Van der Staaij naar Genève voor Israël

SGP-voorman Kees van der Staaij heeft maandag gesproken op een demonstratie in Genève tegen de partijdigheid van de VN als het gaat over Israël.

Deze demonstratie is gehouden op de Place des Nations, direct voor het gebouw van de VN-organisatie voor mensenrechten (UNHCR). Daar werden op dat moment zeven anti-Israëlische rapporten behandeld.

Deze demonstratie is georganiseerd door UN Watch, een organisatie die zich er onder andere voor inzet dat de VN evenwichtiger oordeelt over het conflict in het Midden-Oosten. In 2017 nam de Tweede Kamer een motie van Kees van der Staaij aan waarin stelling wordt genomen tegen het feit dat Israël in de VN onevenredig vaak wordt veroordeeld.

Andere sprekers op de manifestatie waren onder meer:

• de VS-ambassadeur in Duitsland R. Grenell,
• de Franse schrijver-journalist (Charlie Hebdo) Philippe Val,
• terrorisme-expert kolonel R. Kemp,
• de voormalige Israël ambassadeur bij de VN D. Gold, en
• Péter Niedermüller, lid van de Socialistische fractie in het EP.

Kijk hier voor meer informatie over de organisatie en de andere sprekers.

Lees hieronder de speech van Kees van der Staaij:
March 18, 2019, speech at rally UN Watch, UN General Assembly Geneva 

Ladies and gentlemen, Friends of Israel, I stand here before you, with a heart full of compassion. Compassion with the great state and people of Israel. A state, founded on the principles of liberty and democracy. A state, like an oasis in a region of violence and poverty. A state, born out of an era with the harshest persecution mankind has ever seen.

I stand here before you today, with a heart full of joy. Joy, because we are not standing alone. On the contrary: hundreds, maybe thousands of friends of Israel are gathered here today, to say: Israel, we stand with you! Israel, we have your back!…

And I stand here with a heart filled with determination. As a member of the Dutch Parliament, I am determined to speak out for the sake of Israel. We have done so in the past, and will do so in the future. We will not be silent.

 Friends of Israel, Today, the international community must face the fact: the poison of antisemitism is as active and infective as ever. The virus remains widespread across our continent.

Just a week ago, our national broadcast station reported the rise of antisemitism in the Netherlands. What this means, is best expressed by quoting one victim: “We have to hide our Jewish identity”. Think about that for a moment… ‘Going into hiding’ – we’ve seen that before and it’s happening again today. Even though in Europe we said: “never again…”

Also last week, I spoke with a young lady from the Dutch city Almere, she told me that her father had said her that it would be better to hide her necklace with a star of David. The reason: young immigrant children on the streets shouted that there had been a mistake in the past. That her whole family had not been murdered during the second World War…

It’s truly heart-breaking!

Friends of Israel, In an environment where Jews have to hide their identity, and many still believe anti-Semitic conspiracy theories; in such a climate of distrust, hatred and insecurity, we should be more than careful when judging Israel. We should be balanced, thorough, and truth-seeking.

But in reality the UN don’t act on this way. On the contrary:

Israel remains the main target of one-sided resolutions of UN-bodies like the Human Rights Committee. It’s nothing less than an obsession, in particular of Islamic countries in the Middle East. It’s nothing less than an unacceptable encouragement of antisemitism. 

This is what UN Watch rightly points out, and I applaud them for that!

This is the reason why my party has in recent years proposed a parliamentary motion, urging our government to combat the disproportional targeting of Israel within UN bodies. And thankfully, our motion was adopted!... Now it’s needed to put into practise.

Our goal is a full stop of the disproportional targeting of Israel. And if the Netherlands take this step, we won’t be alone. Some states went before us. And more countries will hopefully follow. Until we end this injustice together.

Therefore, let me make a concrete proposal today. It's a shame that there is a standing agenda item 7 about only Israel, not for China, Russia or Saudie-Arabia. I argue today, that as long as there is such a specific item about Israel exists on the agenda of the Human rights council, countries should vote against all resolutions of this agenda item! Until we end this injustice together. 

Friends of Israel, In our present-day political and cultural climate, in which antisemitism and hatred against Israel are thriving, let’s continue to show our love for and compassion with Israel. Let’s have joy about this massive show of support for Israel! Let’s stay determined to make a change for the better! And let’s always keep praying for the peace of Jerusalem.

Thank you!