Take Action

Thank Canada for Defending Human Rights Principles

Feel free to edit the letter or subject line as you like.

"Blame Canada?" No. Thank Canada -- for its principled votes at the U.N. to resist the political agenda of bigots and tyrants. The U.N. Human Rights Council is wholly owned and operated by Islamic states that legitimize Hamas and Hezbollah terrorism, supported by an automatic majority from China, Cuba, and other repressive regimes. Canada is the only country that has been willing to stand up and resist Orwellian resolutions that are destroying the true principles of human rights.

Thank Canada for courageously opposing the cynical abuse of the U.N.’s founding principles of universality, equality and fairness.

Take Action

Message Recipients

Stephen Harper (CA)

Email
Print a Letter

A copy of your message will also be sent to:

Your House of Commons(s)

Email
Print a Letter

Review the Message

Subject:*

Dear (recipient name),

I wish to thank you and your government for Canada’s principled vote, at the U.N. Human Rights Council’s biased January 2009 session, to oppose the one-sided and counter-productive resolution on the Hamas-Israel war. That Canada was the only country to vote No (the U.S. is not currently a member of this body) is a badge of honor.

As you know, that lopsided text--initiated by Egypt, Pakistan and Cuba on behalf of the Arab, Islamic and Non-Aligned groups--omitted any mention of Hamas, used a tongue-in-cheek tone to mock Israeli suffering, and failed to acknowledge Israel’s right to defend itself against the terror of 10,000 rockets fired against civilian population centers.

As such, the resolution granted further legitimacy, impunity and encouragement to Hamas’ deliberate attacks against civilians, threatening to encourage only more violence and victims--and still more of the same futile U.N. sessions.

“The text fails to clearly recognize that rocket fire on Israel led to the current crisis,” Canada’s representative at the Council rightly stated, and it uses “unnecessary and unhelpful, inflammatory language.”  While I lament the suffering of all innocent victims in Gaza and Israel, we share your view that yet another one-sided U.N. resolution does nothing to alleviate anyone’s suffering.

On the contrary, by providing a wink and nod to terror, the Human Rights Council created yet another obstacle to the better future that both sides so desperately need. Driven by the powerful Arab and Islamic voting blocs--and supported by an automatic majority from anti-democratic members such as China, Russia and Cuba--the Council once again sent Iran and its violent proxies all the wrong signals, setting back the cause of peace and stability, for people in the Middle East and around the world.
 
It is telling when a session organized under the banner of human rights is led by some of the world’s worst violators of human rights.  Sponsors of the session included Council members such as Angola, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Jordan, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Senegal.  Interestingly, all of these countries and their allies take a consistent position at the U.N. of opposing resolutions that criticize countries by name--yet act otherwise when it comes to condemning Israel.

By contrast, and equally telling, not a single European Union state voted for this one-sided text.  Instead, after Canada took leadership for the Council’s democratic states and called for a vote, France, Germany, Italy, Britain, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Ukraine, Switzerland, Japan, Cameroon, South Korea, all chose to abstain.

This latest resolution marks the twenty-first condemnation of Israel by the Human Rights Council, compared to only five directed at the rest of the world.  Responsible voices at the U.N. recognize how damaging this farcical situation is to the reputation of the world body, and to its ability to address the world’s most pressing human rights challenges.

In addressing the Council’s one-sided obsession with Israel, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in June 2007 denounced “the Council’s decision to single out only one specific regional item, given the range of human rights violations throughout the entire world.”

Similarly, in November 2006, former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, lamented the fact that, “Since the beginning of their work, they have focused almost entirely on Israel, and there are other crisis situations, like Sudan, where they have not been able to say a word.” Both leaders urged Council members to change course.

Canada has consistently taken the moral lead in heeding this call.  In doing so, Canada lives up to its tradition of defending democracy in face of tyranny. Moreover, Canada’s courageous defense of principle helps to reclaim the dream of Canadian John Humphrey, the McGill University law professor who drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and who for a generation served as head of the U.N. human rights division.

Once again, we thank you for Canada’s continued leadership at the United Nations to defend the true principles of human rights from those seeking to misuse them. I support Canada's fight against the cynical abuse of the U.N.’s founding principles of universality, equality and fairness.

This is very much an uphill struggle, but the price of liberty shall always be eternal vigilance.

Sincerely,

You will receive an email confirming that your message was sent. Check the box if you would also like to receive a copy of this letter.

Taken action before? Just enter your email address and click 'GO'. If not, please fill in the registration form below.

Your email address:
Click Submit Button:

Your Information

*Required Fields

Title
First Name*
Middle Initial
Last Name*
Email*
Phone
(xxx xxx xxxx)
Address Line 1*
Address Line 2
City*
State
Province
ZIP/Postal Code*
Country*
Company Name
Job Title

Topics of Interest

Areas of interest General UN Affairs
Promoting Human Rights
Combating Anti-Semitism

Newsletter Subscriptions

UN Watch Briefing
News Updates & Action Alerts

Click Submit Button: