The United Nations, Israel, and Me

I grew up with the utmost respect for the United Nations as an organization. I don't remember a Halloween when I didn't tote a Unicef box along with my plastic pumpkin. When I was in elementary school, my mom and one of her friends met up in Manhattan, coming from our respective residences in Brooklyn and Staten Island (and bringing us kids along), and toured the building that houses it. The UN has also been the subject of some scholarly interest for me (though unpublished, my first-semester graduate seminar paper on France's path to a permanent seat on the Security Council remains one of the best pieces of work I did on my way to a Ph.D. in history).

But the UN loses credibility in my eyes when I see how it treats Israel. The Jewish Week reminded me about that in this article published in the November 23 issue. The idea attributed to Daniel Carmon, Israel's deputy permanent representative, that there has been "a considerable [improvement]" in the UN's treatment of Israel from 20-30 years ago, does not, unfortunately, console me.