Mr. Chair, that was an excellent question by the distinguished member for Edmonton Centre.

It reminds us all that the United Nations serves some purposes. It is a home for discussion of humanitarian issues. It is a home for discussion of international security issues. We do not have another forum like the Security Council. It is a home for progress on issues like maternal, newborn, and child health, where Canada has shown leadership. Our Prime Minister has shown leadership.

However, in recent years it has become increasingly not the home of issues that need a home and that deserve to be at the centre of the international community's attention. One of those issues is anti-Semitism, where the United Nations, far from being a centre of excellence or a centre of discussion and action to stamp out this behaviour, has instead been a misguided organization, throwing out the welcome mat to those who would spew this hatred and this poison and disseminate it, giving them a platform, giving them a loud speaker.

There are three ways in which that happens. First are fora like Durban, anti-Semitic fora where free rein is given to views that are not just historically inaccurate and nonfactual, but that represent hatred towards a particular group. For the United Nations to be associated with such events is shameful.

Second, there is the tolerance of many in the United Nations, state and non-state actors, who reject the existence of the State of Israel and call for a jihad war, the elimination of the State of Israel. This is a voting member of the United Nations. There is no other member state of the United Nations whose existence and borders are not recognized and indeed negated by dozens of other members of the United Nations. Instead of asking those dozens of countries what their problem is with the existence of a democracy that has self-determined its constitution and institutions, the United Nations all too often victimizes Israel.

Third, there is the inconsistency of the United Nations with regard to terrorism, particularly Islamic jihadist terrorism. There have been flashes of insight on the part of the UN, terrorist lists for al Qaeda and the Taliban, a few other contributions to the global fight, but for the most part the United Nations has been notably schtum in refusing to name and shame, let alone take action against, the state and non-state actors. Here I emphasize the words state actors who continue to support organizations like ISIL, al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, and others who in addition to victimizing civilians, in addition to fighting wars, proxy wars in many cases on behalf of states, have anti-Semitism as one of their stocks in trade.

Chris Alexander

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