Canada has called for the dismissal of a top United Nations official who accused Israel of having “genocidal intentions” against the Palestinian population.
“The world is slouching towards nothing less than a Palestinian Holocaust,” Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, stated last Sunday (Dec. 15) on Russian English-language news channel Russia Today.
“Ottawa ‘completely rejects and condemns’ the ‘appalling’ remarks made by Richard Falk, U.N. special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement,” JTA reported.
“Canada has previously called for Falk to be fired ‘for his numerous outrageous and anti-Semitic statements,’ Baird said, ‘and these [latest] comments underscore once more the complete and total absurdity of his service as a UN Special Rapporteur.’ Baird again called on the U.N. Human Rights Council ‘to remove Falk from his position immediately.’
“Baird said the comments not only ‘undermine the fundamental values of the United Nations, they also belittle the terrible genocides that have tragically taken place throughout history and around the world,’” JTA added.
Falk “has already branded himself as the radical version of extremism,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.
“This man has been known for years for his strident racism, verbal violence and obsessional disparaging of Israel and others and for that he was the target of unprecedented criticism by many in the UN including the secretary-general. The fact that such a conspiracist, hate monger remains on the UN payroll is a moral stain on his employer,” Palmor told the Post.
In a letter to US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power, Hillel Neuer, the NGO’s executive director, said:
“We are outraged over the remarks by Richard Falk, the UN Human Rights Council’s permanent investigator of Israel’s violations of the principles and bases of international law, which were broadcast multiple times yesterday and today by Russia Today to a global TV audience, and are now being played on the Internet.”
According to its website (unwatch.org), UN Watch also sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, “urging him to condemn Falk, but the NGO, which enjoys special consultative status at the world body, emphasized that Falk, like other Human Rights Council appointees, is directly accountable only to the US and its fellow member states.”
“That is why we expect the US to do more than merely ask Falk to voluntarily resign, which he refuses to do,” Neuer explained.
“Because the U.S. has forcefully promoted the narrative that the council has been made credible, effective and authoritative, it bears a special responsibility to initiate the removal of Falk — and UN Watch has submitted a draft resolution to that effect — and the U.S. should act to eliminate the mandate itself, a permanent investigation of Israel, unchanged after 20 years, that examines the actions of only one side, and presumes guilt in advance,” he continued.
Furthermore, “when Falk accuses Israel of acting with genocidal intent and perpetrating a Holocaust, it is only follows logically that—as he did in a recent blog post—he will also justify violence against Israelis, berating demands by Israel that Palestinians renounce violence while Israel ‘sustains a structure of occupation and oppression.’
“Because Mr. Falk is accountable only to the U.S. and its fellow Council members, we trust that you will condemn Mr. Falk’s odious warrant for terrorism,” the letter continues. “UN Watch also urges you to demand that the Council remove Falk, and his unjust mandate, which, as you know, examines only one side, and prejudicially presumes guilt in advance.”
On Thursday, UN Watch applauded Australia for joining Canada in condemning Falk’s “disgraceful” comments. Australian Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma stated on Twitter that he was “appalled” by Falk’s labelling Israel “genocidal.”
Author: United with Israel Staff
Date: Dec. 23, 2013