The United Nations

[Shammu]

Personally, I don't understand why the UN is still in New York?? Why doesn't someone build a little hut for them on some volcanic island somewhere, where they can't do anyone else in the world any harm. They sure as heck aren't doing anyone any good!!

Think of all the money that America would save by dismantling the U.N. They should move on and set up shop in Babylon.

Amazing isn't it, that having water isn't a human right, but murdering your child in the womb is.....

[Shammu]

UN unit on inter-cultural understanding looks to the future

27 March 2008 – The head of the United Nations campaign for understanding between cultures, known as the Alliance of Civilizations, has visited the Organization’s New York Headquarters to discuss the initiative’s future plans with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other world leaders.

Jorge Sampãio, High Representative and former President of Portugal, presented the campaign’s annual report yesterday to Mr. Ban and discussed its role within the UN system.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Sampãio met with the 85 member governments and multilateral organizations that constitute the Alliance Group of Friends.

He briefed them on the follow-up to the Alliance of Civilizations Forum, held in Madrid in January, which launched projects aimed at promoting understanding among cultures in the areas of media and youth.

He also met with members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) to discuss the growing problem of Islamophobia, stressing the important role that the Alliance could play in generating joint action to address this issue.

The Alliance of Civilizations campaign was launched by the UN in 2005 to help overcome prejudices between nations, cultures and religions.

UN unit on inter-cultural understanding looks to the future

[Shammu]

Condemning ‘offensively anti-Islamic’ video, Ban Ki-moon appeals for calm

28 March 2008 – Secretary-General today led a chorus of United Nations condemnation of the Internet broadcast of a video made by the Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, describing it as “offensively anti-Islamic,” while he also called on those upset by the film to remain calm.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson after last night’s airing of the film, entitled Fitna, Mr. Ban said “there is no justification for hate speech or incitement to violence. The right of free expression is not at stake here.

“I acknowledge the efforts of the Dutch Government to stop the broadcast of this film and appeal for calm to those understandably offended by it. Freedom must always be accompanied by social responsibility.”

The Secretary-General stressed that the UN stands at the centre of global efforts to advance mutual respect, understanding and dialogue between different cultures, religions and groups.

“We must also recognize that the real fault line is not between Muslim and Western societies, as some would have us believe, but between small minorities of extremists, on different sides, with a vested interest in stirring hostility and conflict.”

In 2005 Spain and Turkey established the Alliance of Civilizations under the auspices of the UN to promote better cross-cultural relations around the world, and last year Mr. Ban appointed the former Portuguese president Jorge Sampaio as the High Representative for the Alliance.

In addition, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said she joined in the condemnation of the tone and content of the video and urged all those who feel offended by its message “to restrict themselves to denouncing its hateful content by peaceful means.

“There is a protective legal framework, and the resolution of the controversy that this film will generate should take place within it,” she said.

Three UN Special Rapporteurs also issued a joint statement condemning what they said was the film’s distorted vision and irresponsibility and calling for dialogue and vigilance in response.

Doudou Diène, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance; Asma Jahangir, the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief; and Ambeyi Ligabo, Special Rapporteur for the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression said the video “illustrates an increasing pattern that associates Muslims exclusively with violence and terrorism.”

The three Special Rapporteurs, who serve in an independent, unpaid capacity and report to the UN Human Rights Council, said it was crucial that governments step up efforts to stop this pattern and to prevent wider incitement to racial and religious hatred.

“While on the one hand, freedom of expression is a fundamental human right that must be respected, it does not extend to include incitement to racial or religious hatred, which is itself clearly a violation of human rights. Public expressions that paint adherents of a particular religion as a threat to peace or global stability are irresponsible,” the trio said in the statement.

They also stressed the need for vigilance and tolerance in the wake of the video’s broadcast on the Internet, calling on all parties to refrain from any form of violence.

Condemning ‘offensively anti-Islamic’ video, Ban Ki-moon appeals for calm

[Shammu]

UN, Islamic group must work together on terrorism, tolerance – Ban Ki-moon

The United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) “stand side by side” in forcefully rejecting any linkages between terrorism and Islam and in confronting a raft of other issues, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.

“You have spoken up against those who seek to justify violence in the name of religion,” Mr. Ban told the Conference’s summit in Dakar, Senegal.

“Your efforts reinforce the UN's own steps to promote tolerance and understanding through the Alliance of Civilizations initiative, and I look forward to increasing UN-OIC collaboration in this area,” he added.

Calling the UN and the OIC, which represents one-fifth of the worlds population, natural allies, the Secretary-General also called for sustained cooperation on Middle East conflicts, Darfur, Somalia, extreme poverty and other pressing issues.

He warned them that the situation in the Middle East remains precarious, nowhere more so than in the Gaza Strip, and urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority to take urgent measures to ease the suffering in Gaza and give hope to its people.

He also expressed his regret that regional interests and domestic Lebanese dynamics have forestalled any breakthrough in the selection of a President there, and discussed the situations in Iraq and Iran.

Speaking on Darfur, Mr. Ban emphasized that the deployment of the UN/AU Mission there, known as UNAMID, is no substitute for a political process, adding: “That remains the key to lasting peace in the region.”

He noted that the OIC was particularly well-placed to promote peace within and between Chad and Sudan in combination with UN efforts to end suffering in the region.

A mini-summit on that topic to be hosted by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade had been planned for yesterday evening in Dakar, to bring together President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and President Idriss Deby of Chad.

However, that event did not occur as scheduled and the Secretary-General is consulting on the matter with the Senegalese, Sudanese and Chadian Presidents.

Mr. Ban spent most of his day today in meetings with heads of state and government on a range of issues, from the Middle East to Iraq, Afghanistan, Cyprus, Sudan and Chad.

He met this morning with Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, among others, and is later expected to meet with more national leaders, including the presidents of Afghanistan and Indonesia

UN, Islamic group must work together on terrorism, tolerance – Ban Ki-moon

[Shammu]

 Group of Friends

The Group of Friends consists of governments and multilateral organizations that support the efforts of the Alliance of Civilizations to counter the rise of extremism and polarization.

The Secretariat staff regularly brief members of the Group of Friends through their permanent missions at the United Nations headquarters in New York.  On 13 September 2007, President Jorge Sampaio, High Representative of the Alliance, held a meeting with Ambassadors of the Group of Friends.  During the meeting, President Sampaio urged action from the Group of Friends on a number of fronts, specifically:

    * That Member States create or strengthen national strategies for cross-cultural dialogue in the areas of media, youth, education and migration. Collaborating closely to achieve the AoC Implementation Plan, particularly two main projects – the online Clearinghouse and the Rapid Response Media Mechanism (RRMM) –  would demonstrate the leadership of Member States in implementing the recommendations put forward in the HLG report at national, regional and local level.

    * That international organizations create a “Chart for partnering with the Alliance” and outline expected results. The aim is to mobilize international and regional organizations around the world that can play an important role in bridging divides and promoting cross-cultural dialogue among partners and within member countries.

    * That countries and international organizations and bodies appoint a focal point for internal coordination and implementation of the Chart as well as for liaison purposes with the AoC Secretariat.

Group of Friends

[Shammu]

UN OKs Islamic Text Against Defamation

By ELIANE ENGELER
The Associated Press
Thursday, March 27, 2008; 11:40 PM

GENEVA -- The top U.N. rights body on Thursday passed a resolution proposed by Islamic countries saying it is deeply concerned about the defamation of religions and urging governments to prohibit it.

The European Union said the text was one-sided because it primarily focused on Islam.

The U.N. Human Rights Council, which is dominated by Arab and other Muslim countries, adopted the resolution on a 21-10 vote over the opposition of Europe and Canada.

EU countries, including France, Germany and Britain, voted against. Previously EU diplomats had said they wanted to stop the growing worldwide trend of using religious anti-defamation laws to limit free speech.

The document, which was put forward by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, "expresses deep concern at attempts to identify Islam with terrorism, violence and human rights violations."

Although the text refers frequently to protecting all religions, the only religion specified as being attacked is Islam, to which eight paragraphs refer.

Speaking for the EU, Slovenian Ambassador Andrej Logar said the 27-nation body was committed to tolerance, nondiscrimination and freedom of religion. But instead of a one-sided approach, it would be better to engage in dialogue with mutual respect.

The resolution "urges states to take actions to prohibit the dissemination ... of racist and xenophobic ideas" and material that would incite to religious hatred. It also urges states to adopt laws that would protect against hatred and discrimination stemming from religious defamation.

The pressure to protect religions from defamation has been growing ever since a Danish magazine published caricatures of Muhammad, provoking riots across the Islamic world in 2006 in which dozens of people were killed. The publication of a different caricature in a Swedish newspaper last year again led to protests from Muslims.

UN OKs Islamic Text Against Defamation

[Shammu]

U.N. Fiddles As China Torches Tibet
Wednesday March 26, 6:48 pm ET
Ibd

United Nations: The U.N.'s new Human Rights Council has condemned Israel for defending itself no fewer than a dozen times in two years. Yet it has nothing to say about Chinese-sponsored genocide in Darfur and Tibet.

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The HRC was created in 2006 to replace the 60-year-old U.N. Commission on Human Rights, an Orwellian-named organization infamous for including among its members and leadership some of the worst human rights violators -- countries such as Sudan and Cuba. Judging by its short existence, it's not much of an improvement.

The 47-member HRC has been in session in Geneva since March3, and its current four-week meeting ends Friday. Its latest condemnation of Israel came in the early days of this session. It has also held six special sessions to investigate allegations of abuses -- four involving Israel.

China is a member of the HRC, which may help explain the silence on that country's actions in systematically eliminating the Tibetan culture, its religion and its people. More than a million Tibetans have paid the ultimate price since China conquered the 1,400-year-old nation of Tibet in 1950 -- two years after the founding of Israel.

Six thousand of Tibet's 6,200 monasteries have been destroyed, its monks tortured, murdered or forced into exile. Beijing's ethnic cleansing of Tibet mirrors its support of the Islamofascist government of Sudan and its genocidal acts in Darfur against its non-Arab black population. China has a veto on the U.N. Security Council.

The current brutal suppression of Tibetan protestors began March 10, the anniversary of a 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. Speaking Tuesday in Dharamsala, India, Prime Minister Samdhong Rinpoche of Tibet's government in exile told Agence France-Presse that the deaths of at least 130 Tibetans in the current crackdown have been confirmed.

In 1989 the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The press release announcing the prize said: "The (Nobel) Committee wants to emphasize the fact that the Dalai Lama in his struggle for the liberation of Tibet consistently has opposed the use of violence."

The Dalai Lama, who recently visited the U.S. to receive a medal from Congress, called for an international investigation into China's crackdown in Tibet, which he said is facing "cultural genocide." That call has been echoed by the Asian Forum for Human Rights & Development, an umbrella group of 40 nongovernmental organizations across Asia.

"It is imperative that the Human Rights Council as the principal human rights organ of the United Nations take urgent measures by convening a special session to address the current situation in China," the Asian Forum said in a statement.

Don't hold your breath. On Monday, China showed how impressed it was with such demands. It vowed to run the Olympic torch through the heart of Tibet en route to the Summer Games in Beijing. The run-through is scheduled June 19-21.

"The more the Dalai (Lama) clique is determined to ruin the torch relay and the Olympic Games, the more hard and good work we need to do on the preparation and the implementation of all aspects," said Chinese Communist Party official Vin Xumping.

"I believe the Games have advanced the agenda of human rights," International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge told the Associated Press prior to the lighting of the torch in Greece.

Somehow we expect Beijing 2008 will no more advance peace and human rights than the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. On the issue of Tibet, the Games have already begun.

U.N. Fiddles As China Torches Tibet

[Shammu]

AIM Says Media Cover-Up Obama’s Socialist-Oriented Global Tax Bill

Press Release  |  February 13, 2008

WASHINGTON, February 13, 2008 -- Accuracy in Media editor Cliff Kincaid disclosed today that a hugely expensive bill called the "Global Poverty Act," sponsored by Democratic Senator Barack Obama, was quickly passed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday and could result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States. Kincaid said that the major media's cover-up of the bill, which makes levels of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the United Nations, demonstrates the media's desire to see Senator Obama elected to the presidency.

In a column posted on the AIM web site, Kincaid noted that Senator Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was trying to rush Obama's "Global Poverty Act" (S. 2433) through his committee without hearings. The legislation would commit the U.S. to spending 0.7 percent of gross national product on foreign aid, which amounts to a phenomenal 13-year total of $845 billion over and above what the U.S. already spends.  It was scheduled for a Thursday vote but was moved up a day, to Wednesday, and rushed through by voice vote. Kincaid learned, however, that conservative Senators have now put a "hold" on the legislation, in order to prevent it from being rushed to the floor for a full Senate vote.

The House version (H.R. 1302) was suddenly brought up on the House floor last September 25 and was passed by voice vote. House Republicans were caught off-guard, unaware that the pro-U.N. measure committed the U.S. to spending hundreds of billions of dollars. Kincaid's column notes that the official in charge of making nations comply with the U.N. Millennium Goals, which are prominently highlighted in the Obama bill, says a global tax will be necessary to force American taxpayers to provide the money.

UN Global Poverty Act

[Shammu]

Foreign aid..... poor people in rich countries paying rich people in poor countries. Or in this case, the UN taxes US citizens, therefore setting a precedent for the future. Too bad our tax dollars would end up in the hands of the thugs running these poor countries and never go to help the poor themselves.

This Global Poverty Act, is tied to the United Nations Millennium Declaration. I suggest you Google it..... In effect, one of the rules of the Millennium Declaration is that we are to abandon our small arms/weapons. The more I hear about Obama's agenda, the scarier it sounds.

By the way, good luck to the one who tries to take the weapons out of my house.

[nChrist]

WOW! - What a bunch of lunatics!

They can forget about the global tax also! If we want to pay a global tax, we'll vote for one! OR, maybe they could make the tax applicable ONLY to Democrats who are STILL registered as Democrats 30 days after these idiots pass this bill.

It's time to put some MUCH MORE intelligent people in Washington.

   

[Soldier4Christ]

 UN sets up food crisis task force

The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is setting up a task force to tackle the global food crisis.

Mr Ban said the world faced "widespread hunger, malnutrition and social unrest on an unprecedented scale" because of soaring food prices.

He said the priority was to feed the hungry by closing a $755m (£380m) funding gap for the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) this year.

He urged donor countries to make more money available now.

The WFP believes 100 million people are currently going short of food.

It says only 62% of the $755m it needs to feed them has been pledged so far, and, of that, only $18m has actually been received.

Supporting farmers

The task force, to be chaired by Mr Ban, will be made up of the heads of UN agencies and the World Bank.

"The first and immediate priority issue that we all agreed was that we must feed the hungry," Mr Ban said after a meeting of agency heads in the Swiss capital, Bern.

"Without full funding of these emergency requirements, we risk again the spectre of widespread hunger, malnutrition and social unrest on an unprecedented scale."

Mr Ban said it was essential to support farmers in poor countries who were producing less because of the high cost of fertilizer and energy, and to this end he said the task force hoped to:

    * offer $200m financial support to farmers in the worst affected countries to boost food production

    * set up a $1.7bn programme to help countries with a food deficit to buy seeds

For its part the World Bank said that it would:

    * double its lending for agriculture in Africa over the next year

    * consider providing quicker and more flexible financing for poor countries

Mr Ban said Africa could double its production of food in a few years with an annual investment of $8-10bn.

He also called on the international community to "urgently address trade-distorting subsidies in developed countries, and the ongoing Doha trade round.

"But also in the long term we need to address the challenges caused by climate change," Mr Ban added.

The head of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, who also attended the meeting in Bern, urged countries not to use export bans to protect food stocks.

"These controls encourage hoarding, drive up prices and hurt the poorest people around the world who are struggling to feed themselves," he said.

His comments came as India decided to tax exports of basmati rice as it tries to control domestic inflation, Reuters news agency said.

India banned exports of non-basmati rice in March.

Renting fields

The prices of staple foods including rice, grain, oil and sugar are all at least 50% higher than they were this time last year.

On Tuesday the Beijing Morning newspaper reported that China might lease fields in Latin America, Australia and the former Soviet Union to replace farmland lost to urban and industrial development.

Meanwhile in Washington, US President George W Bush said he was "deeply concerned" by high food prices at home and abroad.

He said that diverting corn for the production of biofuels had only accounted for 15% of the rise in prices, which had otherwise been caused by weather, energy prices and increased demand.

"It's in our national interest that we - our farmers - grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us," he added.

Mr Bush said the long-term solution would be to switch to cellulosic ethanol, which uses grasses or other non-food sources to produce fuels.

He also said he had made a proposal to Congress on buying food from local farmers so that countries could become "self-sustaining".

The U.S. already donates over 2 Billion dollars a year to the WFP supplying wheat and rice to mant countries.

[Shammu]

U.N. fiddles again as Lebanon burns
By Boston Herald editorial staff
Saturday, May 10, 2008 - Added 18h ago

Beirut, the city once known as the Paris of the East, has once again been plunged into chaos as an all-out civil war looms.

For three days and nights Shiite Hezbollah gunmen have waged war on Sunni militia, on the government and on anyone who dared stand in their way. It was no accident that they choose to march down Hamra Street - one of the city’s smartest shopping areas - in a show of force. This war is about more than territory; it’s about a way of life. Not surprisingly a Sunni-backed newspaper was also among Hezbollah’s targets.

Hezbollah, of course, does not operate in isolation, especially when it comes to wreaking havoc on Lebanon. It does so with the full backing of Syria and Iran - a fact that elicited this stunning statement from our own State Department yesterday.

“It is becoming more apparent now that the linkages that we know exist and are ongoing between Hezbollah and Syria and Iran are starting to manifest themselves in the current crisis,” said spokesman Sean McCormack. “At the beginning we didn’t see it, but we are now.”

Well, that’s reassuring!

At last count 14 people are dead and 20 wounded. But beyond the casualties, daily life has been disrupted, streets are empty and people are living in fear.

Meanwhile U.N. Resolution 1701, which ended the Israeli invasion of August 2006 brought on by Hezbollah’s shelling of northern Israel, has proven not worth the paper it’s printed on.

In return for Israel’s withdrawl it required “the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon” and provided “no sales or supply of arms and related material to Lebanon except as authorized by its government.”

Hezbollah is not using pea-shooters and slingshots. The international community has failed miserably to enforce its own agreement. Now Lebanon is paying the price.

U.N. fiddles again as Lebanon burns

[Soldier4Christ]

New members on U.N. council

The United Nations Human Rights Council, which has yet to prove its worth in fighting violations, has new members.

The U.N. Commission on Human Rights had taken a bad rap for its membership and was abolished for that reason in 2006. In its wake, the Human Rights Council was established -- and the U.N. held an election this week to appoint new members to the Council. The General Assembly filled 17 seats out of 47, and in that process rejected Sri Lanka while approving Pakistan.
 
Todd Nettleton of Voice of the Martyrs believes the Human Rights Council could still suffer some of the old problems.
 
"Now, with this election, some of that old criticism could still be brought to bear," he suggests. "Some countries were left off the list because of perceived human-rights abuses; but still, a country like Pakistan -- which doesn't have the best human-rights record, particularly as it relates to our Christian brothers and sisters -- was elected to the Council," Nettleton explains.
 
He also questions whether the Council will be effective and wonders about the selection process.
 
"It's a little bit of a balancing act and I think, you know, in the case of Sri Lanka, obviously a place where there have been human-rights problems, there have been religious freedom issues. But then you look at a country like Pakistan where there have been some of the same issues and you wonder how one gets left off [the Council] and the other one gets put on," Nettleton points out.
 
According to Nettleton, this Council will be closely watched by the media to determine whether they can turn their talk into action.

[Soldier4Christ]

I wonder if this has anything to do with the recent fights against islam in Sri Lanka.

[Shammu]

U.N. scheme to make Christians criminals

Sharia-following Islamic nations demanding anti-'defamation' law

Posted: July 10, 2008

12:00 am Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2008 WorldNetDaily

Dozens of nations dominated by Islam are pressing the United Nations to adopt an anti-"defamation" plan that would make Christians criminals under international law, according to a United States organization that has launched a campaign to defend freedom of religion worldwide.

"Around the world, Christians are being increasingly targeted, and even persecuted, for their religious beliefs. Now, one of the largest organizations in the United Nations is pushing to make a bad situation even worse by promoting anti-Christian bigotry," the American Center for Law & Justice said yesterday in announcing its petition drive.

The discrimination is "wrapped in the guise of a U.N. resolution called 'Combating Defamation of Religions,'" the announcement said. "We must put an immediate end to this most recent, dangerous attack on faith that attempts to criminalize Christianity."

The "anti-defamation" plan has been submitted to the U.N. repeatedly since about 1999, starting out as a plan to ban "defamation" of Islam and later changed to refer to "religions," officials said. It is being pushed by the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference nations, which has adopted the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, "which states that all rights are subject to sharia law, and makes sharia law the only source of reference for human rights."

The ACLJ petition, which is to be delivered to the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, already had collected more than 23,000 names in just a brief online existence.

The ACLJ's European division, the European Center for Law & Justice, also has launched its work on the issue. It submitted arguments last month to the U.N. in opposition to the proposal to institute sharia-based standards around the globe.

"The position of the ECLJ in regards to the issue of 'defamation of religion' resolutions, as they have been introduced at the U.N. Human Rights Council and General Assembly, is that they are in direct violation of international law concerning the rights to freedom of religion and expression," the organization's brief said.

"The 'defamation of religion' resolutions establish as the primary focus and concern the protection of ideas and religions generally, rather than protecting the rights of individuals to practice their religion, which is the chief purpose of international religious freedom law."

"Furthermore, 'defamation of religion' replaces the existing objective criterion of limitations on speech where there is an intent to incite hatred or violence against religious believers with a subjective criterion that considers whether the religion or its believers feel offended by the speech," the group continued.

Interestingly, in nations following Islam, the present practice is to use such laws to protect Islam and to attack religious minorities with penalties up to and including execution, the brief noted.

"What should be most disconcerting to the international community is that laws based on the concept of 'defamation of religion' actually help to create a climate of violence," the argument explained.

For example, just two months ago an Afghanistan court following Islam sentenced to death a 23-year-old apprentice journalist who had downloaded an article from an Iranian website and brought it to his class, the ECLJ said. Other instances include:

    * Award-winning author Mark Steyn has been summoned to appear before two Canadian Human Rights Commissions of vague allegations of "subject[ing] Canadian Muslims to hatred and contempt" for comments in his book, "America Alone," the group said.

    * In Pakistan, 15 people were accused of blasphemy against Islam during the first four months of 2008, the organization said.

    * Another Pakistani man sentenced to life in prison for desecrating the Quran was jailed for six years before being acquitted of the charge.

    * In Saudi Arabia a teacher was sentenced to three years in prison plus 300 lashes "for expressing his views in a classroom."

    * In the United Kingdom, police announced plans to arrest a blogger for "anti-Muslim" statements.

    * In the United States, a plaintiff sued his Internet service provider for refusing "to prevent participants in an online chat room from posting or submitting harassing comments that blasphemed and defamed plaintiff's Islamic religion."

The ECLJ said, "The implementation of domestic laws to combat defamation of religion in many OIC countries reveals a selective and arbitrary enforcement toward religious minorities, who are often Christians. Those violations are frequently punishable by the death penalty."

The newest "anti-defamation" plan was submitted in March. It specifically cites a declaration "adopted by the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers" at a meeting in Islamabad "which condemned the growing trend of Islamophobia and systematic discrimination against adherents of Islam."

It also cites the dictates from the OIC meeting in Dakar, "in which the Organization expressed concern at the systematically negative stereotyping of Muslims and Islam and other divine religions."

It goes on to cite a wide range of other practices that "target" Islam, but does not mention any other religions, and urges all nations to provide "adequate protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from the defamation of any religion."

According to published reports, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights' 53 members voted to adopt the resolution earlier this year, with opposition from the United States and the European Union.

At the time, Cuba's delegate, Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez, said: "Islam has been the subject of very deep campaign of defamation."

"They're attempting to pass a sinister resolution that is nothing more than blatant religious bigotry," the ACLJ said in its promotion of its petition. "This is very important to understand. This radical proposal would outlaw Christianity … it would make the proclamation of your faith an international crime."

"In his recent dissent on the Supreme Court's ruling on Guantanamo Bay, Justice Scalia said, 'America is at war with radical Islamists.' Never has this rung more true than today. Never have Christians been more targeted for their religious beliefs. And never have we faced a more dangerous threat than the one posed by the OIC," the ACLJ said.

On the Grizzly Groundswell blog, the author described the situation as, "The United Nations: 160 cannibals and 17 civilized people taking a majority vote on what to have for dinner."

The U.S. State Department also has found the proposal unpalatable.

"This resolution is incomplete inasmuch as it fails to address the situation of all religions," said the statement from Leonard Leo. "We believe that such inclusive language would have furthered the objective of promoting religious freedom. We also believe that any resolution on this topic must include mention of the need to change educational systems that promote hatred of other religions, as well as the problem of state-sponsored media that negatively targets any one religion."