Samuel Ashner CGS’05 CAS’07
It’s sad that nobody has come to Jonah Kaplan’s defense for pointing out what should be obvious in Wednesday’s column (Analyze This: United Nothing irresponsible on Israel). It has become very un-politically correct to criticize the United Nations while criticizing Israel is very PC. The people writing to criticize Mr. Kaplan’s views and the democratic state of Israel should be ashamed of themselves. While Mr. Kaplan’s views are put forth in a blunt manner, they are largely true. I would like to point out a few facts to the DFP readers. There are no other democracies in the Middle East besides Israel. There are 191 states with UN membership and one with limited membership (Israel). From 1945-2003 there have been 0 resolutions against Palestinian Authority terror. From the period 1962-1989 there have been 429 resolutions against the democratic state of Israel. Israel is barred from the Security Council, WHO, Commission on Human Rights, Conference on Trade and Development, Commission on the Status of Women, and World Intellectual Property Organization. Three State Sponsors of terror are eligible to sit on the UN Commission on Human Rights (CHR): Syria, Cuba, and Libya along with China, Sudan, and Zimbabwe whose abuse records are terrifying. During the last 35 years, 26% of all CHR Resolutions were against Israel. For your information, genocides occurred in Rwanda, Sudan and other nations during this time. From 1945-2004 56% of UN Security Council Resolutions regarding the Middle East have condemned Israel. All of this if quite remarkable considering that Israel’s Land Mass compared to the rest of the Arab Middle East is 0.16% and it has no oil! Has the UN condemned the killing of Homosexuals in the Middle East? It is sad that Palestinians have and still declare asylum for fear of their lives if they are exposed as gay. Are DFP readers aware that after the Asian Tsunami Israel sent an entire field hospital complete with doctors and supplies to Asia to save civilians-many of whom are Muslim? Are they also aware they Israel offered the same to the United States? All of this begs the question why is it not OK for Israel to assassinate terrorist leaders when they blow up pizza parlors? Should Israel have a touchy-feely conversation with the suicide bombers and the fundamentalist community at large? After all, the UN conference on racism in Durban was such an outstanding success. Have there been any resolutions condemning the fact that many terrorist leaders surround themselves with civilians for use as human shields? Israel waits years to assassinate these cowards. How many resolutions have condemned the bombings of innocent teenagers and children at a club or shooting up a Bat Mitzvah with an AK-47? I must be missing something when it is not considered terrorism to kill a 13 year old girl and her family at a joyous occasion. There is a fundamental difference how Israel-a democracy-fights a war and how the Palestinian terrorists fight a war. Palestinian so-called “freedom fighters” target any poor soul-more often than not, just an average Joe. Israel targets the terrorists. This is why the UN’s plethora of resolutions against Israel are meaningless. An enormous double standard is employed. The fact that the UN continually uses it is deplorable. All of this being true, when the UN sees all nations as equal it will be a respected institution.
Samuel M. Ashner CGS’05 CAS’07
