Oct. 27 press conference at U.N. headquarters in New York to raise awareness about anti-Israel "Commission of Inquiry" report

"WHAT: StandWithUs, in cooperation with dozens of other organizations, is holding a press conference to raise awareness about the virulent anti-Israel agenda of the U.N. Human Rights Council, whose modern-day anti-Semitism and obsession with Israel distract the council’s attention and resources from glaring human rights abuses in other countries.

On the morning of Oct. 27, Navi Pillay, Chair of the UNHRC’s “Commission of Inquiry,” will present her latest report to the U.N. General Assembly. Similar to the findings of its scandal-riddled anti-Israel report, which was released on June 7, 2022, this will most assuredly reflect the same bias, minimizing the role of Palestinian terrorism and instead overwhelmingly blaming Israel for the conflict. The US State Department and bipartisan members of Congress have criticized the June 7 report. 22 nations have opposed it.

At the press conference, Ambassador Gilad Erdan — Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN — will receive evidence of hundreds of thousands of unique submissions that were sent to the Commission of Inquiry and have been ignored, and a petition from StandWithUs with over 10,000 signatures from people around the world who are outraged by this latest UN injustice.

There will be testimonies from victims of Palestinian terrorism. Shani Avigal, mother of a 5-year-old child murdered by one of Hamas’ thousands of rockets in May 2021, and Sarri Singer, a survivor of one of the many Palestinian bus bombing terror attacks, will both speak.

WHEN: Thursday, October 27
9:00AM, prior to Pillay presenting the report of the Commission of Inquiry to the UN General Assembly

WHERE: Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza – (1st Ave side)
E. 47th Street, NYC, NY

SPEAKERS:
Host: Carly Gammill – Director of the StandWithUs Center for Combating Antisemitism
Ambassador Gilad Erdan – Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations William Daroff – CEO, Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations
Eric Fingerhut – President and CEO, The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)
Shani Avigal – the mother of a 5-year-old child murdered by one of Hamas’ thousands of rockets in May 2021, is flying in from Israel to talk about her tragic loss.
Sarri Singer – Survivor of Palestinian Bus Bombing Terror Attack, Founder and Director of Strength to Strength
Anne Bayefsky – President, Human Rights Voices, and Professor at Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust
Colonel Richard Kemp – Retired British Army Commander
Olga Meshoe-Washington – South African Native and Board member of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel (IBSI).
Rabbi Eric J. Greenberg – Director of United Nations Relations & Strategic Partnerships, The Simon Wiesenthal Center
Pastor Robert Stearns – Founder of Eagles’ Wings Ministries and President of Israel Christian Nexus

SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS:
Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity, Alums for Campus Fairness, B’nai B’rith International, Club Z, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Eagles’ Wings Ministries, #EndJewHatred, Endowment for Middle East Truth, Hadassah, Women’s Zionist Organization of America, Hindu American Foundation, Human Rights Voices, Israeli American Council (IAC), Israel American Coalition For Action, Institute for Black Solidarity With Israel (IBSI), International Legal Forum, Israel Christian Nexus, Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, The Lawfare Project, NGO Monitor, Reut Group, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Shurat HaDin, Simon Wiesenthal Center, South African Friends of Israel, South African Zionist Federation, StandWithUs Center for Combating Antisemitism, StandWithUs Saidoff Legal Department, UK Lawyers for Israel, Zionist Organization of America.

BACKGROUND:
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has created a permanent “Commission of Inquiry” (COI) targeting Israel. It is led by officials with long records of modern-day anti-Semitism.

Its “findings,” which are based on anonymously-collected submissions, exclude thousands of submissions that don’t support its anti-Israel agenda.

Its proposed budget ($5.5 million annually) and staff are twice the size of a similar commission focusing on the Syrian Civil War.

Unlike any other Commission of Inquiry, the COI has no endpoint and can continue in perpetuity.

The UNHRC abuses its power through systemic discrimination against Israel, the only proven democracy in the Middle East. It has condemned and investigated the Jewish state more than all other governments in the world combined. The UNHRC has only one standing agenda item dedicated to defaming just one country: Israel. Even UN Secretaries-General have publicly criticized the UNHRC’s bias, but nothing has changed. In fact, with the new “Commission of Inquiry,” the anti-Israel bias reaches a new low. The UNHRC espouses the hallmarks of modern-day anti-Semitism, thus lending credibility to a hatred that is already threatening Jews around the world with rising physical and verbal attacks in person and on social media."