The United Nations announced new actions Friday to counter the surge in antisemitism, including encouraging governments to enforce laws against hate crimes and discrimination. The U.N., created in the aftermath of the World War II Holocaust in 6 six million Jews were killed, has worked to counter antisemitism.
But the 193-member global organization has been accused of being antisemitic, including by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for U.N. ambassador, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik. She is pro-Israel and has called the U.N. a “den of antisemitism” that she intends to confront.
The U.N. Action Plan to Enhance Monitoring and Response to Antisemitism is mainly focused on strengthening and coordinating work throughout the United Nations, but it also includes recommendations for governments and organizations. Miguel Moratinos, the head of the U.N. Alliance of Civilizations, which developed the plan, said he was alarmed at the surge in antisemitic incidents online and offline, citing attacks on synagogues and religious sites, including after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas and other militants in southern Israel, which resulted in the worst killing of Jews since the Holocaust and set off the war in Gaza.
“Unfortunately, our efforts, like those of national governments, have not been sufficient to curb the drivers of antisemitism,” he said. Moratinos said new actors involved in social transformations in technology, science and the economy must be mobilized “to address online and offline hate speech while upholding human rights.”.
