The following three essays, by Steve Sheffey, Stephen Zunes, and Matthew RJ Brodsky, speak to the heated and contentious debate raging over the Obama Administration’s policy. President Obama and the SHMA.COM STEVE SHEFFEY

resident ’s special envoy of justice, upheld Israel’s right not just to de- on anti-Semitism, Hannah Rosenthal, fend itself but to investigate itself during its Pobserved in 2010, “Looking at U.N. sta- own military operations.”7 tistics over the last six years, where there have Although Obama won nearly 80 percent of been negative remarks against a country, 170 the Jewish vote in 2008, some maintain that the have been against Israel. Compare that to Jewish vote could be in play in 2012 even North Korea that had eight... Israel has had 50 though there is little statistical evidence to sup- resolutions condemning alleged human rights port this claim8 and even though Obama’s abuses. Compare that to the Sudan which has record is solidly pro-Israel.9 The Obama admin- A longtime pro-Israel and Jewish communal activist, had five. Clearly Israel is being held to a dif- istration worked feverishly in September 2011 to Steve Sheffey served for seven ferent standard and that means it [the U.N.] prevent or defeat a vote on Palestinian statehood years, including two years as has crossed the line from anti-Israel policy to in the U.N. Security Council and to muster as president, on the board of profound anti-Semitism.”1 many votes as possible to diminish the impact CityPAC, a prominent pro-Israel The United States contributes 22 percent of of a non-binding vote in the General Assembly. political action committee in the U.N.’s regular operating budget, which By maintaining that only direct negotiations be- Chicago. He has also been active in lobbying for pro-Israel came to upward of 582 million dollars in 2010.2 tween the parties can lead to peace, President policies among Congressional Taking into account U.S. contributions to the Obama put the Palestinian Authority in the po- candidates in Illinois. Sheffey U.N. peacekeeping budget and contributions to sition of either forgoing their U.N. statehood bid is the author of God Has other U.N. agencies, the total U.S. contribution and returning to the negotiating table, or refus- Brought Me Laughter, a book in 2010 was 7.69 billion dollars.3 Where some ing to negotiate, thus weakening their credibil- of jokes inspired by the have suggested that the U.S. respond by cut- ity and increasing the likelihood that more biblical themes of the 54 weekly Torah portions. ting funding for the U.N. or boycotting its com- countries would join the U.S. in opposing U.N. Subscribe to Sheffey’s weekly mittees, Obama has charted a wiser course. support for Palestinian statehood. newsletter, the “Chicagoland The Obama administration has pursued a In a speech described by the Israeli news- Pro-Israel & Political Update,” policy of active engagement at the U.N. to fight paper Yehidot Aharonot as the most pro-Israel by contacting him at efforts to delegitimize Israel. In 2010, Obama speech ever given by an American president at [email protected]. told the U.N. General Assembly that “Israel’s the U.N., Obama told the world that “America’s 1 http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/ existence must not be a subject for debate,” and commitment to Israel’s security is unshake- JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=170435 that “efforts to chip away at Israel’s legitimacy able” and that “Israel deserves recognition. It 2 http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_ doc.asp?symbol=ST/ADM/SER.B/824 will only be met by the unshakeable opposition deserves normal relations with its neighbors.”10 3 http://www.cnsnews.com/news/articl of the United States.”4 And the Obama admin- This type of consistent engagement at the e/obama-administration-cites-progress- istration succeeded in pushing through the U.N. has been essential in attempting to redress un-slams-republican-critics 4 http://www.state.gov/p/io/rm/2011/ toughest set of sanctions against Iran ever en- the efforts to isolate and delegitimize 166223.htm 5 acted by the U.N. Security Council. Israel. In response to criticism from Rep. Ileana 5 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/ Perhaps most significant, the Obama ad- Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), the chair of the House 10/world/middleeast/10sanctions.html ministration cast its only veto in the U.N. Foreign Affairs Committee, and others who be- 6 http://www.state.gov/p/io/rm/2011/ 166223.htm Security Council against the biased anti-Israel lieve that instead of engaging at the U.N., the 7 http://www.njdc.org/media/entry/ resolution on settlements and promised to veto U.S. should first demand reforms and only then goldstone_israel_adler any U.N. Security Council resolution recogniz- fund the U.N.,11 Assistant Secretary of State for 8 http://washingtonjewishweek.com/ main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID= 6 ing an independent Palestinian state of Palestine. International Organization Affairs Esther Brim- 14&ArticleID=15718 The Obama administration opposed the re- mer said, “President Obama’s decision to pay 9 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000 port of the U.N. Fact Finding Mission on the our U.N. assessments in full has given us 1424053111904060604576574521 495803288.html Gaza Conflict, popularly known as the greater influence with allies, partners, and oth- 10 http://www.nationaljournal.com/ Goldstone Report in reference to its author, ers, and helped us achieve both our policy goals whitehouse/obama-s-speech-to-the- un-general-assembly-as-prepared- Justice Richard Goldstone. Israel’s ambassador at the U.N. as well as much-needed manage- 20110921 12 to the United States, , said, “The ment reform and budget discipline.” 11 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/ administration came out with a statement Prior administrations that generally sup- 26/world/26nations.html 12 http://www.cnsnews.com/news/ against Goldstone that was from our perspec- ported Israel at the U.N. sometimes chose not article/obama-administration-cites- tive just perfect — condemned it as a travesty to veto anti-Israel resolutions. For example, the progress-un-slams-republican-critics

NOVEMBER 2011 | CHESHVAN 5772 [5] Bush administration neglected to veto a 2004 unprecedented resolutions condemning human U.N. Security Council resolution calling on rights abuses in Libya, Iran and then Syria and Israel to stop demolishing Palestinian homes.13 putting in place mechanisms to document SHMA.COM The Reagan administration supported a U.N. abuses and hold those governments to ac- 13 http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/ Security Council resolution condemning Israel count”at the UNHRC.20 2011/02/17/2743029/missing-the- for its 1981 attack on Iraq’s nuclear reactor. These are important ends in themselves, resolution-not-missing-an-opportunity- to-miss-an-opportunity In 2006, the U.N. General Assembly created and they also serve to diminish the council’s 14 http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to ad- disproportionate focus on Israel, which is a /hr_council/hr_q_and_a.htm dress human rights violations14 and to replace product of both the Arab world’s efforts to dele- 15 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2009/03/31/AR2 the U.N. Human Rights Commission, which gitimize Israel and efforts by certain countries 009033102782.html had lost credibility because it included countries to deflect attention from their own human 16 http://www.jta.org/news/article/ 15 2009/03/31/1004147/in-reversal-us- with poor human rights records. The Bush rights violations. to-join-un-rights-council administration refused to join the UNHRC be- It is clear that Hannah Rosenthal and Susan 17 http://www.politico.com/news/stories cause it believed that the UNHRC was not much Rice understand that the UNHRC and the U.N. /0409/20881.html better than the Human Rights Commission and in general are laden with anti-Israel sentiment 18 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/ 2011/03/159343.htm that the U.S. could make a stronger statement and that engagement with the U.N. and its 19 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/ by not participating. agencies is the best way to combat that senti- 2011/03/159343.htm Before the U.S. joined the UNHRC in 2009, ment. For Rice, defending Israel at the U.N. is, 20 http://www.state.gov/p/io/rm/2011 21 /166223.htm the UNHRC passed 32 resolutions, of which 26 in her words, “a significant part of my job.” 16 21 http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/ were critical of Israel. The Bush administra- So what is the rationale for the commitment 2011/09/20/3089493/how-much-of- tion refused to engage UNHRC, thus leaving Obama made in September 2010 before the susan-rices-job-is-about-israel 22 http://www.njdc.org/blog/post/ the council to Israel’s enemies. U.S. U.N. General Assembly? At the time, he said, ricetestimony040611 Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice explained “It should be clear to all that efforts to chip 23 http://blogs.jta.org/politics/article/ that the Obama administration joined the away at Israel’s legitimacy will only be met by 2011/09/20/3089493/how-much-of- 17 susan-rices-job-is-about-israel UNHRC to battle the “anti-Israel crap.” the unshakeable opposition of the United 24 http://www.nationaljournal.com/ By engaging with the UNHRC, the U.S. not States.”22 According to Rice, it’s simple: “We’re whitehouse/obama-s-speech-to-the- only leveraged its power to defend Israel, but it doing what we think is right.”23 As President un-general-assembly-as-prepared- 20110921 also helped shift attention to what the UNHRC Obama told the U.N. in September 2011, the should have been focusing on during its years of “Jewish people have forged a successful state neglect under the Bush administration: freedom in their historic homeland. Israel deserves of assembly and association, woman’s rights, recognition. It deserves normal relations with the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) its neighbors. And friends of the Palestinians do community’s rights, and religious rights.18 The them no favors by ignoring this truth, just as U.S. also spearheaded U.N. efforts to highlight friends of Israel must recognize the need to pur- human rights abuses faced by the LGBT com- sue a two-state solution with a secure Israel munity around the world.19 And the U.S. “led next to an independent Palestine.”24 Netanyahu’s Policies Do Not Help Israel STEPHEN ZUNES

teve Sheffey is certainly correct in recog- embracing an anti-Palestine bias. nizing the counterproductive ramifica- For example, Sheffey refers to an otherwise- Stions of anti-United Nations efforts by the unanimous U.N. Security Council resolution Republicans and in defending the Obama ad- vetoed by the Obama administration last ministration from attacks by the far right that February as being “biased” and “anti-Israel.” falsely accuse him of not defending Israel. The draft resolution, however, simply called on Unfortunately, he falls into the same trap as the both Israelis and Palestinians to act on the basis Republicans he criticizes by accepting much of of international law, other obligations, and pre- Stephen Zunes, a contributing the narrative of Israel’s current right-wing gov- vious agreements; to help advance the peace editor of Tikkun, is a professor ernment and by supporting Washington’s de- process through confidence-building measures of politics and international fense of that government. While it is certainly and continued negotiations on final status studies at the University of San Francisco, where he appropriate to acknowledge and challenge the issues; and for regional actors and the interna- chairs the program in Middle anti-Israel bias often found in the U.N. and tional community to support the peace process. Eastern studies. elsewhere, he flips to the other extreme by The resolution specifically reaffirmed previous

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