Dark anti-Israel clouds brew above the UN again. UN headquarters. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock
On the festival of Purim, the day Jews mark their victory over an enemy that sought to destroy them more than 2,000 years ago, a stark reminder that Israel’s enemies are still out there was given by the United Nations. The UN’s Human Rights Council (UNHRC) decided on Thursday to effectively blacklist all companies, Israeli and international, who conduct business in Israeli settlements in areas claimed by the Palestinians and Syria, according to the Ma’an News Agency.
The UK’s The Guardian newspaper said in advance of the vote that the expected resolution was to create a database of entities who do business in the settlements in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria and Biblical Jerusalem, which the Palestinians call the West Bank and East Jerusalem respectively. Also included is the Golan Heights region along the border of Syria. Israel slammed the move, noting the UNHRC’s focus on Israel is shocking considering the true crimes done around the world.
“The UN Human Rights Council has become an anti-Israel circus,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in comments released by his office.
“It attacks the only democracy in the Middle East and ignores the gross violations of Iran, Syria and North Korea. The absurdity is that instead of dealing with the Palestinians’ terrorist attacks and those of [ISIS] in Europe, it decides to condemn Israel.”
Netanyahu said his nation asks “responsible governments not to honor the decisions of the Council that discriminate against Israel.” The Guardian reported that the US and the UK fought back against the measure before the vote, but Ma’an said that in the end the measure passed 32-0. 15 nations abstained. The US is not a member of the UNHRC.
The Guardian report cited a Palestinian source that said the US had warned the Palestinians bringing the resolution to a vote could end up costing them financial aid from the US.
Israeli Foreign Minister spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon accused the UNHRC of “cynicism and hypocrisy” on Twitter. He put the terms “human rights” in the name of the Council in quotes, thereby arguing those rights are not what the Council is really addressing.
“Shame on all Israel haters!” tweeted Nahshon.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon recalled the past in his Twitter comments on the vote. Tweeted Danon, “UNHRC voted to create a blacklist of Israeli businesses. When Jewish businesses are marked for boycott it reminds us of dark times in history.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, March 24, 2016)