Kofi Annan is desperate. The cover—up of the massive Oil—for—Food scandal, the biggest financial fraud in history, is starting to come apart at the seams. Investigators have resigned and will be subpoenaed to testify before the United States Congress. Although diplomatic immunity has been claimed for them, they no longer work for the UN. And besides that, The UN cannot afford to flaunt Congress because so much of its financial support comes from Congressional appropriations.

How desperate is Kofi? Desperate enough to try to mend fences with world Jewry.а

World Jewish leaders will meet for the first time tomorrow with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at his offices.

Some 40 leaders and Jewish activists from 24 countries are expected to meet with Annan at UN headquarters, as part of a joint project of the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), and the UN Foundation.

It is highly ironic for Annan to meet with Jewish groups right now.аThe moveаcontradicts an entire series of actions undertaken in the recent past:

The UN flew the "Palestinian flag" at half—mast when Arafat died, violating UN rules since there is no such thing as a Palestinian state. All the anti—Israel resolutions, the UN's failure to define terror, its refuse to consider Israel being accorded regional membership, which denies Israel the ability to be on various committees (and serving on the Security Council as a rotating member). The UN is notoriously anti—Israel, and Kofi Annan supports, in direct and indirect ways, this policy.

Then there is the little matter of one of Annan's closest friends and closest aides, Lakhdar Brahimi. (From the New York Sun):

Israel's mission to the United Nations officially protested statements made last week by the UN's envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi, in which he called the Jewish state's policies "the great poison in the region."

The protest comes amid revelations by UN sources that Brahimi, a UN undersecretary—general and former Foreign Minister of Algeria, has boasted that he has never knowingly shaken hands with an Israeli or a Jew. Israel's ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman said that the boast, reported Tuesday in the New York Sun, proves Brahimi's "prejudice, bigotry and anti—Semitism." [emphasis added]

One of the characteristics of most anti—Semites is that they believe their own stereotypes of the Jews, especially the little chestnut about Jews dominating the American press. This despite the abundant evidence of anti—Israel bias supplied by the New York Times, CBS News, and various other 'Jewish—controlled' media outlets.

Annan's newfound interest in hearing from Jewish groups just might be related to his belief that he would get better press in this country if he pretends to be open to Jewish concerns. Or maybe he is calculating that Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman, who is Jewish, will relent in his pursuit of the truth behind the UN financial scandal.

We very much doubt that Kofi Annan's gambit will succeed. Once again, he is substituting style for substance. The day of reckoning is coming.