Hilary Miller fights for human rights in Geneva | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Hilary Miller fights for human rights in Geneva 

 

Hilary Miller has long considered herself an ambassador for the Jewish community. 

Growing up in Bayside, Miller attended Milwaukee Jewish Day School and was involved in the Jewish community while she attended Nicolet High School. 

She served as president of the Wisconsin region of BBYO, for instance. 

The Jewish value of tikkun olam was instilled in Miller, and she said she was proud to be Jewish. 

Today, Miller is the Morris B. Abram Fellow at United Nations Watch. The nongovernmental organization, based in Geneva, Switzerland, focuses on holding the United Nations accountable to its own charter. That includes tracking the U.N.’s treatment of Israel, according to the organization. 

UN Watch says it notes that the disproportionate attention and unfair treatment applied by the UN toward Israel over the years offers an object lesson (though not the only one) in how due process, equal treatment, and other fundamental principles of the UN Charter are often ignored or selectively upheld.” 

Miller applied for the fellowship during her senior year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she majored in history and political science and minored in Jewish studies. As she approached her May 2019 graduation, a professor recommended she look at the position. 

Miller said she pursued those lines of study after a trip with BBYO to Israel when Operation Protective Edge broke out. The experience inspired her to learn more about the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

I went to Jewish day school my whole life and had always been told to love and support Israel,” Miller said. “Meanwhile, there’s been this conflict going on for decades, and I didn’t know so much about it.” 

At UN Watch, Miller works with executive director Hillel Neuer and performs a range of duties. She writes and publishes research reports, writes press releases and leverages the organization’s social media platforms to effect advocacy, for example. 

 Miller said she admires Neuers method. From Neuer, Miller said, she has received feedback about her style of advocacy, such as the way she writes and speaks.  

Its an opportunity of a lifetime to work with a hero, to work with somebody who has made such an impact on human rights, on advocating for Israel, Miller said. Im so lucky, I have to pinch myself sometimes about the things that Ive seen and done this year, and Im so grateful for the opportunity. 

Miller has met diplomats, interviewed human rights activists and former political prisoners and spoken on Chinas negative influence for the United Nations 

Neuer said Millers performance has given the organization a “great impression” of Wisconsin’s Jewish community. 

When her yearlong fellowship ends, Miller will become the organizations New York associate, taking on elevated responsibilities. 

“There’s work you can do when you first learn the material, and then as you become more adept, you just bring a new depth to it,” Neuer said. 

Miller echoed that sentiment. 

“I’m excited to continue contributing to the mission of UN Watch and feel that after having a year under my belt, I can give more of myself and really have a better understanding of the language of human rights and the language of advocating for the fair and equal treatment of Israel within the U.N. system there,” she said.