UNITED NATIONS: North-South Divide Over Islamic Holidays

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 6 1998 (IPS) - The United Nations, overcoming strong opposition from Western nations and Russia, has decided to declare two Islamic holy days – the Eid al-Fitr and the Eid al- Adha – as official U.N. holidays.

The 54-25 vote in the U.N’s Administrative and Budgetary Committee in favour of the two holidays reinforced the political clout of the 55 Islamic nations in the world body.

“It was a battle between the North and the South – and the North lost, ” one Third World delegate told IPS.

Lined up behind the Islamic countries were the 132 members of the Group of 77 developing nations while the opposition came from the United States, the European Union, Russia and some of the East European countries. The only exception to the North-South divide was Canada which voted with the South.

Ambassador Nasser bin Hamad al-Khalifa of Qatar, speaking on behalf of the 55-member Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), thanked those who had voted in favour of an issue which, he said, “concerned more than one-third of the U.N.’s 185 members and more than one billion Muslims worldwide.”

Eid Al-Fitr commemorates the end of the 30-day Ramadan fast by Muslims throughout the world while the Eid Al-Adha commemorates the annual pilgrimage by Muslims to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, one of Islam’s holiest places.

Last year the General Assembly adopted a resolution calling on the Secretariat to observe the two Islamic holy days as official U.N. holidays. But the Secretariat opted only for one, sparking strong criticism from the OIC and generating a second U.N. resolution last week. The Secretariat decided to declare the second Islamic holy day an “optional” U.N. holiday.

“There was no sense in having optional religious holidays because there should not be discrimination among U.N. staff, in the light of the universal nature of the Organsation,” said Tammm Sulaiman of Syria. “That universal nature applied to religious holidays. Other religious holidays were officially observed, rather than made optional. ”

After the vote, Ahmed Farid of Saudi Arabia, said “it was now clear that all employees of the United Nations must take two days off on the two holidays, with full pay. The doors of the United Nations would be closed on those days.”

Traditionally, the United Nations has ha only nine official holidays, including Christmas, Good Friday, and most of the official U.S. holidays. But to accommodate the two Islamic holy days, the world body decided to increase its official holidays from nine to 10 under the resolution adopted last week.

The Administrative and Budgetary Committee comprises all 185 member states and took its vote Friday after several days of intense debate. The meeting were so emotionally- charged that the committee, which usually take decisions by consensus, was forced into a rare vote.

The resolution in favour of the two holidays finally was adopted by a vote of 54 in favour, almost all from developing nations, to 25 against, mostly from the North and Eastern Europe.

Nicholas Thorne of Britain, speaking on behalf of the 15-member European Union, told delegates that the declaration of holidays was the prerogative of the Secretary-General, not the member states. “The Union was conscious of the sensitivity of the issue, and was, therefore, reluctant to see such issues decided by vote.”

Susan Shearhouse of the U.S. delegation said she was “deeply concerned” with the Committee’s decision, since the designation of officially observed holidays was in the purview of the Secretary-General. “The Committee must remain mindful of the U.N.’s secular nature, as well as th need for equity among all religions and culture. The resolution went against that spirit,” she said.

Evgueni Deineko of Russia told delegates his country was not against the Secretariat’s observing the two Muslim holidays. “It had voted against the draft resolution for different reasons. It was important that the texts be adopted by consensus.”

Deineko also said that h delegation always reacted negatively when votes were forced. Another reason for his delegation’s vote was that in its view, there had been an attempt to interfere with the prerogative of the Secretary-General regarding holidays for U.N. staff. “Taking a decision to increase the number of holidays in the United Nations was a dangerous path. It could lead towards an unlimited increase in such holidays,” he said.

Deineko also pointed ou that there were numerous religions and beliefs, “and perhaps there would be a desire to observe holidays that exited in all cultures.” “The increase in the number of holidays could also impact negatively on the work of the Organisation; it certainly would not enhance the effectiveness of the work of the staff,” he added.