A controversial United Nations human rights investigator is accusing Israel of “inhuman acts,” and calling on the body world to support a “legitimacy war” against the Jewish state.
A new report by Richard Falk, which he will present next month to the UN Human Rights Council as its special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, demands that the world court examine whether Israel is guilty of the international crimes of “apartheid” and “ethnic cleansing,” and urges the UN to investigate corporations that profit from “unlawful Israeli activities.”
Falk, who will be lecturing today at Princeton University, has been condemned by world leaders on multiple occasions for spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories, and for anti-Semitic acts such as his endorsement of a book that praises Adolph Hitler.
(UN Watch has launched an online petition urging Princeton University president Christopher Eisgruber to speak out.)
Last year, after Falk blamed the Boston Marathon terrorist attacks on “American global domination” and “Tel Aviv,” he was sharply rebuked by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the U.S., Britain and Canada.
In 2010, as revealed by Wikileaks, the Palestinian Authority tried to fire Falk over his support for the Hamas terrorist group.
Falk will be forced to step down this spring after serving the maximum term of six years as a UN expert. He is scheduled to present his final report to the plenary of the 47-nation council on March 24th.
Three law professors are vying to replace him, one of whom, Christine Chinkin, served the council before as co-author of the Goldstone Report.
Israel recently returned to the Geneva forum following a two-year absence, after Western countries finally agreed to admit Israel into their caucus. For decades Israel was the only country at the council excluded from any of the council’s five regional groups.
The council continues to apply selective treatment against Israel, the only country permanently featured on the agenda of every council meeting.
As in years before, the upcoming March session is expected to enact half of all its condemnatory resolutions against Israel. Falk’s report is only one of four against Israel.
By contrast, there will be no special reports or resolutions on systematic human rights violations committed by major abusers such as China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia. On the contrary, all four of these dictatorships were just elected as members. Likewise, fellow UNHRC members states Algeria, Pakistan, Venezuela and Vietnam will also enjoy immunity.
‘INHUMAN ACTS’, ‘MURDER’, ‘APARTHEID’
Falk’s 22-page report on the West Bank and Gaza repeats his past allegations concerning Israeli settlements. He also offers a lengthy and detailed section arguing that Israel is guilty of “inhuman acts” and “murder” as defined by the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid.
Falk’s report makes no mention of war crimes or human rights violations by Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the Palestinian Authority. In fact, the word “Hamas” appears nowhere in the report.
Instead, Falk points the finger at Israel — and also at the UN. “It should be remembered that the suffering of the people of Palestine is inseparably linked to the partition arrangements initially proposed by the United Nations in 1947,” writes Falk. He also blames the world body for failing to implement the Goldstone Report’s call to prosecute Israelis for war crimes.
In a thinly veiled reference to UN Watch’s work in exposing his abuses and getting him condemned, Falk’s report twice complains that he was subjected to “defamatory attacks,” which he said had the effect of “diverting attention from substantive issues integral to the mandate.” He urges the UN to afford his successor “better protection” in this regard.
In June, Falk called for UN Watch to be investigated, prompting a sharp rebuke from U.S. envoy Eileen Donahoe.
“It once again starkly demonstrates that he is unfit to serve in his role as a UN special rapporteur,” she said. Canadian Minister of Multiculturalism Jason Kenney also defended UN Watch on the floor of the parliament. (See video below.)
FALK BLAMES U.S. & NEOCONSERVATIVES FOR 9/11 ATTACKS, ALLEGES MEDIA ‘COVER-UP’
In 2008, Falk called for an official commission to study the role neoconservatives may have played in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In a 2011 blog post, he accused U.S. authorities of an “apparent cover-up,” for which he was condemned by Ban Ki-moon in an address to the council plenary (video here).
Falk has on numerous occasions legitimized the most extreme 9/11 conspiracy theorists. (See videos below.)
