HRC investigator limited to only Israeli ‘violations’

Image: Richard Falk, the U.N.’s “special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. (Looks like a right little bundle of joy)

The UN HRC current investigator for human rights in the Palestinian territories professor emeritus of international law Richard Falk (Princeton) has made a call for an international boycott of a number of US and European companies for trading with Israel.  Israel tends to be a big focus for the HRC with something close to 50% of disparaging resolutions from it being focussed on what is essentially a small nation in the Middle East: 

Dominated by countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, and Libya, the HRC is known to be hostile toward Israel. For this reason, the Bush Administration refused to take part in the HRC, yet the Obama administration has fully participated.  

The HRC is calling for "legal and economic warfare" on Caterpillar, Motorola, and Hewlett-Packard, because these companies refuse to quit doing business with Israel. Companies in Europe targeted for boycott include Volvo, the Dexia Group, and Group 4 Security. 

The Obama-approved HRC keeps an investigator who monitors so-called violations of "human rights" by Israelis in "the Palestinian territories." … 

The latest report from the HRC attempts to frighten companies into anti-Israel compliance by warning that individual employees of Caterpillar, Motorola, and Hewlett-Packard may be targeted if the pressure on company execs does not succeed.

Some of the unblinkered thinkers in society tend to notice that human rights violations are not strictly one-sided in that region.  Some notice the tendency of terrorist groups to fire rockets and conduct raids into Israeli towns aiming to kill civilians and wonder why only Israel is called to account for its response. It turns out, that only Israeli actions are to be investigated: 

Reporter Benny Avni of the New York Post took Falk to task for solely focusing on Israeli actions in the West Bank, while he ignored Palestinian violations of human rights. 

“You are charged with the responsibility to judge Israel’s behavior in the occupied territories, but your title is special rapporteur of the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories,” Avni said. 

“As such have you noticed during your travels to the region any violation of human rights by the Palestinian Authority that is controlling most of the cities in the West Bank, and even more so by Hamas that controls all of Gaza? “Do you think that the last three days of [rocket] attacks from Gaza into Israel constitute any human rights violations?” Avni asked. 

Falk responded that this mandate limited him to Israeli violations in the occupied territories. …

This on its own demonstrates extreme and extraordinary bias, but the selection of an investigator indicates a total disinterest on behalf of the UNHRC in even appearing to be unbiased.  Falk is a 9/11 truther who claims that senior US officials are culpable for what happened, and has accused Israel of actions comparable with the Nazi regime.  His prejudice is so extreme, that Israeli authorities don’t even bother to let him into the country, as it would only vindicate his attitudes.

The support that the US offers for this organisation by membership of it is a sign of weakness.