More than 2,000 Israel advocates and supporters convened at the United Nations headquarters in New York Wednesday to speak out against the BDS movement.
The summit was convened by Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon in partnership with leading Jewish and pro-Israel organizations, including the CAMERA media watchdog, AEPi, American Center for Law and Justice, Zionist Organization of America, Israel Bonds, StandWithUs, B’nai B’rith International, Israeli-American Council, Maccabee Task Force, Hillel International, Students Supporting Israel, Hasbara Fellowships, Jewish Agency for Israel, Simon Wiesenthal Center, American Zionist Movement and others.
“The halls of the U.N. are now being infiltrated by the boycott movement,” Danon declared at the start of the event. “The U.N.’s Human Rights Council is creating a blacklist of companies and corporations operating in parts of Israel. This is pure anti-Semitism and together with the U.S., our greatest ally, we will keep fighting until BDS is eliminated.”
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley—who recently described herself as the “new sheriff in town” at the world body during the recent AIPAC policy conference, given her bid to change the anti-Israel culture within the U.N. and its agencies—was the event’s main speaker.
“The effort to delegitimize the state of Israel being waged on college campuses and the anti-Israel obsession at the U.N. are one in the same. They both seek to deny Israel’s right to exist. They are both efforts to intimidate her friends and embolden her enemies. They are both extensions of an ancient hatred,” Haley said.
“And how tragic is it that, of all the countries in the world to condemn for human rights violations, these voices choose to single out Israel. Iran, Syria, North Korea and other barbaric regimes are excused by the BDS movement. It makes no sense. And it has no connection to any reasonable definition of justice,” she added. {eoa}
This article was originally published at JNS.org. Used with permission.
