October 20, 2013 – Targum Shlishi is supporting the 2013 Iran Human Rights Project, an initiative by the Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch to promote awareness and counter the massive abuses of fundamental human rights committed by the Iranian regime. As part of the initiative, UN Watch is bringing renowned experts as well as victims of the regime to testify at the UN.
“These speakers will expose the regime’s true nature by detailing Iran’s systemic assault upon the human rights of its own citizens as well as its assault upon the human rights of citizens beyond its borders, including its genocidal incitement calling for the destruction of the Jewish state,” says Hillel C. Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.
In early August, in association with “Al Quds Day,” there was a series of speeches offensive to Israel by senior figures in the Iranian government and others. Outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Israel “has no place in this region,” while president-elect Hassan Rouhani said that Israel was “a sore” that “has afflicted the body of the Islamic world for many years.” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Israel was a “cancerous gland” that needed to be “excised.”
In response, UN Watch urged condemnation of the Iranian regime’s incitement to religious hatred. At that time, Neuer noted that “it is urgent for leaders of the United Nations and especially its human rights officials to make it crystal clear to Iran’s regime that threatening a UN member state’s existence—and incited masses to base hatred against another people—is not only offensive and inflammatory, it’s a gross breach of the UN’s charter and core human rights conventions.”
“Iran poses a serious and urgent threat to Israel, the Arab world, and the West,” says Aryeh Rubin, director of Targum Shlishi. “A nuclear Iran—which is imminent—threatens Israel’s existence as well as the security of the world at large. With the recent moves by the new Iranian leader, President Rouhani, and with many in the West buying into his rhetoric, the urgency of the Iranian nuclear threat must be hammered home.”
UN Watch is a non-governmental organization whose mission is to monitor the United Nations according to the standards set forth in its own Charter. Established in 1993, UN Watch is an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and an Association NGO to the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).
Recently, Targum Shlishi has also renewed its support, for a second year, for three additional innovative initiatives, two aimed at countering the threat posed by Iran and one whose goal is to strengthen diplomatic relations for Israel. Those projects are:
- The Iran Corruption and Social Media Project implemented by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies uses military grade social media technology to comb through hundreds of thousands of social media conversations to evaluate the impact of Western economic sanctions on the region, identify signs of widespread Iranian discontent, and identify and quality the extent of corruption by the Iranian regime.
- The Wikipedia Initiative conducted by NGO Monitor is a pilot project in which NGO Monitor is adding information exposing false claims and double standards to the entries for NGOs including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International as well as adding information to entries such as those for the Goldstone Report and BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions), the campaign against Israel started in 2005 by Palestinian NGOs.
- At the same time that it is critical to act against the Iranian threat, it is also crucial to build and strengthen relations with allies. The European Leadership Network (ELNET) is at work on an initiative to positively impact Germany-Israel relations, as Germany is critical to Israel both diplomatically and militarily and has historically been Israel’s greatest supporter in Europe. ELNET is working to strengthen this relationship in several ways, including a Germany-Israel dialogue and relationship-building with German officials and policymakers.
About Targum Shlishi
Targum Shlishi is dedicated to providing a range of creative solutions to problems facing Jewry today. Premised on the conviction that dynamic change and adaptation have historically been crucial to a vibrant and relevant Judaism and to the survival of its people, Targum Shlishi’s initiatives are designed to stimulate the development of new ideas and innovative strategies that will enable Jewish life, its culture, and its traditions to continue to flourish. For more information on the foundation, visit its website: www.targumshlishi.org.
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