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Conference of Presidents Condemns UN Statement Calling for Boycott of Israel
New York, November 26, 2008. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations strongly condemned the statement made yesterday by UN General Assembly President Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann calling for an international boycott of Israel after accusing it of being an “apartheid” state.
President d’Escoto Brockmann’s outrageous diatribe criticized Israel for hiding behind the “protective shield of the United States” and further stated that “no amount of arm twisting and intimidation will change the Security Council resolution 181, adopted 61 years ago, calling for the creation of two states.”
“These inflammatory and baseless statements obstruct and hinder the peace process—which is currently the subject of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority—rather than help it succeed,” said Harold Tanner, Chairman, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents. “Furthermore, we wholeheartedly concur with Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev’s response to the president’s statement, recognizing that the peace process is a two-sided process. While both sides have rights, they each also have responsibilities and obligations.”
Such statements and the failure to condemn them undermine the credibility, effectiveness and moral standing of the United Nations. Jewish leaders wrote to Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urging him to speak out against the unacceptable comments of the General Assembly President. “His diatribe harms the UN and denounces a member nation calling for unjustified harsh measures against it. It is imperative that the Secretary General and every member express their revulsion and rejection of Ambassador d’Escoto Brockmann’s speech,” Tanner and Hoenlein said.
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The Conference of Presidents is the central coordinating body representing
51 national Jewish organizations on issues of national and international concern
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