At least 27 countries called on the United Nations on Tuesday to end the open-ended mandate of its Commission of Inquiry (COI) against Israel, charging that it contributed to anti-Israel bias.
“We believe the nature of this COI is further demonstration of long-standing, disproportionate attention given to Israel in the Council, and must stop,” the United States Ambassador to the UN Michelle Taylor told the UN Human Rights Council when it met in Geneva during its 53rd session.
She spoke after COI chair Navi Pillay read out a summary of the commission’s third investigatory report since it was created two years ago, which focused on the Israeli silencing of Palestinian civil society.
“Our examination revealed that the majority of violations are being committed by Israeli authorities as part of the Israeli Government’s goal of consolidating its permanent occupation at the expense of the rights of the Palestinian people.,” Pillay said.
“This includes criminalizing Palestinian civil society organizations and their members by labeling them as ‘terrorists’ and threatening institutions that give a platform for civil society discourse,” said Pillay, who is a former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
People hold placards during the ”Rally for Equal Rights at the United Nations (Protesting Anti-Israeli Bias)” in Geneva, March 18, 2019. (credit: REUTERS/DENIS BALIBOUSE)Her three-member commission has come under attack for issues including its mandate, which set up the probe as the only permanent one against a country in the UN human rights system, as well as an allegation COI member Miloon Kothari made that social media was largely controlled by the Jewish media. Kothari has since apologized for those remarks.
Antisemitism and anti-Israel bias
Taylor reiterated her “deep concern over the remarks by one of the Commissioners, echoing disturbing antisemitic tropes and questioning Israel’s right to UN membership. We unequivocally condemn antisemitism and anti-Israel bias and call on all [UN] members to do the same.”
In objecting to the COI, Taylor explained that “no one is above scrutiny and it is this Council’s responsibility to promote and protect human rights the world over.”
“We continue to believe that this long-standing disproportionate scrutiny should end and that the Council should address all human rights concerns, regardless of country, in an even-handed manner.
“Regrettably, we are concerned that the Commission of Inquiry will further contribute to the polarization of a situation about which so many of us are concerned.”
– Michelle Taylor, US Ambassador to the UN
In responding to complaints about the opened ended nature of the report Kothari said that mandate reflects the situation on the ground for Palestinians.
“There seems to be no sunset clause recommended to Israel to end the occupation,” he said. “As long as the occupation continues the UN needs to investigate the occupation,” he said, emphasizing that “we would like to see the end of the occupation.”
Those countries that signed the statement aside from the US and Israel were: Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Eswatini, Fiji, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Kenya, Liberia, Micronesia, Nauru, North Macedonia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Marshall Islands, Romania, Slovakia, Togo, and the United Kingdom.
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