The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called on the Secretary-General of the United Nations to speak out against the “anti-Israel dog-and-pony show” given a platform at the U.N. as part of the so-called “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.”

As in past years, the annual event showcased anti-Israel films and exhibits, speeches aimed at delegitimizing and demonizing the Jewish State, and a raft of one-sided resolutions in the General Assembly aimed at bashing Israel and perpetuating the event itself.  Capping the events were virulently anti-Israel statements by Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, the General Assembly President, who called for a boycott of Israel and asserted that Palestinians are “being crucified.”

“It is time for Ban Ki-moon and other responsible leaders at the United Nations to stand up against this anti-Israel spectacle, this dog-and-pony show that plays out every year in the General Assembly,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “While it may give aid and comfort to Israel’s enemies, this ritualistic Israel-bashing session does nothing to advance a resolution of the conflict, and only deepens the mistrust and damages the reputation of the U.N. as a body working for international peace and reconciliation.”

In a letter to Ban Ki-moon, ADL called on the Secretary-General to denounce the proceedings and the rhetoric of this year’s events, especially the statements of the General Assembly president, who compared Israel’s policies toward Palestinians to “a version of the hideous policy of apartheid.”  At today’s daily press briefing, a spokeswoman for the Secretary-General declined to condemn the statements.

“It is outrageous that the president of the General Assembly could accuse Israel of ‘crucifying’ Palestinians, knowing full well that this is a term loaded with symbolism and history,” said Mr. Foxman. “For centuries, the charge that the Jewish people were responsible for crucifying Jesus was used as an excuse for pogroms and other violence against Jews.  It is irresponsible, indeed unconscionable for a world leader to stand up and to charge Israel with, in essence, ‘doing it again.'”

Every November, the U.N.’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People sponsors events surrounding the date of the November 29, 1947, U.N. vote in favor of Resolution 181, the so-called “Partition Plan,” which called for the establishment of a Jewish state and an Arab state in British-mandate Palestine.