The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on December 1 honoring the Nakba (catastrophe), which is how the Palestinians view the creation of Israel.
The Times of Israel reported that the resolution urged the U.N. to host an event honoring the Nakba in May 2023 and for the “dissemination of relevant archives and testimonies.” The resolution passed by a vote of 90-30, with 47 countries abstaining. Some of the countries that voted no included the United States, Britain, Italy and Israel. Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan denounced the resolution as being a “disgrace,” saying in front of the General Assembly that the 1948 War for Independence happened because “five Arab armies, together with the Arabs living in Israel, tried to destroy and annihilate us.”
The American Jewish Committee tweeted, “On the day we remembered the 850,000 Jews who fled Arab nations following the birth of Israel, the @UN voted to commemorate the Palestinian ‘Nakba.’ Not only does the UN ignore these stories, but it declares Israel’s creation a catastrophe? Outrageous.”
The UN has passed a shameful resolution calling for the commemoration of Palestinian “Nakba Day” – literally declaring Israel's creation a catastrophe.
Continued anti-Israel bias stains the credibility and effectiveness of the world body.https://t.co/2I15VT5onD
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) December 1, 2022
Human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky, who heads the International Legal Forum, similarly tweeted: “The @UN, which was founded on ashes of the Holocaust, is now declaring the establishment of the Jewish state a ‘catastrophe.’ This is morally repugnant! The real ‘Nakba’ was the 850k Jews forced to flee Arab countries!”
The @UN, which was founded on ashes of the Holocaust, is now declaring the establishment of the Jewish state a “catastrophe.” This is morally repugnant! The real ‘Nakba’ was the 850k Jews forced to flee Arab countries! pic.twitter.com/5xJAo8bmpa
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) December 1, 2022
The Anti-Defamation League tweeted, “Yet another one-sided UN resolution on Israel, further demonstrating a continued anti-Israel bias within the international body.”
Yet another one-sided UN resolution on Israel, further demonstrating a continued anti-Israel bias within the international body. https://t.co/V1mOpiAUOn
— ADL (@ADL) December 1, 2022
Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action Agenda at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Rabbi Abraham Cooper also said in a statement, “Instead of urging the Palestinians to learn from the Arab-Israeli Abraham Accords, UN agencies legitimize and bolster Palestinian denial of the Jewish state’s legitimacy. Today’s vote will surely lead to more mendacious and lurid parallels between the Nazi Holocaust and the creation of the Jewish State, a slander that demonizes Israel and plays into the steady diet of hatred that is fed to young Palestinians and repeated by academics and in the media, destroying hopes for real peace and reconciliation.”
