Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Addresses the UN General Assembly, September 22, 2016 – Full Speech

Grenell, McFarland Break Down Obama's UN Address

Sep. 21, 2016 - 1:51 - Reaction to the president's message, ties to 2016 election

Full Speech: Obama Addresses UN General Assembly

US President Barack Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly for the last time.

Netanyahu Addresses UN General Assembly (Full Speech)

'Iran's Rouhani Is Wolf in Sheep's Clothing' – Netanyahu to UN General Assembly (Full Speech)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on its last day.

'Terrorists from 83 Countries Fighting in Syria' – Foreign Minister to UN Assembly 2013 (Full Speech)

The Syrian government is fighting against "terrorist groups from 83 countries" as part of its "constitutional right" to protect the country's people, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told the UN General Assembly in New York.

President Obama the Tough Guy

Talking Points 9/24

'US to Focus on Iran's Pursuit of Nukes' - Obama to UN Assembly 2013 (Full Speech)

US President Barack Obama criticized the UN Security Council for inaction on Syria, and called for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Iran, in a General Assembly speech that robustly defended America's "exceptional" role in the world.

'US Surveillance an Affront' - Brazil's Rousseff to UN Assembly 2013 (Full Speech)

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff lambasted US spying on her country at Tuesday's UN summit, calling it a "breach of international law." She further warned that the NSA surveillance, revealed since June, threatened freedom of speech and democracy.

Related »

'Iran's Threat Propaganda Dangerous for World Security' - Rouhani to UN Assembly 2013 (Full Speech)

Iran poses absolutely no threat to the world President Hassan Rouhani said in his address to the UN General Assembly. At the same time, militarism of "some players" and generalization of western values, he says, poses a true danger for the world security.

Brazilian President: US Surveillance a 'Breach of International Law'

THE GUARDIAN: Dilma Rousseff's scathing speech to UN general assembly the most serious diplomatic fallout over revelations of US spying

Brazil's president, Dilma Rousseff, has launched a blistering attack on US espionage at the UN general assembly, accusing the NSA of violating international law by its indiscriminate collection of personal information of Brazilian citizens and economic espionage targeted on the country's strategic industries.

Rousseff's angry speech was a direct challenge to President Barack Obama, who was waiting in the wings to deliver his own address to the UN general assembly, and represented the most serious diplomatic fallout to date from the revelations by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. » | Julian Borger, New York | Tuesday, September 24, 2013

UN General Assembly: Barack Obama Wants Nuclear Deal with Iran

Barack Obama has used an address at the UN General Assembly to call for a deal with Iran on its nuclear ambitions, instructing John Kerry, his secretary of state, to test the diplomatic path.

Read the Telegraph article here | Chris Irvine, agencies | Tuesday, September 24, 2013

States Backing Syria Rebels 'Aid Terror' - Walid Muallem
BBC: Syria has accused a number of countries backing rebel groups in his country of supporting terrorism.

In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem singled out the US, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar for criticism.

Calls for President Bashar al-Assad to step down were, he said, "blatant interference" in Syria's affairs. (+ video) » | Monday, October 01, 2012

Anti-blasphemy Law Sharply Debated at UN
On the opening day of the General Assembly, the diplomatic discourse at the United Nations reflected the anger of the Muslim street over the release of an anti-Islam video in the United States. It is sparking debate about how tightly should religious sensitivities be protected, or be made illegal. Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey reports from New York.

Rebel Support ‘Pushes Syria Deeper into the Abyss of Bloody Sectarianism’ – Lavrov

Israel PM Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu's Address to the United Nations on Iran and Radical Islam
On September 27, 2012, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations on Iran and Radical Islam. He laid out a clear danger of radicalized Islam and the regime of Iran to the world, raising Bernard Lewis' comment that mutually assured destruction is not a deterrent for Iran, but an inducement.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Address to U.N.
Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the 67th U.N. General Assembly in New York, "I am here for the eighth time" and to voice the "divine and humanitarian message" of his country.

New Dark Age Alert! Islamic Leaders Slam Obama Defence of Freedom of Speech

TIMES LIVE: Muslim leaders demanded international action to stop religious insults in a challenge to US President Barack Obama’s defense of freedom of expression at the UN General Assembly.

Obama made a strong condemnation of “violence and intolerance” in his speech at the UN headquarters on Tuesday. He said world leaders had a duty to speak out against the deadly attacks on Americans in the past two weeks caused by an anti-Islam film made in the United States.

But Muslim kings and presidents and other heads of state said Western nations must clamp down on “Islamophobia” following the storm over the film which mocks the Prophet Mohammed.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, said the film was another “ugly face” of religious defamation.

Yudhoyono quoted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as saying that “everyone must observe morality and public order” and commented: “Freedom of expression is therefore not absolute.”

He called for “an international instrument to effectively prevent incitement to hostility or violence based on religions or beliefs.” King Abdullah II of Jordan, a close US ally, spoke out against the film and the violence it sparked.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari condemned what he called the “incitement of hate” against Muslims and demanded United Nations action. » | Sapa-AFP | Wednesday, September 26, 2012

US Religious Freedom Report Hits Speech Curbs
VOICE OF AMERICA: The U.S. State Department's annual report on world-wide religious freedom, released Monday, was critical of what it says are international efforts to limit free speech in the name of combating defamation of religion. The Organization of the Islamic Conference, or OIC, has been pushing such anti-defamation measures in U.N. bodies. 



The State Department report says the United States deplores actions that show disrespect for religious traditions, including Islam.



But it says the broad anti-defamation measures being sought by the Islamic Conference would have the effect of curbing debate about religious issues and should be discarded in favor of outreach and government defense of religious freedom and free speech.



The comments were the most prominent to date by the United States on efforts led by the OIC to get anti-defamation resolutions approved in the U.N. General Assembly and the U.N. Human Rights Commission.



In comments introducing the annual report, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States will always stand against religious-based discrimination and persecution, but that it strongly disagrees with those who would combat such problems by curbing free speech.



"The best antidote to intolerance is not the 'Defamation of Religions' approach of banning and punishing offensive speech, but rather a combination of robust legal protections against discrimination and hate crimes, proactive government outreach to minority religious groups, and a vigorous defense of both freedom of religion and expression," said Secretary Clinton. >>> David Gollust, State Department | Monday, October 26, 2009

Punished for Being Yourself
THE AGE: Urgent action is needed to fight a rise in homophobia and hold governments accountable for human rights violations.

THE current president of the United Nations General Assembly, Libya's Ali Abdussalam Treki, has proclaimed that being gay ''is not acceptable''. Leave aside the bad joke that allows the representative of a nasty dictatorial regime to chair the assembly, Treki's comments echo a wave of homophobia that appears to be a strengthening theme in global politics.

In the past week there have been scary reports of mass rapes of suspected lesbians in South Africa, and systematic persecution and killings of suspected homosexuals in Iraq. The week before, a planned gay rights march in Belgrade was cancelled because the Serbian police claimed they could not protect the marchers from attacks from right-wing protesters.

The South African cases, which have resulted in several women being killed, remind us that even in countries with legal protection against discrimination - and South Africa was the first country to include sexual rights within its constitution - traditional assumptions about sex and gender are used to justify appalling brutality.

In Iraq the justifications for killings are religious, and globally there is a tacit alliance between organised Islam and the Catholic Church to prevent what is feared as the legitimisation of homosexuality. Ironically, Islamic countries such as Iran, which have a long tradition of homoerotic literature, now lead the world in criminalising, and in some cases executing, people for homosexual behaviour.

The world has never been as divided in attitudes towards homosexuality. In all Western countries legal prohibitions have been removed, and in some same-sex marriage has become legal. Openly homosexual politicians are increasingly evident, and no mainstream television series seems to be without its gay and lesbian characters.

For many political and religious leaders who dislike what they see as the unnecessary freedoms and hedonism of the West, homosexuality has become a crucial touchstone.

We should not be surprised that regimes such as those of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi rail against homosexuality, which they invoke as a symbol of Westernisation, unlike, for example, shopping malls or DVDs, which they embrace. >>> Dennis Altman* | Wednesday, September 30, 2009

*Dennis Altman is director of the Institute for Human Security, LaTrobe University.