On Sunday, June 11, a boycott of Israeli academics, which had been adopted a few weeks earlier by the U.K. University and College Lecturers' Union (NATFHE), was lifted after the move threatened to derail a merger plan with the larger U.K. Association of University Teachers. The development comes as the Ontario chapter of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) passed a resolution at the end of May to "support the international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions" against Israel. These actions, gaining steam on multiple continents, did not develop out of thin air. Lurking behind them, and many similar moves, is a little known U.N. cadre which is the subject of a report released Monday by EYEontheUN.org.

The multibillion-dollar U.N. system was once largely closed to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as the private playing field of member states. But NGOs have now found their way into the most intimate recesses of the U.N. It is a development, however, that is not a one-way street with the members of so-called "civil society" as mere supplicants looking for an opening. Both the U.N. secretariat and member states have found it extremely useful to operate through NGO "partners" or proxies. One element of this phenomenon is so familiar that the term "GONGO" has been coined, to discredit "government-operated non-governmental organizations."

But there is a much darker side to the U.N.-NGO nexus than the rise of these obvious interlopers in NGO circles. It is the large number of NGOs that have been empowered by U.N.-accreditation to spread anti-Semitism, hate, and encourage terrorism from a U.N. platform. The call for boycotts and sanctions against Israel is a central plank of this campaign.

The U.N. accredits NGOs through its Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Department of Public Information (DPI), or in Israel's case, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP). Accreditation brings with it a number of entitlements, in particular, the wider dissemination of the NGO's views by way of the U.N. website, U.N. conferences, and publications. In Israel's case, the U.N. website specifically links to so-called "like-minded" U.N.-accredited NGOs. Although the U.N. adds a disclaimer about the content of the non-U.N. sites, the only way to get on the list -- and be granted the enormous benefit of being tied directly to a site accessed by millions worldwide -- is to be approved by a "team" of U.N. officials.

The job of disseminating and amplifying the message that U.N. insiders can't always convey conspicuously, is conveniently taken up by NGOs such as those on the U.N. "NGO Network on the Question of Palestine." Its direction is driven by the Inalienable Rights Committee and the U.N.'s Division for Palestinian Rights -- the only committee and division in the U.N. system devoted solely to advancing the claims of a single people.

The following is a sampling of direct quotes taken from the sites of U.N.-accredited NGOs. (Some of the sites contain generic disclaimers though the pieces have been deliberately featured.) The U.N. website links to some of these NGOs directly. They draw an inexorable line between anti-Semitism, belittling Jew-hatred or appropriating anti-Semitism, rejecting the legitimacy of a Jewish state, making wild-allegations against Israel of human-rights atrocities akin to the Nazis (starting with Israel's creation and not a 1967 occupation) and justifying armed struggle, murder, and terrorism. And for what has not been achieved by military force, there is the boycott.

This penchant of U.N.-accredited NGOs for hate and violence does not prevent them from achieving accreditation. In January 2006, the NGO called BADIL, Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, won accreditation despite the fact that BADIL advocates Zionism is racism and the end of a Jewish state. But BADIL had a U.N.-insider on its side. Karen Koning AbuZayd, commissioner general for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), wrote a letter in support of its application, stating: "I take great pleasure in recommending BADIL... BADIL has had an excellent cooperative relationship with UNRWA."

Like-minded NGOs can get more than U.N.-accreditation, or a coveted link from the U.N.'s website. They can also advertise their political campaigns globally without charge courtesy of a biweekly U.N. newsletter called "NGO Action News." According to the U.N., this is a "bi-weekly newsletter issued by the Division for Palestinian Rights of the United Nations Secretariat and intended to provide information on worldwide NGO activities relevant to the question of Palestine." The U.N. solicits submissions, asking NGOs interested in sharing information about their activities to contact the Division for Palestinian Rights. As for accountability, the U.N. says: "[T]he final decision with regard to selecting material for inclusion in the newsletter rests with the Division for Palestinian Rights" -- with a disclaimer about factual accuracy of events scheduled by third parties.

When U.N. Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown decided to interfere in domestic American politics last week by taking specific aim at the Bush administration, recent American votes at the General Assembly, and America's U.N. Ambassador John Bolton in particular -- contrary to U.N. staff rules -- he was part of a larger pattern. What does the latest edition of the U.N.'s NGO Action News advertise -- free of charge? A campaign to object to proposed congressional antiterrorism legislation (which was subsequently adopted). The April-May 2006 edition of the U.N.'s NGO Action News includes:

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation issued a press release on 11 April 2006 informing that over 300 US-based organizations have endorsed an open letter to Members of Congress against the H.R.4681, the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2006 to ban assistance to the Palestinian Authority, introduced after the recent Palestinian legislative elections. The initiative has generated over 12,000 letters. For further information, contact E-Mail: us_campaign@endtheoccupation.org or visit the Campaign's web site: http://www.endtheoccupation.org

The November 2005 issue of NGO Action News advertised an international seminar which included a workshop called "Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment," and a paper on "Local and International Perspectives on a One State Solution." The October-November 2005 NGO Action News announced a conference organized by the Palestine Center promising to discuss "Churches and Divestment: A Third Party Intervention."

The number of U.N. regulations violated by this U.N.-NGO cabal is voluminous, but one particular rule matters above all. It's called the Charter of the United Nations, which bears repeating under the circumstances. The organization was intended to "reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small." We've gone a long way -- in the opposite direction.

 
Anne Bayefsky is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute (http://www.hudson.org/) and at Touro College Law Center. She is also editor of www.EyeontheUN.org.

This article appeared June 12, 2006 on the National Review website
(http://article.nationalreview.com/?q= MDIwOWFkYmI4ZTdkYzNkYzAwMWRmNDE2MjMxZjliMTE=). A full report and supporting documents for this article are available at www.eyeontheun.org.

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