The estimable UN Watch has sent a tough letter to Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressing concern at her endorsement of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, which contains “blatantly anti-Semitic statements.”

The Charter is the work of the League of Arab States, famous for turning anti-Zionism into a state doctrine. As early as 1945, three years before the creation of the State of Israel, the League set up an office to organize a boycott of “Jewish” and “Zionist” goods. After Israel came into being, the League’s boycott developed into a sustained form of economic warfare against the Jewish state.

Back in 1975, the League was a key player behind UN General Assembly Resolution 3379 , which declared Zionism as a form of racism. That resolution was rescinded in 1991, but the Arab League acts as though it’s still on the books.

Look at the language in what the League bills as a Human Rights Charter. “Zionism”, alongside racism, gets rejected in the preamble. And in Article 2, “Zionism” is billed as a global danger; along with “racism”, “foreign occupation” and “domination” it constitutes a “major barrier to the exercise of the fundamental rights of peoples.”

Of course, it’s hard to take seriously any document which contains a prohibition against arbitrary arrests…but which is also signed by Syria. Unfortunately, Ms. Arbour appears to have done exactly that.