US Ambassador to the United Nations Michele Taylor often seeks to set a safe environment for speaking about antisemitism by telling people they are not alone.
“If you’re thinking something, even if it’s uncomfortable to say, or maybe a little bit controversial, somebody else is probably thinking it too.”
“So please ask that question. It’s the only way we can address some of the things that, you know, that are sort of under the surface,” Taylor said.
On Wednesday, she hopes to broaden the conversation about antisemitism in Geneva, in advance of the opening of the 57th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, where she represents the Biden administration.
She has invited representatives from missions posted to the UN in that city to an event titled “Working Together to Count Antisemitism: A Global Human Rights Challenge.”
It will be held Wednesday at a time of sharply rising antisemitism, particularly in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas invasion of southern Israel.
It’s part of a “growing effort to address this issue throughout the United Nations” in general and at the UNHRC in specific in a ‘more direct way, Taylor told The Jerusalem Post during a Zoom interview over the weekend.
“I really felt like what we needed was a robust workshop… to really help educate missions all across Geneva, particularly those that will engage either as members or as active observers at the Human Rights Council,” Taylor said.
Pervasive antisemitism
The 47-member UNHRC has often been accused of bias toward Israel and Jews, given that it has approved more resolutions against Israel than any other country.
There are some people who don’t know how extensive it is and others are not even sure “what modern antisemitism looked like.
“I realized that there was just a tremendous need for education” for those “who are actually engaged” with the Human Rights Council at an ambassador or staff level.
It’s been clear to her, she said, “that there was a real lack, particularly at the expert level, of understanding about how antisemitism shows up in the modern age.”
People don’t understand, Taylor explained, how it impacts individuals and communities at large both within and outside the Jewish world.
It’s important for those working on human rights to understand how antisemitism fits into the broader context of other acts of hate such as racism and xenophobia, Taylor said.
It’s easier to combat the phenomenon if “we’re all speaking the same language when we talk about hate, discrimination, and violence targeting people who are Jewish,” she said.
The event itself is closed to the press to allow for a more honest exchange from participants who might otherwise hesitate to speak openly.
“We want people to be able to feel comfortable asking questions that might be a little bit uncomfortable to ask” in a “safe and closed space,” she said.
An edited version of some of the speeches will be posted online after the event.
Taylor is expected to speak at the event, which will also feature US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt, High Representatives for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Miguel Angel Moratinos, Federal Gov. Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany Felix Klein, Organization of American States Commissioner to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Fernando Lottenberg and the H.C. Katharina von Schnürbein.