Test test. Test test test. Test test test. Test test test. Test test test test. Peoples framework as well. Let me begin with regard to the laundry under the protective cover of the United Nations. Im not saying anything new when i say yet again in december this year, the annual ritual was repeated of some 20 resolutions of condemnation against one member state in the International Community, it happens to be israel and some three resolutions against the rest of the world combined. Critical mass of indictment and quality of allstates large and small. That is not the disturbing phenomenon there. As someone who is a member of canadian delegation to the United Nations, theres not only a Critical Mass of indictment, theres a Critical Mass of exposure to that indictment. That process which culminates in 20 resolutions of condemnation proceeds over a threemonth period through the various communities and like of the United Nations. The delegations are composed not simply of diplomats. Theyre composed of parliament rarians, of scholars of faith leaders, academics, journalists sometimes even of students. So there is a Critical Mass of exposure to that ongoing process of indictment. I can tell you, many of the people who come to these particle m parliamentary delegations, theyre unformed. When they listen to that drum beat of indictment over three months with resolutions pass that read like findings of fact and conclusions of law, then they internalize willie nilly this delegitimizing dynamic. And that was why one of the things that we need to do is address and redress the situation thats going on at the United Nations. By the way, we know about the 40th anniversary was designed racism resolution. Let me tell you what took place at the exact same time that got no coverage and even no remembrance at all, a process which began then that has been continued since which was portray then as the enemy of all that is good and the repository of all that was evil so it was in 1974 and 75, israel was held up to be the enemy of labor. Evidence, the resolution of the International Labor organization condemning, i use the word alenl, condemning israeli oppression trade union. The enemy of health, the revolution condemning israeli mass poisoning of palestinians on the west bank. The enemy of culture, evidence of the resolution condemning israeli desecration of palestinian holy sites and the west bank. The enemy of women, evidence the resolution of the United Nations commission on the starter of women condemning israel for its oppression of palestinian women. By the way, recently israel became the only state in the world condemned for its oppression of women. I mean, you cant make this thing up unless youre sitting at the United Nations council for human rights. The enemy of peace, evidence the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly condemning israel as nonpeace loving nation and the enemy of human rights, the resolution of the then United Nations commission on human rights, the predecessor to the present un council condemning israel as a major human rights violator. In a word, in a world in which human rights then, let alone until now, im talking about 40 years ago, has emerged as new secular religion of our time. The condemnation of israel has the metta human rights violator meant that israel had emerged new geo political antichrist of our time. So much for the first example. The second example is laundering under the authority of International Law. I could regrettably on this forever, but let me just take one example and it was mentioned earlier today deserves a recall. And that is in december last year, the contracting parties of the Fourth Geneva Convention and armed, the repository of International Humanitarian law or the law of conflict, as it was called, met to put one state in the International Community in the dark. It was not iran, it was not syria. It was not north korea. It was not i can go on. The only state put in the docket when the contracting parties of the Geneva Convention could mean was israel and it has precedence. This was the third time that the contracting parties to the Geneva Convention had met in 50 years and each time they put one state in the docket and each time that state is israel. And let me tell you that this quote unquote jue ju ris pruden without the cave yacht they may refer to the Juris Prudence of the condemnation but not add, by the way, this was the only state in the world so indicted. Leads me, if i may borrow, i dont want to misappropriate another persons pain, but sometimes when i hear about black lives matter and it is true and somebody who has been part of that and movement, sometimes i think when i hear but witness the daily stabbings in israel and the like, someone should also say, and israeli lives matter, as well. Because we are all part of a common humanity and it is blacks, each in its own context that we have to remember and to address those situations. A third reference made and will be made is the laundering of on human rights by the way, just for purposes of anchoring it in history, this is the 70th anniversary now of the founding of the u. N. Commission on human rights back in 19 at the time in 70th anniversary to make the exact time in terms of 1946, in terms of the founding of the u. N. Commissioner. The tenth anniversary now of the u. N. Council of human rights which was set up to address the singling out of israel that it occurred under the u. N. Commission on human rights and to adhere to the u. N. Principle of equality for all nations large and small, but which has even been more prejudicial in its singling out in an obsessive way of one state than its predecessor human rights commission. And here, too, i can go through the resolutions and special sessions, the emergency and such. I want to give you my own personal experience with how this has taken place. You know about the operation protective edge, the u. The council United Nations council established a commission of inquiry to look into it. What it didnt tell you or what was not always a known was that there was some 18 references in the resolution establishing that commission of inquiry into operation protective edge in the last israel, 18 separate references to israeli criminality in the resolution establishing this investigative inquire and not one reference to ham hamas. This was the framework under that resolution was set up. Let me give you my own personal experience, i received a call in 2006 from the then United Nations commission on human rights, lawheeze, when we talk together, a distinguished judge of the Supreme Court of canada that went on to become the United Nations commissioner for human rights. Im calling to ask you to invite you to be a member of commission of inquiry that were setting up to look into killings of palestinians and that come in northern, she said, bishop in south africa, one member and you will be the other. I said, to louise, this commission of inquiry will be going through and she said, no, why would it go . It was because of the rocketing that came from hamas in northern gaza, the rocketing of the civilian starut in southern israel, that israel in responding to that constant rocketing barrage regrettably, tragically a shell, killed 18 palestinians. We know that were not going there, but, you can member a member of the commission. You can, of course, make such submissions as part of the commission. I said, louise, ive read the resolution establishing the commission of inquiry that youre asking me to join. The Resolution Says that israel willingly murdered 18 palestinians. So what is there to investigate. I said, im sorry, i dont intend to be a fig leaf for the u. N. I certainly dont intend to be a jewish fig leaf for the u. N. , which leads me to the final laundering and that is the laundering under the struggle against racism. Lets face it. One of the worst things you can say about a person, let alone a country, the very label supplies the indictment, no further proof extensively is required. If any further proof is required as in the case of israel, then you refer to israel as on a part time state. Referencing israel is not an accidental reference. Because those who draw up the indictment knew and know very well that its defined in International Law as a crime against humanity. If you say israel is an part time state, it is a crime against humanity. If it is a crime against humanity, then it has no right to be and if that is not enough, you call it a na zee state. Not only does it have no right to beat, theres an obligation to ensure there is no right to be. We should recall five years ago Public Opinion survey was done in europe where countries were asked, do you believe that israel is doing to the palestinians what the nazis did to the jews and an average of 40 in the polls pulled said, yes, followed therefore psychological intellectual from this laundering of delegit maization. And so what we find, at this point, in this last part in the struggle against the laundering and the struggle goes back also to durbin, whose 15th anniversary were going to be commemorating and where the Tipping Point for that laundering began. The laundering didnt begin in 2001 in durbin. It began, as i said, way back over 40 years ago and the attempt then to portray israel the enemy of all that is good, but what happened to durbin was a Tipping Point and ill just close with an excerpt of the marches that use to take place, the chanting and the marches in the streets of durbin, dramatically i think conveyed the impact of that laundering and the chanting went as followed, the struggle in the 20th century required the dismantling of South African is part time state and struggle against the parti in the 21 century requires a dismantle of israel as an aparte state. The blueprint for what were witnessing today in the culture and the like, which brings me, now, to the final part and so the question, what needs to be done and in particular what can we do. And i remember two years ago, this conference we discussed how it had been removed from the fra web site, but i want to say that it is still and is part of the u. S. State Department Definition and is part, also, 0 of both the london parliamentary declaration to combat antisentiment. Thats the first thing that we need to do to have more inclusive and common definition. The second thing is, the phenomenon of intersectionalty, which is anchored in the rue bri rue brick of human rights, which under pins the phenomenon of bds that we find even in academic groups. If you look at it, its the health the organization of Health Academics or anthropologyists or this is the nature of intersectionalty. And intersectionalty, in the human rights world, is where all the oppressed groups are victims of oppression come together against to presser. When it comes to the middle east and reconfiguration of the israeli as the israeli conflict with the conflict then defined as a human rights configuration and narrative and where israel is where to press sorry and the palestinians are to pressed then intersectionalty results in a situation recently at Miguel University where the bs movement was joined by the environmentalist, the womans groups the black groups and so on as part of that phenomenon of intersectionalty. And, you know, one of the things about this when i think about intersectionalty is that in a way pioneered. When you think back to the struggle, you had academics, you had lawyers for it. You had scientists. You had women, you had students for soviet jury, we, then, did what today is come to known as intersectionalty on behalf of the struggle for soviet jury which is part of the over all struggle for human rights and which was when when the prototypical metaphor for human rights was a struggle for soviet jury. This has now been turned on its head and intersectionalty has been turned on its head recently a group of students when we hosted at our home told us regarding the recent bds dynamic, that it wasnt just directed against israel, it was directed against the jewish students on the campus in the sense that they were seen in the dynamics of intersectionalty, they were seen as part of the white white Privileged Group that was also dominating the under privileged or repressed groups. So, as i said, you know, its not that we dont know the case against bds, its not that we dont know the case about the israeli palestinian. The problems were not seen as having standing to make the case, we are seen as being part of the oppressor classed. Until this phenomenon of intersectionalty is much deeper than we might think. A third thing that i believe we need to do, by the way, what i said to them is return to intersectionalty as it was once patterned by the black Civil Rights Movement and the struggle. You start making linkages with the Womens Movement with the Environmental Movement et cetera, et cetera so that the jewish struggle is not defined, as we heard today in terms of israel kind of ethnic state and ethnic, but is defined as part of the struggle for justice and against injustice as a whole. The third thing we need to combative prevent the state sanction to hate and genesis, as i said, its astonishing that not one state party today the convention has undertaken what is not a policy option but International Legal obligation to in fact address this. We need to affirm immement protocol to combat. Let me just take as a test, how many people here have read the protoc protocol. Very few. This is a ill say that there were more who didnt put up their hands but one of the problems is that some of these things are not sufficiently known, appreciated and acted upon. Contains within it, the definition of the metrics of the new, also contains a blueprint for action by governments by parliaments, by Civil Society and the like, which leads me to a fifth an issue, and that is to share with you a unanimous resolution. That was adopted by the Canadian Parliament invoking the protocol in that context as well, and i have to say that unanimous resolutions are not that easy to get adopted, just one person from any of the Political Parties when the speak of the parliament puts the question to them and says does anyone, you know, object, one person says no, you cant adopt the resolution so the resolution was adopted by all members by all parties. Ill summarize the resolution very quickly, because you can use it as a template in other parliaments and other work within Civil Society. I know as one wag said, cancelled for lack of interest which may be the reason dont know what the ottawa protocol, let alone the resolution. Resolution says as follows, number one, it condemned the alarming global rise in antisentism. Two, it called on the canadian government and parliament to make the combatting of antisentism a priority in both domestic as well as foreign policy. Number three, it ob strakted from the ottawa protocol to say the following with this, i close, criticizing israel is not antise mattic is wrong. But singling israel out for selective appropriate indictment, denying the right to exist, let alone calling for israels destruction is hateful and discriminatory and not saying so is dishonest. And i believe as scholars, this is a template that we can invoke and apply. Number six, we need to combat the laundering or delegit maization on values, which i discussed earlier, not as something which is prejudicial to israel, frankly, if you talk about just delegitimized. Its nothing wrong what were doing, they deserve it. What we have to say is the real phenomenon here is the laundering of that delegitimizization and the yuan ver sol public guidance. To make it clear this is not just prejudicial to israel, but it erodes the integrity of the United Nations under whose protective cover it passes. It diminishes the authority of International Law, which is invoked in its favor. It corrupts the culture of human rights and it demeans the struggle against the real racism, against the real al part tae and ashames against the real parte in south africa. We have to say what is at stake here, the laundering of delegitimizization of Public Values in the pursuit of the delegitimatization of israel. We should not retreat from the United Nations as is sometimes the instinct to do or as were sometimes counciled to do, but rather we should engage with the United Nations and move out of the docket of the defendant and become a rights claimant, become a plaintiff and do so not in the name of israel, but do so in the name of the charter of the United Nations do so in the name of the yuan ver sol declaration of human rights. Because what is happening in the singling out of israel for Selective Program and indictment is really a standing breach of those principles of equality before the law and International Human rights law and the like. I know you say you it wont make a difference, we can do, the very process is important, the very making of the case has its own dynamic, very often the bds movement doesnt care if it wins at the end of the day the vote, what it cares is how many people they are seemingly sensitizing to the position of the bds and thats why i say, similarly, here, we can be sensitizing our countrys International Community to the manner in which this laundering is actually taken place under the protective cover of the u. N. And the things they care about. Next thing is we moving to the close, we need to reverse the pair dooim, the convention pair dime of the middle east which is taking place. Which says the Palestinian Conflict is the root of all conflict in the middle east and beyond. The occupation is the root of the and par tide israel is a root of the occupation. We have to turn it around to say that it is rat cal that is the source of all conflict in the middle east and beyond. The denial of israels legitimacy in any borders anywhere in the middle east, that is the real part time. And the call, the subsequent call for the destruction of israel and the killing of jews is the criminal par tide of today. So we should both identify and name the evil, and again, step out of the docket of the defendant and become the plaintiff, the rights claimant. We need also to protect the vulnerable minorities whose cases and causes in the middle east are being overshadowed or not even being addressed at all. I am referring to the curds, the muslims, who are this standing targets themselves of state sanction, excitement, in some cases, to genocide, to we have to change the channel of the International Agenda which is focusing only on israel to call on them, that they really care about human rights, where is their inclusive concern with the targeted, forget about israel. With all of these targeted minorities in the middle east, who are the standing targets. Under the principal, we should make this our case and cause. And finally, may i close with a conversation that i had with law students and law students took place the day i was appointed minister of justice and attorney general. Im saying this because another feature of the laundering that i didnt go into the manner in which the delegitimatization is laundered where israel is Foreign Colonial interloper and the like and palestinians and people and so on. Let me just share with you in exchange, the law students met with me and i said as follow, were not just law students, were abridgeal law students we come with a pass, history, hair staj, their own religion, own language, with our own illegal system and weve been dispossessed of all that. Weve been deprived of our history and heritage and culture, our language, our own legal system. Its not that we go to court because we want to nurture grievance. We go to court to give expression to who we are. We go to court to anchor ourselves in our identity. We go to court to give expression to our legal system, but we are always giving expression and feeling this enormous pain because we feel that the canadian government and the canadian people dont understand who we are, where weve come from and what we aspire to be. And i said to them, i was going to share with them a power that comes out of the traditions where students come to their rabbi and they say, rab eye, we love you and the rabbi, you know it hurts me and the students say, rabbi you though what hurts you, if we tell you we love you. And the rabbi says, if you dont know what hurts me, you cant tell me you love me. As i shared with them, that is a profound principle of human relationships. As i said, that will be the way in which we as a government and parliament will seek to relate to the Indigenous People in terms of their past, their history and aspirations. Lt i said, you know, at the risk of being somewhat presump wous if not pre embraces the same aboriginal profits, studies the same aboriginal, speaks the aboriginal language, hebrew and bears the same aboriginal name israel as we did 3,500 years ago. Whereupon, they came up to me and said, you know, we thought this was going to be be a blah blah lecture by another white man, welcome one Aboriginal People to another. Now, i want to tell you, this is not a story that im sharing only in the confines here of it. I repeated it again and again when i was minister of justice and attorney general of canada, not only because i felt it was making the case that had to be made about why aboriginal justice had to be a priority on our justice agenda, but the sub text of it is, i was also speaking out of the authenticity of my own identity. And i think we have
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