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EQUALITY 2019 | DIGNITY FAIRNESS FOR ISRAEL HIGHLIGHTS DEMOCRACY HUMAN RIGHTS TOLERANCE FREEDOM Global Impact Mission Overview • Monitor the U.N. by the UN Watch is a non-governmental Thanks to Your Support yardstick of its own charter organization that monitors the performance of the United Nations Thanks to your support, UN Watch worked to achieve important accomplish- • Combat antisemitism & according to the yardstick of its char- ments over the past year in defending human rights, fighting dictatorships, and anti-Israel bias at the U.N. ter, and promotes human rights for all. countering anti-Israeli prejudice. Founded in 1993, UN Watch influ- Protect human rights for • ences decision-makers, educates world victims worldwide IN 2018: opinion and promotes UN reform, transparency and accountability. Headquartered next to the UN 29 9.5 million 156,000 human rights apparatus in Geneva, Speakers Video views Facebook fans UN Watch works with civil society, brought to testify dissidents and victims to focus inter- 116,000 national attention on urgent human 150 Videos produced Twitter followers rights situations worldwide. across multiple accounts 58 UN Watch stands at the forefront in Speeches combating racism, antisemitism and given on 4 41 countries 52,000 anti-Israel prejudice at the UN, taking Languages—English, the offensive against dictatorships and French, Spanish and Subscribers, including government officials, double standards. Hebrew—used to connect with international audiences diplomats, and lawmakers UN Watch receives no funding 24 through website and social reached through briefings published by UN Watch. from any governments, and relies Lectures given media accounts. in 9 countries entirely on charitable donations. 279 Media hits in leading world On April 20, 2009, during the UN’s newspapers with op-eds, Durban II Racism Conference, quotes, and TV interviews UN Watch and the Jewish communities impacting the global conversation on critical of Geneva organized a Yom Hashoah issues. commemoration facing the UN—where Iranian President Ahmadinejad had just taken the floor to deny the Holocaust. Defending Israel at the UN Historic Protest Rally: UN Watch Leads International Coalition When the UN Human Rights Coun- Under the banner of “Enough cil met for an entire day to attack Is Enough,” UN Watch’s Rally For Israel, accusing the Jewish state of Equal Rights at the UN was the most war crimes in 7 biased reports and 5 significant gathering of its kind to condemnatory resolutions, UN Watch demand an end to discrimination led an international coalition of 24 against Israel. organizations for a historic protest In addition, more than 10,000 rally in front of Geneva’s Palais des people worldwide joined the campaign Nations. by signing UN Watch’s online petition U.S. Ambassador to Germany against UN bias, presented to the Richard Grenell, lawmakers from the world body later in the day. European, Dutch and Czech parlia- ments, and eminent intellectuals and NEWS IMPACT national security experts delivered powerful remarks before a crowd of The protest rally was reported around more than 1,000 people who came the world, including by Agence France from across Europe. Israeli-Ethiopian Presse, Voice of America, Dutch news- singer Hagit Yaso delivered a moving paper Reformatisch Dagblad and The musical performance. Jerusalem Post. “To pass resolution after resolution on Israel while frequently ignoring China, Cuba, or Russia, is a horrendous hypocrisy.” —U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell VOTING IMPACT UN Watch’s Campaign Against UN’s Biased Gaza In wake of UN Watch’s rally and campaign, the UN Inquiry vote later that week saw several countries suddenly change their positions on the annual votes—to greater Operating on multiple fronts, UN Watch led the support for Israel. opposition to the UN Human Rights Council’s biased inquiry into “peaceful and civilian • Britain for the first time in history voted ‘No’ to protests” on the Gaza border. Given that the all four Arab-sponsored resolutions tabled under Israeli government did not cooperate with the the anti-Israeli Agenda Item 7. inquiry, UN Watch’s actions played a key role. • Denmark, a new member of the Council, fully backed Israel on the four votes, a marked departure Viral Video: Col. Kemp’s Calls Out from its usual policy in UN bodies. Inquiry At Inception • On the annual resolution calling to prosecute IDF On the day the UNHRC created the probe on May 18 2018, UN Watch soldiers for “war crimes,” Brazil, Hungary, and brought Col. Richard Kemp, who witnessed the riots on the border, to Ukraine changed their votes to ‘No.’ tell the truth. The famed British commander called out the Council’s • On the annual resolution calling on Israel to surren- “failure to admit that Hamas is responsible for every drop of blood spilt der the Golan to Syria, Japan and Brazil changed on the Gaza border,” which only “encourages their violence and use their votes to ‘No.’ of human shields.” Video of the officer’s compelling speech was seen Together, UN Watch and its allies are effecting change. 1 million times on Facebook. But we still have critical work to do to combat the UN’s scapegoating of Israel and the Jewish people. UN Watch Submits Legal Brief For the Record Executive Director Hillel Neuer met with the inquiry’s head lawyer and chief of staff. UN Watch Legal Adviser Dina Rovner authored a 30-page submission, with legal analysis and factual evidence on Hamas’ role, and engaged with the inquiry in a lengthy correspondence on legal questions. Though we had no illusions that the Commission would seriously consider our position, it was important to place the case against Hamas on the record, so that no one could ever claim absence of evidence. Predictably, the Commission’s report completely ignored our material. But when they released their findings on February 28, 2019, accusing Israel of intentionally shooting demonstrators and of “war crimes or crimes against humanity,” UN Watch was ready. We immediately posted a rebuttal of their distorted findings, shared on social media. Counter-Event: Swiss Foreign Minister Admits: ‘UNRWA Experts Refuted Report Inside the UN Has Become Part of the Problem’ When the Commis- • Written Statements: Delegates opening the official sioners presented their UN documents for that day saw two powerful sub- After more than two years of UN Watch lobbying Switzer- skewed report before missions from UN Watch, detailing how Hamas land to change its policies on UNRWA due to the agency’s the Human Rights orchestrated the violence. lack of neutrality, and placing key facts in Swiss media Council on March 18th, reports, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis finally UN Watch fought back: • Plenary Speeches: UN Watch delivered an unprec- admitted that “UNRWA has become part of the problem.” edented five plenary speeches that day, angering He added: “By supporting UNRWA, we keep the conflict the Palestinian representative. As he did in May, alive; it’s a perverse logic.” Col. Kemp took the floor. He testified that the riots were “organized efforts to break through the fence and slaughter Jewish civilians.” He accused the UN of “acting as an instrument of Hamas terrorism” and of “wicked prejudice against the Jewish State Forced UNRWA to and its army, calculated to undermine its ability to Delete Tweet on defend itself.” PFLP Terrorist • Counter Event: As the inquiry was presenting in the When UNRWA tweeted sup- Knesset Leaders Host UN UNHRC plenary, UN Watch held a break out session port for an Israeli Arab mon- Watch for Report Card on in the same building, bringing legal and military ument to the late Ghassan UN & Antisemitism experts to refute the biased report. The room was Kanafani, a so-called “poet,” packed with diplomats and activists, including from UN Watch documented his UN Watch released a major study that the U.S., the European Union, Germany, Austria, role in the 1970s as Beirut examined a decade of inaction by top UN Czech Republic, Canada, Switzerland, Italy and spokesman for the PFLP bodies and officials on antisemitism, and Bulgaria. Live video of the UN Watch counter-panel terrorist group, and tweeted a presented it before a packed chamber in the was viewed 10,000 times. photo of him posing with the Israeli Knesset. Chaired by MK Yair Lapid, founder of the Japanese Red leader of the Yesh Atid Party, the event Army, which carried out the “By omitting from the UNHRC inquiry reports of the use of featured interventions by then Minister 1972 Lod Airport Massacre. of Justice Ayelet Shaked, then opposition human shields by Hamas, the report incentivizes these terror UNRWA quickly deleted its leader Isaac Herzog and numerous lawmak- tactics in the future, and the risk posed to the civilian population post—and then suggested its ers. UN Watch’s findings were reported in of Gaza is exacerbated. If we are really concerned about account had been hacked. The The Jerusalem Post and other newspapers. mitigating harm done to civilians, we should be condemning scandal was reported by i24 Soon after, the United Nations monitor on Hamas’ actions and this report.” news. freedom of religion announced that he would write a major report on antisemitism. — Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey S. Corn (ret.), law professor who formerly advised U.S. Army on laws of war Exposing Palestinian Abuses at Child Rights Committee Ahead of the UN Child Rights Com- mittee’s first review of the Palestinian Authority in June 2019, UN Watch filed a shadow report documenting the PA’s anti-peace educational cur- riculum, incitement of children to terrorism, and extensive violations of the right to life of Israeli children. UN Watch’s submission was reported by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Jewish News Service and the Cleveland Jewish News.