World Jewish Congress has called on the UN Human Rights Council to stand firm against racism.

Reminding delegates during a heated debate of Jewish and black American community struggles against discrimination and oppression, WJC Geneva representative Leon Saltiel recalled a speech by Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King who declared that churches and synagogues had an opportunity and duty to lift up their voice “like a trumpet” and declare to people the “immorality of segregation”. “Silence is never an option,” he added.

WJC concluded that those who championed civil rights made the fight against racism a fundamental viewpoint of democracy.

WJC, meantime, have lambasted anti-Israel resolutions adopted by the Council.

Four were included on an agenda item singling one UN member state.

“It is completely absurd when Israel has been widely praised for its successful management of the COVID-19 pandemic,” commented WJC President Ronald S. Lauder he said.

Lauder pointed out Israel’s life-saving humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians, adding it was a one-sided attack against the Jewish state.

Noting Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East, had praised cooperation between Israel and Palestinians the councils bias was “glaring”.

He added, “As usual, little mention was made of violations committed by the terrorist group Hamas. Rather, the Council continued its long, one-sided anti-Israel tirade, without any regard for the real facts on the ground.”

Lauder praised Australia for voting against all five resolutions.

A number of nations also objected including Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Fiji, Germany, Marshall Islands, Togo and Ukraine.

“For the Council to fully live up to its potential, more countries need to speak up and oppose these one-sided resolutions,” he said. “Such a necessary and principled stance will hopefully lead to this body adopting resolutions that accurately reflect events in an impartial manner.”

In other news, WJC called on Council members to condemn all forms of hate speech on social media.

WJC noted comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who pledged to annihilate Israeli cities.

“It is particularly worrisome when a world leader uses social media to promote hate targeting a specific community,” commented WJC International Relations Officer, Sacha Elkaim.

Observing Khamenei’s abhorrent comments on Twitter, Elkaim explained, “He (Khamenei) referred to Israel, the Jewish state, as a “cancerous tumour” and threatened to annihilate Tel Aviv and Haifa.

“He stated his conviction that the Zionist regime would “perish in the not-so-far future.

“Moreover, he compared Israel to the deadly Coronavirus and continued to dehumanise Jews, reminding us of incendiary statements made during the 1930s & 40s.”

Elkaim pointed out comments by the Iranian leader about “the final solution”.

For Khamenei, Elkaim noted, the solution would appear to be “another genocide against the Jewish people”.

Elkaim added that he threatened the security of Jews worldwide and his comments were anti-Semitic.

“The WJC calls upon the Human Rights Council to condemn such hateful discourse, which violates the founding principles of the UN and its charter and the fundamental tenets of humanity,” he said