The First of its Kind: UNGA Informal Plenary on Anti-Semitism

By: Kayla Green, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Class of 2015

“It is up to you who are the faces of the world to be the architect of the house in which the Mother of all hates will see its face reduced”  —Bernard-Henri Lévy, Keynote Speech at the General Assembly Meeting on the Rise of Anti-Semitism

On 22 January 2015, the United Nations General Assembly met to address the concerns of a rise in anti-Semitic violence worldwide. This informal meeting was the first of its kind and began with a keynote speech by Mr. Bernard-Henri Lévy, French intellectual, philosopher and writer, Keynote speaker, who implored those in attendance that “when a Jew is struck, humanity falls to the ground.”

On the subject of the new European wave of anti-Semitism, the Representative of the European Union to the United Nations noted, in a statement reaffirmed by all EU representatives, that the several incidents in Europe culminating in the “attacks in Brussels and Paris” assault the heart of the European Union’s “common values.” On that note, H.E. Harlem Desir, State Secretary for European Affairs, France stated that combatting anti-Semitism is combatting hatred, ignorance and impunity. H.E. Samantha Power, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations and member of President Obama’s Cabinet, reiterated that “any Jew in France, in Europe, or anywhere in the world who fears wearing a kippah, shopping in a [kosher] market, putting up a mezuzah, or fears living in a Jewish community is a victim of anti-Semitism,” and reminded the GA that “when the human rights of Jews are repressed, the rights of other groups are often not far behind.”

Though the United Nations devoted the day of 27th January[1] 2015 to the observance of the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, many states chose to focus their speeches on the importance of Holocaust memorialization. Notably, the Russian Federation spoke almost exclusively about the Holocaust, while Hungary reminded the General Assembly of their recent chairmanship of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Tying the importance of remembrance back to the present agenda, Ron Prosor, the Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN, implored the General Assembly that while “the world once pledged ‘never again’ …here we are, ‘again.’” Prosor also bravely addressed the UN’s entrenched bias against the Jewish state, noting, “anti-Semitism can even be found in the halls of the UN, disguised as genuine concern by a vast number of delegates.” Giving credence to Prosor’s contention, Saudi Arabia, speaking on behalf of the OIC claimed that Israel’s “practices of occupation and colonization have fueled anti-Semitism.” While the morning session of the UNGA was ironically still replete with one-sided condemnation against Israel, as was later echoed by Lebanon and Morocco, the event stood out as the UN’s first attempt towards addressing and condemning violent anti-Semitism and rightly took its place as, in the words of Lévy, “the one and only [forum] where world powers can be orchestrated and shaken.”