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thank you very much mr. president
i'm proud to be speaking today as the embassador of the european union of
jewish students, an umbrella organization representing over two hundred thousand students
i stand before this council as a muslim
not to further demonize the nation of israel but to remind you the
moral obligation we all have here
today to protect the only country in the world
whose very existence is constantly under attack
i come here today to ask questions: why is israel consistently and conspicuously
singled out for condemnation on the grounds of human rights violations
yet the world turns a blind eye to the human rights situations within the rest
of the arab countries or some of the nations from the far east or northern africa
the world was very quick to condemn israel for defending itself from hamas'
unrelenting rockets and mortar attacks from gaza
i ask you what about the human rights of israeli jews, israeli muslims, israeli christians
living constantly in fear of attacks from hamas
are their human rights not as important as the rest of the international community
eujs as a youth movement believes in tolerance and campaigns
heavily on non-discrimination of all. we have taken a number of actions to fight
islamophobia and anti semitism and __phobia. it is however a fact
of history and it is a fact of our nature that we can choose to be
between good and evil
and let us not forget that even now
there are those who will choose evil and would launch another holocaust
if left unchecked
people like ahmadinejad
should not be encouraged by the human rights council
but halted from his anti-israel agenda. as a consequence of decisions being made at
this council anti-semitism has regained a place at our universities where at times
it is not the mob who are removed but the jewish students under attack and
under the shadow of a hateful ideology with global ambitions one which
targets the jewish homeland as a scapegoat
of course like any country
israel should be subjected to fair criticism and
and like any free country israel subjects itself to such criticism however
when there are members of the international community present here today
that do not even accept the existence of israel
how will such a nation ever be subjected to fair criticism.
finally mister president i request the international community gathered here today
to take on their solemn duty to protect and promote human dignity at home and abroad
by defending the vulnerable and by challenging the aggressors
I was honored to have been the representative of the european union
of jewish students at the sixteen session of the human rights council
as a person of all faiths and strongly embedded in all three abrahamic religions
i was proud to be a jewish voice at this council. i am an active
member of my university's jewish society and the british union of jewish students
it was therefore a privilege to take part in the student movement at an
international level
I am an active campaigner or human rights and justice all over the world, however i have
always remained disheartened by the disproportionate and unfair focus of the
human rights council on israel, the disregard to the rights to human dignity for israelis
and the ignorance showed to some of the worst human rights
violators around the world. I have spoken where i can via the united
nations non-governmental liaison service
and various other ngo's and civil societies criticizing the council for
acting according to political considerations as opposed to human rights
however i have never been more concerned of the consequences
of the human rights council's resolutions against israel. as a result
we now see anti-semitism having a stronger voice at our universities.
It is for this reason i felt my voice was strongest represented from the
largest jewish student voice at the human rights council. The eujs campaigns
for the non-discrimination of all and has lead the european student voice with its
constituent members in addressing not only jewish issues but issues affecting
humanity as a whole. although i claim judaism christianity and islam as
all my religions, I have been nutured as a muslim all my life
it was therefore an opportunity for me to support the eujs' progressive
agenda in interfaith collaboration and strengthen its voice at this council
It was difficult to face such a biased audience at the council however i remain proud
that i have joined your movement in protecting and promoting human dignity
for the citizens of the nation whose very existence is persistently under attack
thank you very much. may the peace and blessings of god be with us all