World Jewish News

AJC Discusses Middle East with UN Secretary General.

An American Jewish Committee leadership delegation met yesterday at the UN with Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. It was his first meeting with a Jewish group since his recent Middle East tour.
"We welcomed the opportunity to engage Secretary General Ban in a discussion of Middle East issues of utmost concern to the international community," said AJC Executive Director David A. Harris. "We were impressed by his deep commitment to advancing the search for peace in the region and his keen understanding of the challenges that need to be addressed in order to achieve progress."
During their 45-minute meeting, the AJC delegation, led by AJC President E. Robert Goodkind, discussed with Secretary General Ban, among other issues, the outcome of the Arab League summit in Riyadh, his visit to Israel where he met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and laid a wreath at Yad Vashem, and his efforts to follow-up on full implementation of UN resolutions regarding Lebanon, including Security Council Resolution 1701.
The AJC delegation, while acknowledging some progress in recent years, also raised concerns regarding the treatment of Israel in the UN system.
AJC noted Ban's awareness that Israel has been the overwhelming focus of the UN Human Rights Council, and welcomed his remarks to the Council, expressing hope that it "would live up to its promise." The AJC delegation stressed the egregious human rights situations in Burma, Congo, Iran, Zimbabwe and elsewhere that have been ignored by the Council.
AJC has been closely involved with the UN since the founding of the world body in 1945. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan addressed the AJC Centennial Dinner in Washington last May. AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, based in New York, and UN Watch, AJC's affiliate in Geneva, deal directly and on an ongoing basis with the UN.

Источник: ajc.org