For the past 40 years, the state of Israel and the United Nations have been locked in an abusive, loveless marriage. Neither wanted a divorce, but seemingly nothing could heal the relationship.
That’s because a large bloc of non-aligned member states, including many Arab and Muslim nations, opposed what they perceived as Western colonialism and its wicked Middle Eastern arm, Zionism.
The Jewish community, the United States and their allies knew differently. But that didn’t stop the United Nations from issuing one absurd declaration after another blaming Israel for all the evil in the world while ignoring egregious Palestinian crimes. Who can forget the “Zionism equals racism” resolution and the other such golden oldies?
But once in a while, the United Nations gets it right.
Last Friday, Jan. 26, a resolution calling on all nations to “reject any denial of the Holocaust as a historical event, either in full or in part, or any activities to this end” passed nearly unanimously in the General Assembly. Iran was the conspicuous holdout, rejecting the resolution, which was co-sponsored by 104 countries.
The vote preceded the International Day of Commemoration of the Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, established in 2005 by the U.N. General Assembly, and marked on Jan. 27.
Coming on the heels of Iran’s hideous Holocaust deniers’ conference in December, not to mention the Iranian president’s open threats to annihilate Israel, the global show of support carries some weight.
It doesn’t mean countries such as Venezuela or Tunisia now like Israel more than before –– most assuredly, they do not –– but it does place greater responsibility on them to honor the lessons of the Holocaust.
Chief among those lessons is guaranteeing a permanent safe haven for the Jews of the world. Turns out, we already have one: It’s called Israel.
Said the U.N. undersecretary-general for communications and public information, Shashi Tharoor, “As long as there is a United Nations, Israel is not alone.”
Those are words we are unaccustomed to, and we are pleased to hear them.
Honoring Holocaust victims is an easy call to make. Governments that routinely question Israel’s right to exist have no problem shedding a crocodile tear or two for the 6 million Jews lost in the Shoah. As for the 6 million alive and kicking in Israel, they’re not so sure.
But we will set our skepticism aside to give credit when credit is due. With its vote last week, the United Nations made a good call and sent the right message to the world.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California