United Nations

05 January 2009

One of the prime missions of EUJS is to act on behalf of notions of ‘tikkun olam,’ of making the world a better place. The diplomatic world is one very critical area to work towards achieving this goal and EUJS has been engaged at the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva for more than 3 years already.

Having obtained the special Consultative Status to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations in May 2006, EUJS is looking into expanding its activities at the UN by running innovative and challenging seminars and by bringing its youth to participate in the important work of the council.

The relationship of Israel with the United Nations has been one of ambivalence since its founding as a result of UN resolution in November 1947.  Since then, Israel has been the focus of relentless and biased resolutions repeatedly condemning the state and its actions.  The treatment of Israel at the ‘newly reformed’ Human Rights Council and its preceding body, the Human Rights Commission, serve as a case in point for a detailed view of the biased actions and hijacking of key UN bodies and for the UN in general.

Many of the challenges facing the UN, and much of the problematic treatment of Israel, are centred at the United Nations Human Rights Council. Be it the current threat coming from Iran or the massacres and ongoing genocide in Darfur – the UN fails to fulfil some of its primary missions in the areas of human rights and international security. This in turn throws into question the relevancy of the UN in the international arena and raises doubts as to the possibility of the Council to return to the spirit of the document which lies at its heart—the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—and the respect and tolerance that it espouses.

Jewish organizations have long been an integral part of campaigns for human dignity and the protection of fundamental freedoms, and it is crucial that this spirit of activism be transmitted to generations to come. The activities of EUJS at the Human Rights Council in the UN will operate in this spirit to ensure that the Council indeed fulfils its critical mission of promoting human rights worldwide instead of being abused as a tool for political gain.