editorials
No ‘One Size Fits All’ in Protecting
Minorities T
he announcement that the Biden administration
is establishing an inter-agency group to
coordinate U.S. government efforts “to counter
antisemitism, Islamophobia, and related forms of
bias and discrimination,” shows that the White House
is interested in more than a ceremonial approach to
address antisemitism. That’s a good thing.

But the combination of so many different forms
of bias — antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Black
hatred, anti-Asian hatred, homophobia, transpho-
bia and more — into a homogenized melting pot
of a response risks not adequately dealing with
the complexities of bias against any minority. The
announced approach smacks of trying to please
everyone. We are concerned that it will result in a
response that will please no one.

Each minority community that is a proven target
of the angry, resentful and mentally unbalanced
hate-mongers who are pumped up by the steady
drip of social-media content and loose gun laws is
different. Each is deserving of individualized atten-
tion and the development of a carefully tailored
approach and response. Jews are no exception.

The attacks on Jews continue, with no end in
sight. From spray-painted swastikas and antise-
mitic slogans to taunts, heckling and assaults of
Jewish children and adults on the streets of our
neighborhoods, each disturbing event triggers the
Jewish trauma that our community is not safe.

While we are pleased by the rise in government
dollars earmarked for communal security and the
increasing coordination between law enforcement
and the security monitoring arms of Jewish com-
munities, we worry that much more is needed.

Any plan of action must be based on accurate
information. But it now appears that those respon-
sible for keeping track of hate activity haven’t been
able to gather reliable numbers. The FBI, for exam-
ple, has been criticized for publishing incomplete
data on hate crimes. Thus, the FBI reported a drop in
antisemitic acts in 2021, while the ADL reported an
alarming rise in such activities during the same time.

It turns out that the reason for the disconnect
is simple. The FBI relies on voluntary reports from
law-enforcement agencies. But several major law-en-
forcement regions, including Los Angeles County,
New York, Miami and Chicago, did not submit data for
2021. It is therefore no surprise that without reports
from the very areas where most American Jews live,
the FBI compilations cannot be accurate.

Government officials have explained that many
states and law-enforcement agencies failed to
report on bias and hate activity properly or at all
after a shift to a new reporting system. That means
that the problem of antisemitism is worse than offi-
cials thought and probably closer to what we feel
in our bones. And the same is almost certainly true
for other minorities who are suffering from rising
bias and attacks.

The bureaucratic blunder is disturbing. Even with
the best of intentions, government cannot solve a
problem that it doesn’t fully understand. And with
the White House now proposing to deal with all
forms of bias generically — rather than with delib-
erate focus on each minority community that is
being targeted — we worry that the individualized
and singular needs of each minority community,
including the Jewish one, will not be addressed
sufficiently. That would not be good for anyone. JE
The United Nations, Disappointment
and Irrelevance
W e have long been critical of the world body
known as the United Nations.

Born of a noble purpose as an intergovernmen-
tal organization created to maintain international
peace and security, develop friendly relations
among nations, promote social progress, better
living standards and human rights, achieve inter-
national trust and cooperation, and be a center for
the harmonization of actions and relations among
the countries of the world, the United Nations we
know today is a mere shadow of the lofty institu-
tion it was designed to be. Chief among the reasons
for its failure are the institution’s astonishing lack
of honor and honesty.

The list of U.N. disappointments is long. Two
more occurred over the last few weeks and have
been largely ignored. Perhaps the lack of protest
or comment reflects the irrelevance of the world
body. Perhaps it reflects the futility of criticism.

Most likely, it’s because no one really cares what
the United Nations says or does.

On April 26, Israel will mark its 75th birthday.

That will be a day of great celebration in Israel and
12 DECEMBER 22, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
throughout the Diaspora. But the anniversary will
not be recognized by the United Nations. Instead,
earlier this month, the U.N. General Assembly
voted to commemorate the same day as the 75th
anniversary of the Nakba — the Palestinian term
for catastrophe or disaster — the day that marks
the destruction of Palestinian society and its
homeland that led to the establishment of Israel.

The Nakba Resolution was passed by a vote of 90
in favor, 30 against and 47 abstentions.

Most commentary on the vote has focused on the
lopsided number of countries who voted in favor,
including Israel’s two-faced peace and prosperity
Abraham Accords dance partners, and the stalwart
support of most Western and European Union mem-
bers for the Jewish state, who voted against. We
agree with those comments. But we are bothered
by the 47 abstentions. What is it about this vote that
led to the wobbly-kneed refusal of 47 countries to
take a principled position? And why is it that Ukraine
— a country begging for hard-core Israel support for
its war effort — didn’t even cast a vote?
And speaking of Ukraine, there’s the upcoming,
much-anticipated report of U.N. Secretary-General
António Guterres about Iran’s compliance with the
2015 nuclear deal. In typical, unprincipled U.N. fash-
ion, the secretary-general has yielded to pressure
from Russia not to address the issue of Iran supply-
ing Russia with drones for the war in Ukraine.

Under U.N. Resolution 2231, Iran is prohib-
ited from transferring long-range, payload-laden
drones, like the ones it has provided to support
Russia’s war effort. Russia denies it is using Iranian
drones. Iran admits sending some drones but says
they were sent before the Ukraine war started
in late February. Western states say they have
definitive evidence that both Russia and Iran are
lying, and are demanding a U.N. investigation. The
secretary-general says he won’t conduct an inves-
tigation into compliance issues unless the Security
Council authorizes it. Russia is a permanent mem-
ber of the Security Council with veto power over
such a directive.

So, nothing will happen. And the United Nations
will continue its disappointing tradition of irrele-
vance. JE