instead, women tend to choose to work fewer hours – leading to lower earnings – while men tend to work more after becoming a father.
There is no motherhood penalty. There are tradeoffs, sure, but the way the U.N. is portraying motherhood is not only wrong, but cruel.

Motherhood

U.N. Tweet Claims Motherhood Is A ‘Penalty’ Not Every Woman ‘Can Afford’

Gender Wage Gap

The United Nations General Assembly (GA) doesn’t take itself seriously. Unlike U.N. Security Council resolutions, GA pronouncements have no enforcement mechanism and often serve only to permit countries to vent — mostly at Israel. But this travesty helps determine the allocation of general U.N. funds — American tax dollars among them, albeit fewer under the Trump administration. So, it is worth parsing the activity of the GA last week.
Thirty-five resolutions were proposed in the GA by the U.N. Special Political and Decolonization Committee. The Committee, which includes Syria, Iraq, Iran, Russia, Bolivia, and Venezuela, has no North American, Western European, or Scandinavian members. Twenty-seven resolutions used general language and named no specific country; eight targeted Israel.
If you thought this would be a good time for the U.N. to recognize the <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2019/11/18/has-the-iranian-empire-overreached/">desperate efforts</a> of the people of Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran to throw off repressive and kleptocratic governments — and specifically, to rid themselves of the destructive machinations of the mullahs of Iran — the GA didn’t agree with you.
If you were waiting for the U.N. to condemn horrific violations against the people of Syria by its own government and aided by Russia and Iran, or to stand up for the Rohingya who have been forced out of Myanmar, or to consider the plight of the Muslim Uighurs of China herded into camps, you’re still waiting.
Slave labor in Qatar; Venezuelans reduced to eating garbage; North Koreans with no discernible human rights; Palestinian-Arab children taught that the highest form of life is death — their own and that of as many Jews as possible; civil war in Libya; increasing repression of the press and of dissent in Russia — all ignored. Turkey, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, and Saudi Arabia — ignored.
OK, actually Syria was mentioned — in the context of Israel’s “illegal occupation” of the “Syrian Golan Heights.” Ninety-five countries voted for Israel to stop “repressive measures against the population of the occupied Syrian Golan” and return the territory to Syria. <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12220.doc.htm">Nine countries voted against</a> and 65 abstained. How many Arab Druze residents of the Golan do you suppose would have voted to be returned to Bashar al-Assad’s rule?
UNRWA, the <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2018/01/08/free-palestinians-end-unrwa-funding/">intergenerational jailor</a> of Palestinians in various countries, was mentioned in four resolutions, one of which extended its mandate until 2023. That passed 167–5 with 7 abstentions. There was no mention of the <a href="https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/report-alleges-ethical-abuses-at-un-agency-for-palestinians">serious allegations</a> of financial corruption and sexual assault against its inmates.
One resolution related to a “Special Committee” investigation on Israeli human rights practices, one was on houses for Jews where the U.N. doesn’t want them (156–6 with 15 abstentions), and one was on “Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people” (154–8 with 15 abstentions).
There are some “good guys” here. The United States, which changed its vote from “abstain” to “no” on the settlement resolution, and Israel. Then, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and the United Kingdom voted “no” on one or more resolutions. The <a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2019/ga12220.doc.htm">representative of Brazil</a> expressed support for less biased texts, noting that human resources should not be used to promote biased views.
Bravo, all.
But what about all those abstentions? Israel has very good relations with Cameroon, Togo, Rwanda and Vanuatu, for example — all of which abstained on at least one resolution and voted for the others. Much of Western Europe abstains and pretends — like the GA itself — that it doesn’t matter. It matters because of the money — but more important, it matters for countries to be honest and honorable, and it matters in the end because GA resolutions can be defeated. The particularly nasty resolution about “Israeli practices affecting the human right of the Palestinian people” passed by a vote of 82–11 with 78 abstentions. If the abstainers had voted “no,” the vote would have been 89–82 AGAINST a U.N. travesty.
The U.N. is a pit. The Trump administration has chosen to deal with it by withdrawing from and withholding money from specific U.N. entities that are particularly awful — <a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/06/19/621435225/u-s-announces-its-withdrawal-from-u-n-s-human-rights-council">the Human Rights Council</a>, UNRWA and the <a href="https://www.jewishpolicycenter.org/2017/11/16/the-paris-agreement-and-federalism/">UN Climate Pact</a>, for starters — and stating the American case forcefully within the building.
It is probably the right call.
Israel has been asked an infinite number of times why it doesn’t just throw in the towel and leave, but Ambassador Danny Danon told inFOCUS Magazine in an interview:
<blockquote>There is a gap between the public U.N. and the private U.N. Publicly, they will condemn Israel, but privately they admire Israel … in every bilateral meeting I have with a head of state, I say, “We want to see the great bilateral relations or trade relations that you have with Israel reflected when it comes to a vote in the U.N.”</blockquote>
To the extent Danon is successful, there is a path for America and Israel to persevere and convince abstainers to vote their consciences — and reality.
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Shoshana Bryen is Senior Director of The Jewish Policy Center and Editor of inFOCUS Magazine.

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BRYEN: The U.N. General Assembly Is A Joke. But Let’s Take It Seriously.

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