WhatFinger


Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist

Joseph A. Klein is the author of Global Deception: The UN's Stealth Assault on America's Freedom.

Most Recent Articles by Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist:

The United Nations Comes to the Palestinians’ Rescue Once Again

The United Nations Comes to the Palestinians’ Rescue Once AgainUnited Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov predicted that the Middle East peace plan proposed by President Trump on January 28th will not become the basis of negotiations between Israelis and the Palestinians. The plan “does meet every single red line that Israel has put in place for negotiations, but stops very far from addressing the concerns of the Palestinian side,” Mladenov said.
- Saturday, February 1, 2020

Business as Usual at the UN – Blaming Israel, Not the Iranian Regime

Business as Usual at the UN – Blaming Israel, Not the Iranian RegimePresident Donald Trump said on Thursday that he is prepared to unveil his long-awaited Israeli-Palestinian peace plan in a manner of days, shortly before his upcoming meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the prime minister's main political rival Benny Gantz. President Trump evidently has no intention of waiting until the Israeli election this March. “It’s a great plan. It’s a plan that really would work,” the president said. “Look, Israel wants peace, Palestinians want peace. They all want peace. Not everyone wants to say it.”
- Friday, January 24, 2020

UN Secretary General Punts While UN Human Rights Official Denounces U.S.

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Agnes CallamardUnited Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres read a statement to the press at UN headquarters on Monday declaring, “The New Year has begun with our world in turmoil. Geopolitical tensions are at their highest level this century.” The Secretary General did not refer directly to the tensions between the United States and Iran that have escalated sharply during the last week. He punted, although he did make two observations that may have been intended as oblique comments on the current situation.
- Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Israeli Civilian Tells the UN Security Council About Living Under Daily Terrorist Threats

Adele RaemerOn December 18th, the United Nations Security Council held its periodic meeting on the Middle East, focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. With few exceptions, the discussion was full of Israel-bashing and short on condemnations of Palestinian terrorists. Most of the speeches placed Israeli settlements front and center as a “flagrant” violation of “international law” and the primary obstacle to peace.
- Saturday, December 21, 2019

UN Security Council Meets to Address North Korean Provocations

UN Security Council Meets to Address North Korean ProvocationsThe United Nations Security Council received a briefing Wednesday on the recent “deeply troubling” developments concerning North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs from the UN’s Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Khaled Khiari. He noted that North Korea has launched ballistic missiles or other projectiles thirteen times this year, including the late November launch of two projectiles. All such launches and testing are in violation of UN Security Council resolutions, he said. Signs of a rocket-engine test at the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground were reported in the past few days, Mr. Khiari noted. North Korea has also refused to continue any meaningful dialogue with the United States and instead has issued increasingly hostile warnings.
- Friday, December 13, 2019

Israel Expels Human Rights Watch's BDS Supporter Defended by the UN

Israel Expels Human Rights Watch's BDS Supporter Defended by the UN, Omar ShakirHuman Rights Watch is in a lather because the Israeli government decided to expel Human Rights Watch's "Israel and Palestine” director, Omar Shakir, on November 25th . Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, accused Israel of joining “the likes of Venezuela, Iran, and Egypt in barring Human Rights Watch researchers.” United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ spokesperson responded to Shakir’s deportation, saying, “We regret the decision taken by the Israeli authorities to deport him. The secretary-general supports the important work by human rights defenders around the world, and that work should be allowed to continue.” Several UN human rights “experts” had previously criticized Israel’s decision to expel Shakir, which was upheld by the Israeli Supreme Court, as “a body blow to the protection of human rights defenders.”
- Thursday, November 28, 2019

The UN’s Enablement of Erdogan’s Neo-Ottoman Ambitions

The UN’s Enablement of Erdogan’s Neo-Ottoman AmbitionsThe United Nations is an enabler of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman ambitions. For example, according to the official readout of a meeting last Friday in Turkey between United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Erdogan, who had invaded northern Syria to remove the Syrian Kurds from their homes near the Syrian border with Turkey, the Secretary-General expressed “his deep appreciation for the strong cooperation and support of Turkey to the United Nations.” There was nothing in the readout about the Turkish invasion and its devastating consequences for the Kurds displaced from their homes. Instead, Secretary-General Guterres welcomed Turkey’s presentation of its “plan for new settlement areas for the return of Syrian refugees.”
- Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Latest Disgrace at the UN: Election of Venezuela to Human Rights Council

Latest Disgrace at the UN: Election of Venezuela to Human Rights CouncilBy secret ballot on Thursday, the United Nations General Assembly elected 14 member states to join the 47-member UN Human Rights Council for three-year terms beginning on January 1, 2020. The abysmal human rights abusing Maduro regime in Venezuela, which received 105 favorable votes in the election, is one of them.
- Friday, October 18, 2019

Turkey Continues Aggression Against Syrian Kurds as UN Gives Erdogan a Free Pass

Turkey Continues Aggression Against Syrian Kurds as UN Gives Erdogan a Free PassTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched an invasion of northeast Syria last week in order to bring to heel the Syrian Kurdish population there. Erdogan's military operation reportedly displaced at least 160,000 people so far and put many more civilians in harm’s way. At least 38 civilians in Syria have been killed to date since the latest wave of Turkish aggression began. Turkish forces bombarded towns on the Syrian side of its border with Turkey and, with their Syrian allies, have seized large portions of a northern Syrian town six miles from the border.
- Tuesday, October 15, 2019

President Trump Delivers Hard Truths to UN General Assembly

President Trump Delivers Hard Truths to UN General AssemblyUnited Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ speech to the 74th annual High-Level General Assembly meeting on September 24th was full of generalities about world problems the UN is purporting to deal with, in contrast to President Trump's honest discussion of hard truths. “We are here to advance the common good while upholding our shared humanity and values,” the secretary general said. “That vision united the founders of our Organization.”
- Thursday, September 26, 2019

Kelly Craft Steps on the UN Stage as the New U.S. Ambassador

Kelly Craft Steps on the UN Stage as the New U.S. AmbassadorKelly Knight Craft, who is replacing Nikki Haley as the United States ambassador to the United Nations, officially presented her credentials to United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on September 12th. In her remarks to the press afterwards, Ambassador Craft declared that she was coming to the UN "as a voice of America's unwavering commitment to democracy, freedom, human rights and whenever possible peaceful resolution of conflicts." She added, " In a world marked by humanitarian crises and geopolitical challenges, strong American leadership is absolutely critical, and I intend to provide it. I will defend America’s values and interests. I will stand by our friends and allies. I will advocate for the poor and the weak.”
- Thursday, September 12, 2019

Deny UNRWA’s Bid for Undeserved Mandate Renewal

Deny UNRWA’s Bid for Undeserved Mandate RenewalThe United Nations General Assembly mandate for the scandal-ridden United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is coming up for renewal shortly. The renewal request should be denied. Aside from the financial scandals reaching the very top echelons of UNRWA’s leadership, UNRWA has become no more than a tool serving the Palestinian leadership’s relentless drive to liquidate the Jewish state of Israel.
- Saturday, September 7, 2019

Pompeo Warns UN Security Council on Iran and Urges Result-Oriented Multilateralism

Pompeo Warns UN Security Council on Iran and Urges Result-Oriented MultilateralismU.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo traveled to New York on August 20 to participate in a UN Security Council debate on challenges to peace and security in the Middle East. The meeting was convened by Poland, which holds the presidency of the Security Council this month. Secretary Pompeo pointed to the continuing threat that the Iranian regime poses to peace and security in the Middle East region and beyond, providing examples of Iranian provocations such as the Iranian regime's seizure of ships in international waters and the regime’s support to terrorist proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.
- Thursday, August 22, 2019

Sudan’s Transition Agreement Praised by UN Leaves Accountability in Doubt

Sudan’s Transition Agreement Praised by UN Leaves Accountability in DoubtA statement attributable to the spokesperson for United Nations Secretary General António Guterres "warmly congratulates the Sudanese people on the occasion of the important signing ceremony of the documents on transitional civilian authority in Sudan." The statement lauds the power-sharing agreement entered into between the military authorities running Sudan since dictator Omar al-Bashir was overthrown amidst mass protests against his rule and civilian coalition leaders.
- Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Dysfunctional UNRWA’s Latest Disgrace

Dysfunctional UNRWA’s Latest DisgraceThe Trump administration decided last year to cut off U.S. funding for the hopelessly dysfunctional United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). It was a wise decision. A confidential internal report from UNRWA’s own ethics office has chronicled alleged rife mismanagement and corruption reaching the agency’s highest levels of leadership. The report was sent to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's office last December. The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) has reportedly undertaken a probe into the report’s allegations, which has not yet been completed.
- Saturday, August 3, 2019

The UN’s Latest Example of Double Standards Against Israel

The UN’s Latest Example of Double Standards Against IsraelThe United Nations Security Council held its quarterly open debate on July 23rd regarding the situation in the Middle East, focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As usual, the meeting was an occasion for Israel-bashing. This time, there was considerable discussion regarding the demolition by Israeli forces on July 22nd of buildings in the Wadi Hummus/Sur Bahir neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Most of the buildings were still under construction. The Palestinians argued that the demolished buildings were technically on land under Palestinian Authority control, which should not have required Israeli permission to construct so long as the Palestinian Authority had issued its own permit. But Israel considered the location of the buildings to be perilously close to Israel’s security barrier, which was intended to create a sort of buffer zone to more easily prevent surprise terrorist attacks. The matter went to Israel's highest court, which ultimately allowed the demolition to proceed.
- Saturday, July 27, 2019

Iran’s Foreign Minister Whines About U.S. Travel Restrictions

Iran’s Foreign Minister Whines About U.S. Travel RestrictionsIran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif complained on Wednesday about the tight U.S. travel restrictions imposed on members of the Iranian UN mission and their families, which, he charged, put them “under basically inhuman conditions.” The restrictions, which also apply to Zarif himself during his visit this week to UN headquarters in New York, basically limit the Iranian diplomats and their families to traveling between the United Nations, the Iranian UN mission, the Iranian UN ambassador's residence, and JFK Airport. “It is certainly not a friendly action,” Zarif added. He’s right. Nothing that the Iranian regime has done deserves any “friendly” action by the United States.
- Thursday, July 18, 2019

UN Human Rights Chief Condemns U.S. Border Migrant Detention

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said on Monday that she is appalled by the conditions in which migrants and individuals seeking refugee status are being held in detention in the United States after crossing the southern border from Mexico. She stressed that children should never be held in immigration detention or separated from their families, declaring that immigration detention is never in the best interests of a child.
- Wednesday, July 10, 2019

The UN and Anti-Semitism

The UN and Anti-SemitismA United Nations General Assembly meeting on Wednesday, organized by Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon, was devoted to the global scourge of anti-Semitism, a refreshing event held at a venue usually consumed by animus against the Jewish state of Israel. The most moving speech was delivered by Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was shot at a San Diego synagogue by a Jew hating gunman on April 27, 2019, the last day of Passover. A parishioner, Lori Gilbert-Kaye, was killed.
- Friday, June 28, 2019

Secretary General Guterres Sidesteps Criticism of UN Failures on Human Rights

Secretary General Guterres Sidesteps Criticism of UN Failures on Human RightsThree cases of human rights abuses reared their ugly head again this week. The United Nations' role has been called into question, including the responses of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to the criticisms. The first human rights case involves Myanmar. The Free Rohingya Coalition criticized Secretary General Guterres and former UN Resident Coordinator in Myanmar Renata Lok-Dessallien for failing to safeguard thousands of Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority, in Myanmar.
- Saturday, June 22, 2019

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