Michèle Taylor Now 'Madame Ambassador'

In quick succession this week, Atlantan Michèle Taylor expected to take her oath of office as United States Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council and fly to Geneva, Switzerland, where Israel will be high on the Council’s agenda.

The full Senate approved Michèle Taylor’s nomination Feb. 17 on a voice vote. The UNHRC, which is based in Geneva, begins its regular session on Feb. 28.

In a statement, Taylor said: “I am deeply grateful to President [Joe] Biden for choosing me to serve in this important role, and humbled by the confidence he, Secretary [Antony] Blinken, and the United States Senate have placed in me. The U.N. Human Rights Council presents both challenges and opportunities for the United States, but we need to remind the world through our presence that we are a nation that leads, not follows on all matters related to human rights.

“I am in the process of making preparations to travel to Geneva as soon as possible in order to represent the American people at the upcoming session of the Council. I intend to be a forceful voice in defense of universal human rights, in support of Israel, and to counter those voices that have a decidedly different, and negative, view of the rights and liberties that should be accorded to all individuals.”

The UNHRC was created in 2006 and is comprised of 47 nations, serving rotating terms. The Council has been controversial because of its perceived anti-Israel bias. In the upcoming session, which runs through April 1, multiple resolutions labeling Israel as an apartheid state are expected. UNHRC’s Commission of Inquiry is expected to issue a report on Israel in June. The commission was created in May 2021 after Israel’s war against rockets launched from Gaza.

Of the 33 such commissions tasked since 2006, nine have focused on issues regarding Israel and the Palestinians. The current commission has a broad mandate and no ending date. According to media reports, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapin recently told reporters that “calling Israel an apartheid state has been a slowly creeping trend for a very long time, and in 2022, it will be a real threat.”

When Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden introduced Taylor’s nomination for a vote, he said it was crucial that Taylor be confirmed that night because of the UNHRC schedule. Wyden told the Senate: “Delaying Mrs. Taylor’s confirmation would obviously hinder the United States’ ability to advocate for American values, help vulnerable people who suffer under abuse and oppression around the world.”

“I come from a family that lost relatives in the Holocaust. Mrs. Taylor is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. And it is absolutely essential that we up the ante in the fight against antisemitism and that’s a key part of this country’s diplomacy,” Wyden said.

Taylor’s nomination went to the Senate floor after approval Jan. 12 by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a voice vote.

Biden last year directed that the United States rejoin the Human Rights Council, effective with its 2022 term, reversing the June 2018 withdrawal ordered by his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. U.S. participation has followed political lines; active during the administration of former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, but not during that of his predecessor, former President George W. Bush, a Republican.