World Vision representative in UN (Geneva) – promoting hatred of Israel

NGO Monitor has reported on extreme anti-Israel bias in the publications and activities of World Vision.– a powerful organization which receives funding from US Aid, Irish Aid, and the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This NGO, which claims charitable status, is particularly active in promoting crude propaganda in the UN framework. On November 29, 2007, the director of international relations for World Vision, Thomas Getman, continued this pattern in a speech in Geneva marking the 60th anniversary of UN Resolution 181, which called for the creation of two states, one Arab and one Jewish. According to UN Watch Getman "sought to promote hatred of Israel among the delegates." His speech failed to mention ongoing Palestinian terrorist and missile attacks against Israel, and he used highly manipulative, emotionally charged rhetoric. He called on his audience to “think about the first child that each of us saw in a terrible situation because of the Israeli occupation…” The situation of the many Israeli children who have been subject to mass terror attacks was of no concern to the representative from World Vision.

As UN Watch notes, “Mr. Getman’s extremist political activity, conflicting with World Vision’s humanitarian mandate, is nothing new; in 2006, when the representative of a human rights NGO was cut short during a UN debate by Syrian objections—Damascus had demanded a special agenda item on “occupation,” but sought to censor any suggestion that this might include its own occupation of Lebanon—Mr. Getman shouted at the NGO representative, and published an open letter siding with Syria.” This behavior is consistent with World Vision’s statement in the inaugural session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in June 2006, which exploited the suffering of Palestinian children in order to launch a political attack on Israel.

Update:

World Vision representative at UN (Geneva) and UN Watch — an exchange

Following the November 29, 2007 UN Watch report on Getman’s speech, an exchange took place between Getman and UN Watch, which the watchdog organization has posted on their website. Getman accuses UN Watch of “twisting words or intentions for other motives”; UN Watch offers a detailed response to these charges. UN Watch states:
“…‘in the interest of honest fair play,’ Mr. Getman insists that his World Vision statement featured ‘emphasis for all children of the region who live in fear.’ Really? Does a two-page statement replete with Palestinian grievances and attacks on Israel—apart from one fleeting reference to ‘Palestinian and Israeli children’—really emphasize ‘all’ children?”

To view the rest of the dialogue, click here.