The Forward is the oldest American Jewish periodical. From about the turn of the 19th century to the mid 1980s it published exclusively in Yiddish. Today it has seperate Yiddish and English editions, though circulation of the English edition dwarfs the Yiddishkite.
The point is, it’s got major street-cred among American Jews. Natutally, I was very pleased to see this commentary about the United Nations from Jack Rosen, Chairman of the Council of World Jewry, found in the pages of The Forward:
For many Americans, and most Israelis, the words “United Nations” conjure up an image of an albatross at best, and a vulture at worst. Anti-Israel agendas, advanced by Islamic nations, routinely dominate the General Assembly and the U.N. human rights entities. Without the American veto, Israel would long ago have been the target of hostile binding resolutions in the Security Council.
Yet, for all this, we must resist the temptation to give up on the U.N.
The recent catastrophe in Haiti showcased one of the U.N.’s most indispensable roles. U.N. agencies form the backbone of the aid effort there. From Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and special envoy Bill Clinton on down, U.N. officials coordinated fundraising and diplomacy so that nearly four million people have received food assistance and 350,000 have received shelter.
[snip]
Holocaust commemoration and education, mandated by a U.N. General Assembly resolution, would have withered on the vine without persistent follow-through by the same bureaucrats we often malign as “the U.N.” When Ahmadinejad was opening a worldwide convention of Holocaust deniers three years ago, the General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning Holocaust denial.
Read the whole thing.