Eye on the Middle East Sep/Oct 2015

The UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry in June released its 183-page investigative report into the 2014 Gaza war, blaming both Israel and Hamas for possible violations of international law, yet concluding, “The onus remains on Israel.”

The UN report differs sharply from another report that not only absolves Israel of wrongdoing but praises the Jewish state for its high standards.

Mary McGowan Davis, the former New York Supreme Court justice who led the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) commission, called that investigation “scrupulously objective.”

Seventy-three Israelis died in the war, along with more than 2,200 Arabs. The UNHRC report calls on Israel to “break with its recent lamentable track record” and hold wrongdoers accountable and to provide details on its military decisions to determine their legality—even though doing so would pose a security risk.

It also concludes Israel “may not have done everything feasible to avoid or limit civilian casualties.”

The UNHRC report radically contradicts another report from the High Level International Military Group established by UN Watch, a nongovernmental organization based in Geneva, that investigated the same war and found Israel blameless.

Israel called the UNHRC committee a “kangaroo court” that failed to recognize the “profound difference” between “Israel’s moral behavior” and that of terrorist organizations like Hamas.

The UNHRC has been controversial ever since it was established in 2006. The George W. Bush administration refused to participate in it, saying it was loaded with repressive member-states that were irredeemably tipped toward serving the interests of human rights violators. The Obama administration reversed the policy.

In a 2009 Forbes Magazine piece, Claudia Rosett cited UNHRC’s deplorable history of continually condemning Israel, while failing to investigate some of the world’s worst violators:  “Excusing, glossing over or simply ignoring the violations of some of the worst abusers,” she wrote, “the Council, as noted by a Geneva-based non-governmental organization, UN Watch, has devoted more than 80% of its country resolutions to condemning Israel, while ‘eroding free speech protections in the name of Islamic sensitivities and steadily eliminating country investigations in places like Belarus, Congo, Cuba, Liberia and Sudan.’”

In 2013 BBC News reported that five countries on the UNHRC (China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, and Algeria) actually “denied access to UN human rights monitors keen to investigate alleged abuses.” Member-states that control the UNHRC repress their populations and provide little if any rights to their citizens; yet they judge other nations whose track records are far better than their own.

The UNHRC passes more resolutions against Israel than all other countries in the world combined.

By contrast, the High Level International Military Group’s members consisted of former chiefs of staff, generals, senior officers, political leaders, and officials from the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Holland, Spain, Italy, Australia, and Colombia—countries whose citizens enjoy human rights.

General Klaus Naumann, former chief of staff  of the German Armed Forces and chairman of the NATO Military Committee, declared, “A measure of the seriousness with which Israel took its moral duties and its responsibilities under the laws of armed conflict is that in some cases Israel’s scrupulous adherence to the laws of war cost Israeli soldiers’ and civilians’ lives.”

They noted Israel sought to avoid war and took unprecedented measures to warn and protect Gaza’s civilians.

The report declared, “Israel not only met a reasonable international standard of observance of the laws of armed conflict, but in many cases significantly exceeded that standard.”

That group’s findings inevitably lead to the question of whether any UN body can ever be “scrupulously objective” when it comes to Israel.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Features

Antique fountain pen on parchment.

From the Editor Sep/Oct 2015

A few months ago, the husband of one of my dearest friends died of a heart attack while eating lunch. One minute he was alive; the next, he wasn’t. My friend told me the ambulance arrived...

Pilgrim Songs

Psalms 120 through 134 are referred to as the Songs of Ascents due to the superscription at the beginning of each psalm. The term ascent carries the notion of step or degree. The interpretation of...

Psalm 120: Our Deliverer

Sung by ancient pilgrims making their way up to Jerusalem to observe the primary feasts of Israel, Psalm 120 is the first in a series known as the Psalms of Ascents. It begins with a...

Psalm 121: Our Security

Imagine a Jewish father singing to his children, “My help comes from the Lᴏʀᴅ, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber...

Psalm 122: Our Joy And Peace

Psalm 122 is the third of the 15 pilgrim songs known in Hebrew as Psalms of Aliyah, meaning “going up.” Traveling to Jerusalem, especially for the three annual Jewish festivals...

Psalm 123: Our Focus

According to an old saying, “You can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” When it comes to Israel...


Share Your Story.
Has God used The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry in your life? Share your story with us!
 

Subscription Options

1 Year Digital Subscription

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Download of Current Issue

$9.99 every 1 year

1 Year Digital with Archive Access

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Downloads of Current Issue & select Archives

  • Complete Access to our Growing Archives

$19.99 every 1 year

2 Year Digital Subscription

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Download of Current Issue

$19.99 every 2 years

2 Year Digital with Archive Access

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Downloads of Current Issue & select Archives

  • Complete Access to our Growing Archives

$39.99 every 2 years

3 Year Digital Subscription

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Download of Current Issue

$29.99 every 3 years

3 Year Digital with Archive Access

  • Free PDF Book Download - "What on Earth is God Doing?" by Renald Showers

  • Free Full-Issue Flipbook & PDF Downloads of Current Issue & select Archives

  • Complete Access to our Growing Archives

$59.99 every 3 years