Jewish Groups Laud UK, Austria and Denmark for Opposing Notorious ‘Israel-Only’ Condemnation at UN Human Rights Council
by Algemeiner Staff
Britain’s top diplomat won plaudits from pro-Israel and Jewish organizations on Thursday after announcing that the UK would support the Jewish state in the face of “Agenda Item 7” — the UN Human Rights Council’s notorious procedure reserved for Israel alone that annually unleashes a series of condemnatory resolutions.
The UK’s foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, declared that his government would oppose every UNHRC measure on Israeli activity in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Item 7 undermined the “credibility of the world’s leading human rights forum” because of its narrative that “one side alone holds a monopoly of fault,” Hunt said.
Hunt declared that Britain would vote against all resolution texts in the council’s session on Friday, but added that this did not mean his government would “hold back from voicing concerns about Israel’s actions.”
Jewish organizations were quick to wave the Union Jack flag on their Twitter platforms in gratitude. “Thank you UK!” many messages read.
Meanwhile, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced on Thursday that his country would oppose Item 7’s resolutions, during a speech in Brussels.
Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen also took to Twitter to confirm Denmark’s determination to vote against all resolutions under Item 7 at the UNHRC’s current session in Geneva.
The #UK ?? announces they will opposed all anti-Israel measures under Agenda Item 7 at the UNHRC – the special permanent agenda item created exclusively to single out #Israel. ??
Thank you UK! ?? pic.twitter.com/AfuW174Bgs
— StandWithUs (@StandWithUs) March 21, 2019
The UK has just announced that they will vote against Item 7 at the @UN_HRC.
We praise their principled decision & urge other EU states to follow in their lead to reject the council’s pathological promotion of anti-Israel resolutions.https://t.co/f4ywaflcyc
— WJC (@WorldJewishCong) March 21, 2019
The fact that the UNHRC continues to leave Item 7, which discriminates against Israel, on its permanent agenda is a travesty. We applaud @Jeremy_Hunt, the U.K.'s foreign secretary, for calling out this bias and promising to vote against anti-Israel resolutions at the UNHRC.
— B'nai B'rith Int'l (@BnaiBrith) March 21, 2019
Speaking before the AJC in Brussels today, Austria's Chancellor @sebastiankurz declared that Austria will vote against the 'Accountability Resolution' which will come up for a vote before the #UNHumanRights Council soon: 'this resolution is politically biased against Israel' pic.twitter.com/aAHuwHuzlG
— Martin Weiss (@martinoweiss) March 21, 2019
It is fundamentally wrong that Israel as the only country in the world has an entire agenda item dedicated to it in the UN Human Rights Council. Tomorrow therefore – out of principle – Denmark will vote NO to all resolutions under #HRC Item 7. #dkpol
— Anders Samuelsen (@anderssamuelsen) March 21, 2019