UPDATE (6:00 pm Monday): Palestinian terrorists assault IDF soldiers with rocks near Ramallah.
TODAY’S BLOG:
Courtesy and copyright Henry Christensen.
Leave it to Israel Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to finally get it right.
In an Israeli diplomatic world often characterized by limp responses and hollow threats, FM Lieberman announced yesterday that his office has decided “to cut all ties with the UN’s Human Rights forum. We will no longer appear before the council or even answer their calls. If they want to visit – we shall not assist them.”
In case you missed it, the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) passed a resolution last week ordering a bogus investigation into how Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are “infringing on Palestinian rights.” At the same time, the HRC ludicrously demanded that Israel disarm Jewish community members in order to prevent “settler violence.”
Of course, the UNHRC is one of the most virulently anti-Israel organizations on the planet. Created in 2006, the UNHRC voted on June 30th of that year to make review of Israel’s alleged “human rights abuses” a permanent feature of every Council session. Between 2006 and 2010, 48% of all resolutions passed by the UNHRC (32 resolutions in total) were condemnations of Israel–a trend that has continued in 2011 and 2012.
This overwhelming bias against Israel has not been surprising given the fact that many of the UNHCR’s 47 members are the worst human rights abusers in the world–human rights abusers who are more than willing to turn their attention on Israel in order to take the attention off of themselves. In recent months, the UNHCR had even refused to issue any condemnation of the Syrian government for its ongoing massacre of the Syrian people until it was held up to public ridicule.
In fact, UNHRC Members are chosen from five world regions and are elected to staggered 3-year terms. These are the current members (M=country with more than 50% Muslim population):
Africa: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso (M), Cameroon, Congo, Djibouti (M), Libya (M), Mauritania (M), Mauritius, Nigeria, Senegal (M), Uganda
Asia: Bangladesh (M), China, India, Indonesia (M), Jordan (M), Kuwait (M), Kyrgyzstan (M), Malaysia (M), Maldives (M), Philippines, Qatar (M), Saudi Arabia (M), Thailand
Eastern Europe: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Russia
Latin America and Caribbean: Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay
Western Europe and “Others”: Austria, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, U.S.
Obviously Israel has never been chosen for membership in the UNHCR. Israel’s relationship with the organization has solely consisted of being called on the carpet repeatedly to answer false allegations made against it.
What amazes your humble servant is why Israel has cooperated with this pathetic excuse for a “human rights” organization for so long.
FM Lieberman’s decision to cut off ties with this blatantly anti-Israel group is long overdue and greatly to be applauded.
A student from Malawi, who had worked with an Israeli health volunteer in his country battling AIDS, came up to us as we walked down the street in the UC-Davis Picnic Day Parade and wanted to carry the Israeli flag.