PRESS RELEASE
GENEVA, Feb. 18, 2014 – A controversial United Nations human rights investigator is accusing Israel of “inhuman acts” and calling on the world body to support a “legitimacy war” against the Jewish state.
The latest and final report by the outgoing Richard Falk, which he is slated to present next month before the UN Human Rights Council as its special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, recommends 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, invited to lecture later 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. Three senior Princeton professors dissented yesterday from the decision to host him. Hundreds have signed UN Watch’s 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.
“Despite the correction of this longstanding breach of the UN Charter’s equality guarantee, the council continues to apply selective treatment against Israel, making it the only country permanently featured on the agenda of every meeting,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch.
“As in years before, the upcoming March session is expected to enact half of all its condemnatory resolutions against Israel. Moreover, there will be at least four reports presented on alleged Israeli violations, including Falk’s,” said Neuer.
“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,” said Neuer.
“On the contrary, all four of these dictatorships were just elected as members. Likewise, fellow UNHRC member 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, said Neuer.
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. (Click for video.)
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.
The European Union took a strong stand against Falk’s previous report in June. “The EU continues to regret the unbalanced mandate of the Special Rapporteur and is also concerned that parts of the report include political considerations,” its envoy told the plenary. “In the past, the EU emphasized that future reports should be based on a more factual and legal analysis, and we regret to see no genuine progress in that direction.”
