20 Jan Joe Walsh
Congressman Joe Walsh, IL 8th
Representative Walsh serves on the Homeland and Government Reform Committees and on House Republican Israel Caucus.
Congressman Walsh is a passionate supporter of Israel as evidenced by his recently initiating a bi-partisan letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging her to stand by Israel at the United Nations Security Council. He was among the first to take action demanding by drafting legislation aimed at forcing the UN to formally retract the Goldstone report and acknowledge that it has not been an honest broker in the Middle East. Here is the text of his letter asking for co-sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Justin Roth Wednesday, April 13, 2011 (202) 225-3711
Rep. Walsh Introduces H.R. 1501 to Stop U.N. Bias Against Israel
“We’re just asking the United Nations to Disavow a Now Discredited Report.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Joe Walsh (IL-08) introduced H.R. 1501 to withhold U.S. contributions to the regularly assessed U.N. biennial budget until it officially retracts the Goldstone Report, a 2009 U.N. report that accused Israel of war crimes. This bill is a response to last week’s Washington Post Op-Ed by the report’s author, Dr. Richard Goldstone, in which he recanted the entire report. He wrote that the report’s central accusation—that Israeli soldiers deliberately targeted Palestinian civilians during its invasion of Gaza—is false. Goldstone has now concluded that “If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone report would have been a different document”.
“This is just another example of the United Nations’ long-time bias against Israel,” said Walsh. “I find it outrageous that the United Nations has yet to distance itself from a report that even its author has discredited and disavowed.”
“The United Nations has not been an honest broker in the Middle East. And Dr. Goldstone himself admitted that. It is high time that the United Nations stopped focusing so much of its energy vilifying Israel and started dealing with the facts.”
“That is why this week I am introducing a bill to hold the United Nations accountable for its bias against Israel. Under my legislation, the United States would withhold its funding from the United Nations until it officially retracts the Goldstone Report. We’re just asking the United Nations to disavow a now discredited report. It is not an unreasonable request. And if it refuses to do so, the United Nations will simply be confirming its anti-Israel bias to the world.”
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432 Cannon HOB, Washington, D.C. 20515
202-225-3711
For more information on Rep. Walsh’s work in Congress, please visit www.walsh.house.gov or
Co-Sponsor Legislation to Stop U.N. Bias Against Israel
Dear Colleague,
Please join me and co-sponsor legislation that will withhold U.S. funding from the United Nations until it officially retracts the Goldstone Report, the U.N. report that accused Israel of war crimes.
Earlier this week, in an Op-Ed to the Washington Post, the report’s author, Richard Goldstone, retracted the entire report. “If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.” The Goldstone Report has not only been used by the U.N. Human Rights Council to repeatedly condemn and vilify Israel, but it also has been used by Israel’s enemies to justify their aggression. But in his Op-Ed, Goldstone wrote that he no longer believed his report’s most incendiary charge: that Israeli soldiers deliberately targeted Palestinian civilians during its invasion of Gaza. He confirmed that this is entirely untrue. In fact, he welcomed the Israeli government for investigating the instances in which Palestinian civilians were killed, even though Hamas has still refused to do the same about its rockets, which continue to deliberately target Israeli civilians.
What is worse, the United Nations may use the Goldstone Report as justification to officially recognize a Palestinian state, which could place Israel in the position of occupying lands belonging to a sovereign state and member of the United Nations. Yet, Goldstone’s confession confirms that the United Nations lacks the moral authority for such a declaration.
I ask you, therefore, to join me in sending the United Nations a clear message that the Goldstone Report has no foundation in fact and should not be used to justify any more anti-Israel action. Soon, I will be introducing H.R. ___, legislation to force the United Nations to formally retract the Goldstone Report. It will include the proviso that if the United Nations refuses to do so, the United States will withhold its contributions to the regularly assessed U.N. biennial budget. This bill has received the full endorsement of the Republican Study Committee.
I invite you to be an original co-sponsor on this legislation. If you are interested, please email Aindriu Colgan or call him at 53711.
Sincerely,
Joe Walsh
Member of Congress
