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Larry Dansinger is a pro-Palestinian and pro-Jewish organizer living in Bangor.
The 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). will be observed on Dec. 10-11, in Bangor.
The document was crafted by representatives of nations worldwide, with a committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt. It was ratified by nearly all United Nations member countries, including the United States, at a general assembly vote on Dec. 10, 1948. It contains a preamble and 30 succinct articles describing what every human being should have as a right.
It is perhaps the most comprehensive description of what basic human rights — political, social, and economic — every person should have. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights has been translated into more than 500 languages. It initiated a “human rights framework” regarding how people should be treated by their, and other, governments.
Following a preamble, the declaration’s Article 1 begins with: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” It then lists specific rights: to “life, liberty, and the security of person,” to “the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being.” Other articles include “the right to marriage,” “the right to own property” and “the right to work.”
Sadly, this “human rights framework” has not generally been practiced by governments. The current tragedies in Gaza highlight this.
Both Hamas and the Israeli government have repeatedly violated human rights in recent weeks, causing more than 15,000 Palestinian and about 1,200 Israeli deaths (as of this week), along with scores of Israeli hostages and more than 3,000 Palestinians detained, many without charges.
Both peoples have suffered a loss of human rights for decades and centuries. There has been the seizing of land and property and 75 years of oppressive treatment by the Israeli government against Palestinians, and more than 2,000 years of discrimination against Jews, culminating in the Holocaust.
Other well-known examples include South Africa under apartheid, current discrimination against Uyghurs by the Chinese government and the Rohingya in Myanmar, and oppression of some citizens by governments in Nicaragua and Venezuela.
But denial of human rights can also be as simple as discrimination based on gender, LGBTQ+ status, skin color, disability, poverty or a biased criminal justice system, which takes place every day in every country. Whatever the political perspectives of the government in power, it’s the denial of rights to its citizens that violates the declaration and needs to be addressed.
Human rights offer a benchmark of how well a government meets the needs of its people and how free and secure its people are. While we point to other nations for their violations of human rights, examples in our own country, such as the 2020 murder of George Floyd, must highlight human rights as well.
Nations, including the United States, usually base their policies on the use of force, or what’s in that country’s best interests, or political and military alliances like NATO. We should put greater emphasis on human rights in our foreign and domestic policies. The more a country can ensure the rights of its residents, the more stable and democratic its government is likely to be.
To commemorate the 75th anniversary, the declaration will be read in its entirety at 1 p.m. Sunday and again at noon Monday at Peirce Park in downtown Bangor, sponsored by the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine. On Monday, participants will also read the declaration in Bangor congressional offices.
If nations practiced the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the world would be a fairer, just and freer place for all. We’re not there yet, but the declaration offers us a guide on what human rights mean and how they can be achieved.