Israel has dismissed a UN commission of inquiry into alleged Israeli war crimes during Operation Protective Edge as a kangaroo court.
The United Nations Human Rights Council on Monday named legal experts to head an international commission of inquiry into human rights violations allegedly committed by Israel during Operation Protective Edge.
Israel has dismissed the inquiry as a “kangaroo court” and said it will not cooperate with the investigation.
With missiles raining down on Israeli cities, launched by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza, Israel’s main objective has been to destroy terror infrastructure – most notably, massive tunnels leading into Israel – and to restore calm to civilians.
William Schabas, a Canadian professor of International law known for his bias against the Jewish state, will head the UN panel.
‘Anti-Israel Bias and Opinions are Known to All’
“As soon as the decision was made to establish a [UN investigative] committee, the prime minister and the foreign minister announced that the Human Rights Council had long ago become the terrorists’ rights council, whose conclusions are predetermined,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated. “If any more proof were needed, the appointment of the chairman of the panel, whose anti-Israel bias and opinions are known to all, proves beyond any doubt that Israel cannot expect justice from this body, whose report has already been written and all that is left to decide is who will sign it.”
PM Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and former president Shimon Peres, accused of war crimes by UN inquiry head, seen at Maccabiah games in Jerusalem in July 2013. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
A Canadian professor of International Law at London’s Middlesex University, Schabas had called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former president Shimon Peres to stand trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes.
Speaking in the past at the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Schabas stated his “profound belief that international law can be used to demonstrate and underscore the violations committed by the State of Israel…who have perpetrated international crimes against the people of Palestine.”
According to Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO, “You can’t spend several years calling for the prosecution of someone, and then suddenly act as his judge. It’s absurd — and a violation of the minimal rules of due process applicable to UN fact-finding missions.”
“I have opinions like everybody else about the situation in Israel,” Schabas said on Monday, responding to the criticism. “They may not be the same as Hillel Neurer’s or Benjamin Netanyahu’s, that’s all.”
Inquiry Head Worked with Iranian ‘Human Rights’ Center
In an interview the same day with Canada’s CBC News Network, Schabas cited his membership in the editorial board of the Israel Law Review as evidence that he is not anti-Israel.
Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, commenting on Schabas’ role to head the panel, tweeted on Monday: “UN Human Rights Council continues to be a sham for advancing human rights…. It’s an utter shame, and will do nothing to promote peace and dignity in Gaza for the Palestinian people.”
As pointed out by Israel Hayom, “In 2009, Schabas also claimed that former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was not anti-Semitic, but rather nothing more than a ‘provocative politician.’ Furthermore, in 2011, Schabas co-sponsored a conference with the Tehran-based Center for Human Rights and Cultural Diversity despite the center’s intimate ties with the ayatollah regime.”
In 2009, Schabas was elected president of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, self-described as “a global, interdisciplinary, non-partisan organization that seeks to further research and teaching about the nature, causes, and consequences of genocide, and advance policy studies on prevention of genocide.” Its mission includes consideration of “comparative research, important new work, case studies, the links between genocide and other human rights violations, and prevention and punishment of genocide.”
Founder of Genocide Studies ‘Would be Revolted’
The Association’s website includes a photo of Raphael Lemkin, the late founder of Genocide Studies.
Binyamin Lemkin, an American-born Israeli, wrote on his Facebook page:
“My cousin Raphael Lemkin coined the word ‘genocide’ and drafted the Genocide Convention for the United Nations. Among the events that motivated him were the Holocaust and the Arab riots against Jews during the time of the British Mandate. As time goes by his name is increasingly cited in human rights circles.
“He would be revolted by the fact that truly genocidal Islamic fascists and their supporters are emptying the term of any meaning by describing Israel’s defensive actions as ‘genocidal’. Daring to use this term against Israel is so absurd that anti-Semitism can be the only motivation.
“The term ‘genocide’ can and should be used by the U.N. to take action against Iran for plotting genocide against the Jewish State.”
Author: Atara Beck
Senior Writer/Editor, United with Israel
Click below to see Youtube video of Schabas accusing Israel of war crimes.