One of the hallmarks of Israel’s international critics is their tendency to blame Israel for all the bad things that happen when the Jewish state’s enemies try–and fail–to destroy it. Yet it is rarely so perfectly distilled with such righteous indignation as the statement offered by the NGO Amnesty International today. Amnesty International should be thanked for its honesty, but its behavior represents yet another new low for the human rights community. Reacting to the news that Israel would not participate in the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of all member states’ human rights records, Amnesty released a statement that began:
If the Israeli government is not careful, it will ruin an important global human rights process for everybody.
Yes, you read that right. The Israel-obsessed behavior of a corrupt UN body that exists solely to scapegoat the Jewish state while having counted as members Qatar, China, Russia, Libya, and Cuba is not ruining an important human rights process. What is ruining the process is Israel’s unwillingness to participate in its own rigged show trial. But all that is nothing compared to the way Amnesty closes its statement:
If Israel fails to fully engage in its examination under the Universal Periodic Review during 2013 as required, will the victims of human rights violations, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, thank the Israeli government?
Amnesty wants Israel to take its beating or it will not-so-subtly suggest to the victims of the Taliban that they can blame the Jewish state. It would certainly be convenient for Amnesty to do so, since the organization could simply stop putting researchers at risk in dangerous countries and just consolidate its branches in its office in Tel Aviv, where its staffers can unironically fault Israel for every human rights violation unharassed by the democratically-elected Israeli government it is scapegoating.
Israel’s review was supposed to take place this afternoon, and be conducted by three nations–one of them Venezuela. As if it’s unclear why a country would opt-out of such a sham, the United States was apparently engaged in a last-minute push to convince Israel to take its medicine. The Times of Israel reports:
“Tough talks” were held on the matter between senior State Department officials and the head of the Foreign Ministry’s department for foreign organizations, Aharon Leshno-Yaar, the paper reported Sunday. The US officials also said that even though Israel’s boycott might be justified, it would eventually harm Israel’s reputation in the international arena.
“We have encouraged the Israelis to come to the council and to tell their story and to present their own narrative of their own human rights situation,” Eileen Donahoe, Washington’s ambassador to the UNHRC, told reporters in Geneva last week. “The United States is absolutely, fully behind the Universal Periodic Review and we do not want to see the mechanism in any way harmed.”
Israel is also expected to not cooperate with a probe into the country’s reported use of drones against Palestinian targets, launched last week, Haaretz reported. Israel does not admit to using drones in aerial strikes. The US and Britain are expected to work with the investigation, which does not have official backing from the UNHCR, but was prompted by requests from China, Russia and Pakistan.
I don’t know exactly what the story means when it says the U.S. plans to “work with” the drone investigation, but I’ll give the White House and Foggy Bottom three guesses as to which country is likely to be the next subject of a drone investigation initiated by Pakistan.
Just as Amnesty vowed retribution for Israel’s intransigence, the UN Human Rights Council warned that “appropriate action would be taken.” For its part, the Israeli government made no attempt to hide its contempt for being lectured by the “dictator protection racket,” as the Wall Street Journal has so aptly dubbed the UN:
“It’s hard to understand how the countries that initiated this investigation have any moral right to review or to opine on human rights records of other countries,” an anonymous Israeli official said. “Such countries that have long records jailing and/or assassinating their political opponents are in no position to lecture anyone on human rights.”
That gets it about right. The UN, of course, has every right to ask Israel to participate in the review and drone investigation and take offense when they are rebuffed. But there is no excuse for the shameful comments from Amnesty, an organization that ought to be above making it official policy to blame Israel for human rights violations made by terrorists and dictators simply because the Israelis won’t lend credibility to their perennial accusers.
"As if it’s unclear why a country would opt-out of such a sham, the United States was apparently engaged in a last-minute push to convince Israel to take its medicine. " nIt's times like these that we see the bracha in Obama having gone out of his way to weaken the US-Israel relationship. If he had not tipped his hand so often and so far, the Israelis might be less inclined to disregard his advice about their long term interests. n n'Just as Amnesty vowed retribution for Israel’s intransigence, the UN Human Rights Council warned that “appropriate action would be taken.” ' n nLike most sayings, this one sounds better in the original Yiddish: "So let him call me a pisher."
If Israel isn't careful the UNHRC might single them out and treat it unfairly.
"The UN, of course, has every right …". The only right that the despicable neo-Nazi group has is SUICIDE. May it come soon – but not with Obama nor with even our past GOP or Demo(n) Presidents did it come about. Hopefully, we pray, soon.
Another ritual flipping of the bird by the Obama administration. n nWe need another Chuck Lichenstein at the U.N. The original had the right idea (from his NY Times obit): n nA furious Mr. Lichenstein replied that if member states felt ''they are not being treated with the hostly consideration that is their due,'' they should consider ''removing themselves and this organization from the soil of the United States.'' n n''We will put no impediment in your way,'' he continued, ''The members of the U.S. mission to the United Nations will be down at the dockside waving you a fond farewell as you sail off into the sunset.''
The Universal Periodic Review? Didn't Primo Levi cover that? But that's OK. UNHRC, message received, over and out!
how darest they!!!!! how darest they disapprove of some something Israel chooses not to do!!!! n no, so shameful it is !!!! nshame nshame nshame. n nisrael must not be criticized or it's like anti-Seminism or sumpin' n n nAmnesty International should be burned at the stake for contravening the doctrine of israeli infallibility.
Dub, I can save you some time by creating a mutiple choice list for you like the one I created for HillelA on the Hollow Defense Dept. tab. It would save you a good deal of time.
I wouldn't mind if you want to extend your powers toward another act of creation, aha….. n nit's not as if I don't find a spark in some of your stuff.
what's your hairball, fellow? this isn't about Israel being criticized; it's about counries like Cuba and Sudan lecturing Israel about human rights. do you not see the hypocrisy there? maybe you don't–your comment shows you're not firing on all cylinders…
I coulda sworn that Mandel was wailing about Amnesty International. n n nI agree with you entirely about outrageous and ugly-faced hypocrisy about the UNHRC toward Israel, but that ain't quite the issue.
"I agree with you entirely about outrageous and ugly-faced hypocrisy about the UNHRC toward Israel, but that ain't quite the issue. " n nSure it is. Seth is pointing out that AI is slamming Israel for refusing to participate in the outrageous and ugly-faced hypocrisy about the UNHRC toward Israel, and that is exactly the issue.
and Seth is wrong, of course. n n nthe hypocrisy doesn't attach to Amnesty International and their concern is for the principle. n nboycotting the UNHRC isn't the best way to end the abuse,aha. that's the truth and that's the policy of the US and, while an Israeli boycott is understandable, Islraeli interests aren't paramount…and not above criticism n
Dub, in case you missed it, here's the easy, handy-dandy shorthand response code I creatred for HillelA, so that all he needs to do is select which numbers from the list he wants to post. I'd be happy to create one for you; think of all the time you'd save just typing a few numbers instead of words. n*********** n1. Obama is right, by definition. n2. ___________________ [Insert name of Hilllary or other Obama appointee] can do no wrong. n3. Obama or his appointee is being falsely smeared. n4. Anyone who disagrees with HillelA is by definition dumb. n5. Israel is in no danger but Likudniks are exaggerating the situation in order to consolidate the personal power of the dumb and evil Bibi. n6. Iran and North Korea are no threat. n7. The US has no enemies abroad. n8. It's not really anti-Semitism unless they are shoveling people into gas ovens, but the neo-cons for political advantage shamelessly call anti-Semitism where there is none. n9. The only danger facing the US is the monolithic evil neo-con NRA conservative tea-partiers. n n
thx, but that one's not really fitting or right for me, aha. n n nI was about 17 when my mentor in philosophy convinced me that loyalty was something that attached to ideas, not to people. n nand I'm certainly aware that the US and also Israel face many enemies, most of them located outside their borders. n n
"thx, but that one's not really fitting or right for me" nWhich is why I offered to give you a modified version.
and I eagerly await it.
Come on, give AI a break. With the atrocities committed in Syria, Amnesty International and its ilk must be foaming at the mouth to stick it to Israel.
More from the AI statement: n nNot so long ago, Israel, and many other states and organizations, had expressed concerns that the Commission on Human Rights was biased and operated on double standards. It was abolished and in 2006 the Human Rights Council was established. With it came a great improvement: the Universal Periodic Review. Finally, a process applied consistently to all states was at hand, and in its first cycle of reviews, it worked. It is ironic that Israel is now undermining a mechanism that was designed to remedy the bias Israel protested against. n nThe Israeli government complained that the Human Rights Council singled Israel out for criticism by establishing a Fact-Finding Mission on Israeli Settlements in March 2012, and consequently withdrew its cooperation with the Council. Israel had already refused to cooperate with several important mechanisms such as the Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict in 2009. Yet those steps are unrelated to the Universal Periodic Review.
Great improvement? Right, as in taking the prior organization's ingrained anti-Israel bias and ramping it up a few notches. And continuing the old policy of oepning membership to the such bastions of human rights as Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Libya (then under Kaddafi), Tunisia, Pakistan. The UNHRC has continued the old group's focus on Israel to the virtual exclusion of real human rights abuses in other countries. The Bush administration, foreseeing the results, declined to be part of the farce and refused to join — until your messiah Obama courageously reversed that policy and put its hechsher on the whole mess.
mostly they travel up the canal and find themselves secreted somewhere east of the insulated Isles of Langerhans.