Human Rights Council's latest report: diplomatic terrorism

(JNS) — This week, the U.N. Human Rights Council published an 18-page report on the May 2021 conflict between Hamas and Israel. From the outset, Israel knew the report’s conclusion was predetermined and rightly refused to cooperate with a biased investigation, labeling it “a moral stain on the international community and the U.N.” This assessment has proved correct.

The inquiry that led to the report — the first such inquiry to be open-ended — is led by Navi Pillay, a former UNHRC high commissioner who has spearheaded more investigations of Israel than of any other country in the world. She has a long history of anti-Israel statements. Miloon Kothari of India and Chris Sidoti, an Australian expert on international human-rights law, were also involved in the inquiry. Both of these individuals have documented records of anti-Israel bias.

No information has been provided as to how these three commissioners were appointed or who else was involved in drafting their report. It is clear, however, that somehow these three individuals — none of whom set foot inside Israel over the course of their investigation — managed to draw firm conclusions about the conflict based solely on visits to Jordan and Geneva. One wonders what the motives of these unelected officials might be. Given their history and clear hatred of Israel, it’s not hard to understand why their report is filled with lies.

The bias and absurdity of the report are made clear by a simple scan of the contents and the observation that throughout 18 pages of Israel-bashing only a handful of paragraphs are allocated to the atrocities committed by Arab terror organizations such as Hamas, which publicly declares that one of its goals is the complete destruction of the State of Israel. Given that the council has been outed time and again for its anti-Israel bias, it is unsurprising that the UNHRC report perpetuates and even intensifies this hostility towards the Jewish state.

For example, the report completely disregards the more than 4,000 rockets fired at Israel over the course of the 11-day conflict last May. Not only does it ignore this crucial issue, but it goes further. It undermines and criticizes a democratic country whose only “crime” is to defend itself against this barrage of rockets launched at an innocent civilian population.

Instead of rallying to Israel’s defense against a brutal attack by bloodthirsty radicals, the UNHRC report sides with the aggressive Arab terrorists who injured not only Jewish citizens but Arabs in Israel and the Gaza Strip. Instead of aligning itself with a democracy that had no alternative but to defend itself and its citizens, the report collaborates with terrorists.

This does nothing to promote peace. In fact, it does precisely the opposite. It nurtures terror and simultaneously attempts to penalize a sovereign state for exercising its right to fight terror. No one gains from this. Not the innocent Israeli Jewish or Arab civilians who were killed, wounded or suffered stress and trauma as a result of rocket attacks. Certainly not the Palestinian Arabs whose lives were harmed during Hamas’s senseless assault. The only victors are the terrorists and radicals whose goal is destruction and devastation no matter the human cost.

The UNHRC inquiry and its report are flagrant diplomatic terrorism against Israel. The investigators responsible for it should themselves be investigated for aiding and abetting acts of terrorism and violence against innocent civilians.

Ambassador Danny Danon served as Israel’s 17th Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He is currently chairman of World Likud and recently released his book, In the Lion’s Den.