“President Mahmoud Abbas has awarded the Order of the Star of Jerusalem to Professor Michael Lynk, presented by Foreign Minister Dr Riad Al Malki in Dublin,” tweeted the Palestinian embassy in Ireland, along with a photo.

Lynk only ended his term as Special Rapporteur on Palestine last week, after a 6-year term. He was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in 2016, despite rare objections about his lack of impartiality by the Canadian government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“For the past six years, we documented how Lynk was acting not like an impartial UN investigator, but rather like an agent for the PLO,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. “He turned a blind eye to Hamas and Fatah terrorism, and demonized Israel. Lynk insisted he was impartial, but now he isn’t even pretending any more.”

“It is repulsive that Lynk accepted this award from Mahmoud Abbas at a time when his Fatah group participated in and praised the latest spate of Palestinian terrorist attacks that have killed 19 people in Israel.”

Abba’s Fatah-linked Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades distributed sweets in Gaza the evening after Thursday’s terrorist attack in Elad that killed three Israeli fathers, orphaning 16 children.

UN Watch says that Lynk’s acceptance of an award from one of the parties in a dispute that he was judging for the UN until last week sets a dangerous precedent.

“The entire credibility of the UN’s system for country investigations is at stake. If the UN investigator of Palestine can get an award from Palestinian President Abbas, what is to stop the UN investigators on Iran, Belarus and North Korea from accepting awards from Ayatollah Khamenei, Lukashenko and Kim Jong-un?”

“The UN human rights system is turning into a laughingstock, and dictators like Abbas, now in the 18th year of his 4-year term, get to corrupt the system.”

“We are calling on U.S. Ambassador Thomas-Greeenfield and High Commissioner Bachelet to speak out immediately, to condemn Lynk’s ethical breach, and to demand that he return the prize.”

Lynk’s Controversial UN Term, 2016-2022

As Special Rapporteur, Michael Lynk gave a free pass to systematic violations by the PA and Hamas.

Though it is rare for Canada to criticize UN appointments, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government had slammed Lynk’s appointment in 2016, saying that UN Special Rapporteurs needed to have a “track record that can advance peace in the region” and to be “credible, impartial and objective.”

Canada’s rebuke came after UN Watch exposed Lynk’s lengthy record of signing anti-Israel petitions, campaigning for Israel to be prosecuted for war crimes, accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing, and addressing conferences promoting a “one-state” solution, which means the end of Israel.

In his application, Lynk deliberately failed to disclose his leadership role in three pro-Palestinian lobby groups, including the National Council on Canada-Arab Relations, where he lobbied against Canada’s free trade agreement with Israel; the Canadian-Palestinian Education Exchange, which organizes “Israeli Apartheid Week” events; and Friends of Sabeel. During his UN tenure from 2016 to 2022, Lynk promoted the same agenda.

Michael Lynk just ended a 6-year term as UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine.

I said he acted as an agent of the PLO. Lynk insisted he was impartial.

Now he stopped pretending: PLO Chair Abbas awarded him the “Order of the Star of Jerusalem” presented in Dublin by FM Riad Malki. pic.twitter.com/b0ZRN3YkV9

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 9, 2022

Key findings in UN Watch’s report:

• As Special Rapporteur on Palestine, Lynk published 12 reports and 84 official UN press releases about the Palestinian territories. These texts systematically ignored egregious human rights violations by the PA and Hamas against both Israelis and Palestinians.

• Lynk justified his omissions by citing the discriminatory 1993 mandate which instructs him to investigate only Israel’s violations. Eventually, in wake of criticism from UN Watch, Lynk’s last three reports to the General Assembly included a handful of sentences on violations by the PA and Hamas, disproving his prior arguments. Still, 97% of the content of these reports related to criticism of Israel, while Lynk continued to ignore Hamas terrorism.

• Out of 84 official UN press releases issued by Lynk between 2016 and 2022, only 12—one seventh—included any criticism at all of the PA and Hamas. These few references typically amounted to no more than one or two lines mentioning Palestinian violations within a larger context of condemning Israel.

• During his entire six years as Special Rapporteur, Lynk published only one UN statement devoted to human rights abuses by the PA. He failed to issue a single statement about the Hamas regime’s human rights violations against Palestinians.

• Lynk failed to issue a single statement dedicated to criticizing either the PA or Hamas for their gross and systematic violations of freedom of religion, the rights of children, the rights of women, and LGBTQ rights.

• Lynk failed to issue a single statement dedicated to criticizing the PA or Hamas for firing thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians, terrorism targeting Jews, or antisemitic incitement.

• The mandate of Special Rapporteur on Palestine dates back to the pre-Oslo era—meaning, before the PA and Hamas ruled millions of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza—and is inherently discriminatory, creating a protection gap for Palestinian and Israeli victims of violations by Palestinian actors.

• Several of Lynk’s predecessors publicly criticized this discrimination, and called for the mandate to be reformed. By contrast, Lynk pointedly refused do so. To the Canadian media in 2016, Lynk promised that he was “open to looking at expanding the job,” but in the end he did the opposite, embracing the biased mandate.

The post UN Palestine Investigator Must Return ‘Unethical’ PLO Medal, Says Watchdog appeared first on UN Watch.

Example:  “The work that Michael Lynk is doing and the work required by his office is to
report on and monitor the state of human rights in the occupied territories.”
—Sir Geoffrey Bindman, 13 June 2017

FACT:  Contrary to what his title says, Michael Lynk does not examine the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories. Rather, his mandate from the U.N. Human Rights Council—which he embraces—is to investigate only “Israel’s violations.” The U.N. title, which implies neutrality as to the identity of the victim or perpetrator of human rights violations, is deceptive. In fact, the mandate turns a blind eye to both Palestinians and Israelis victimized by human rights violations committed by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and others. A more accurate title of Lynk’s position might be “Special Rapporteur on Israel’s violations in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.” (For more, see “Mandate to Discriminate,” UN Watch report, March 2016.)

Since Michael Lynk was appointed Special Rapporteur in March 2016, he delivered reports to the General Assembly in October 2016 and October 2017, a report to the Human Rights Council in April 2017 and a series of press releases and statements. In none of these does he mention human rights abuses by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas or other Palestinian groups against either Palestinians or Israelis.

Moreover, Lynk has demonstrated a troubling lack of independence in his research. His April 2017 report to the HRC listed Manal Tamimi, known for spreading antisemitism and advocating terrorism on social media, as a human rights defender. Lynk was forced to remove Tamimi from the list only after the watchdog group NGO Monitor filed a complaint to the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Following are the categories of human rights violations, together with selected examples, which have been systematically ignored by Michael Lynk since the UNHRC named him Special Rapporteur in March 2016.

Palestinian Authority Violations in West Bank – Ignored by Lynk

• Arbitrary Arrest: Palestinian Authority security forces arrest freelance journalist Naseem Mualla, confiscate his mobile phone and hold Mualla at undisclosed location. (November 2021).
• Torture: Palestinian Authority security forces detain more than 75 Palestinians in the aftermath of Nizar Banat’s death, several allege they were brutally tortured in prison. (July 2021).
• Arbitrary Arrest: Palestinian Authority security forces arrest singer Abdullah Kmeil for “normalization” with Israel after he performed at a work party for Palestinian employees at the Ariel Industrial Park. (July 2021).
• Suppression of Freedoms of the Press and Assembly: Palestinian Authority security forces assault 12 journalists reporting on protests against the death in PA custody of activist Nizar Banat. (June 2021).
• Censorship: Palestinian Authority arrests political activist Tareq al-Khadairi for cursing Yasser Arafat during a pro-Hamas rally in Ramallah. (May 2021).
• Violation Privacy Rights; Suppression of Dissent: Palestinian Authority Preventive Security Services operates hacking network targeting some 800 human rights activists, journalists and government critics. According to Facebook, the network used fake accounts to gain the trust of its targets, to trick them into installing malware that gave the PA security services access to the targets’ personal information on their phones. (April 2021).
• Suppression of Freedom of Assembly: PA President Mahmoud Abbas issues presidential decree imposing severe restrictions on activities and finances of civil society organizations, criticized by Palestinian NGOs as anti-democratic. (March 2021).
• Denial of Free and Fair Elections: Central Committee of PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party declares that chief rival Mohammed Dahlan is banned from running in upcoming elections – first to be held in 14 years – due to his criminal conviction in abstentia for corruption, which Dahlan’s supporters say was politically motivated. (January 2021).
• Arbitrary Arrest: Palestinian Authority Security Forces arbitrarily arrest Palestinian political activist Nizar Banat for criticizing PA decision to resume security cooperation with Israel. (November 2020).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Censorship: Palestinian Authority security forces arbitrarily arrest journalist Sami al-Sai after a video he shared on Facebook about watermelons grown in Jericho is shared by a Tulkarm community Facebook page with posts on PA corruption. He is accused of “slander” and “disparagement via the internet,” among other things. (June 2020).
• Arbitrary Arrest: Palestinian Authority arbitrarily arrests Palestinians who said they would prefer to live under Israeli rule in an Israeli TV news report on annexation. (June 2020).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Censorship: Palestinian Authority security forces arbitrarily arrest Dr. Amid Masoud for Facebook posts critical of PA President Mahmoud Abbas in connection with a West Bank doctors’ strike. (March 2020).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Torture: PA security forces arbitrarily arrest and torture 50-year-old Palestinian man from Hebron who converted to Judaism. The Man says he was beaten and his hands and feet were burned during the interrogation. (October 2019).
• Censorship: PA Magistrate’s court blocks 59 websites and social media accounts, mostly critical of PA President Abbas, claiming they threaten national security. (October 2019).
• Persecution against LGBT: PA bans LGBT organization al-Qaws after it holds meeting in Nablus, claiming the group’s activities are “contrary to the values of Palestinian society.” LGBT Palestinians in the West Bank are routinely subjected to persecution and even “honor killing” at the hands of their own families. (August 2019).
• Arbitrary Arrest: PA security forces arbitrarily detain journalist Yousef Faqeeh. They held Faqeeh for two weeks, confiscated his mobile phone and laptop and asked him about his political affiliations and a Facebook post. (January 2019).
• Arbitrary Arrest and Prosecution, Antisemitic Laws: PA court sentences East Jerusalem man, Issam Akel, to life in prison and hard labor for attempting to sell Old City property to Jew, in violation of PA law prohibiting land sales to Israeli Jews. (December 2018).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Torture: PA forces arrest and torture activist Suha Jbara, beating her, depriving her of water and use of the toilet, and threatening to harm her family, among other things. (December 2018).
• Suppression of Freedom of Assembly: PA police use excessive force to break-up Ramallah protest opposing PA policies in Gaza, violently beat protesters, arresting wounded from the hospital, and smashing and confiscating phones and cameras. (June 2018).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Suppression of Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion: PA police arrest 31 for eating, drinking, and allegedly gambling in a café during Ramadan. (June 2018).
• Arbitrary Arrest: PA arrests former Arafat bodyguard Mohamed al-Dayya for criticizing PA policies, transfer him to undisclosed location, and deny him contact with his family. (December 2017).
• Incitement of children to terror: PA violates rights of children by encouraging them to engage in violence and terrorism. PA education official glorifies martyrdom death in resisting Israeli “occupation” to Palestinian youth at PA school named after Palestinian terrorist. PA funded youth magazine publishes poem teaching children that throwing rocks at Jews is mandated by Muhammad. (November 2017).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Censorship: PA arrests at least five journalists and a prominent human rights defender, as part of a crackdown on journalists which also included passage of the draconian Electronic Crimes Law curbing free speech on the internet. (August-September 2017).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Censorship: PA detains journalist for filming PA prime minister’s motorcade passing through Israeli checkpoint, and hold him incommunicado for three days prior to releasing him on bail. (July 2017).
• Suppression of Freedom of Assembly: Palestinian security forces use excessive force to violently suppress peaceful protest outside the Ramallah District Court. (March 2017).
• Torture: PA security forces arrest and severely beat Ahmad Izzat Halaweh who dies shortly thereafter in Jeneid prison in Nablus. (August 2016).
• Torture: Three Palestinians allege they were held incommunicado and tortured by PA intelligence officers for almost three weeks following their April 9, 2016 arrest. (April 2016).

Hamas Violations in Gaza – Ignored by Lynk

• Arbitrary Arrest: Hamas security forces arrest journalist Alaa al-Mashrawi without disclosing the charges and raid al-Mashrawi’s home, seizing two laptops, four mobile phones and worked documents. (November 2021).
• Discrimination Against Women: Gazan woman Afaf Al-Najar is prevented from leaving Gaza to study on a scholarship in Turkey by her father who filed a petition to stop her travel pursuant to Hamas guardianship laws. (November 2021).
• Extrajudicial Killings: Hamas security forces kill two 27-year-old Gazans in separate incidents; one is shot as he drives through a checkpoint; a second is severely beaten by Hamas security forces during a raid on the al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp and later dies of his wounds. (July 2021).
• Attack on Aid Convoy: Hamas twice deliberately attacks humanitarian aid convoys passing through Kerem Shalom humanitarian crossing from Israel to Gaza, disrupting the deliveries to Gazans in need and in one case injuring an Israeli soldier. (May 2021).
• Human shields: Hamas exploits Gaza civilians as human shields, deliberately embedding “military objectives within Gazan homes, schools, hospitals and even high-rise buildings used by journalists” to maximize Palestinian civilian casualties, as part of its propaganda war against Israel. (May 2021).
• Rocket Attacks: Hamas rockets fall short in Gaza killing at least 16 Palestinians (20 according to one source). During May 2021 conflict, approximately 15% of Hamas and PIJ rockets fell short in Gaza. (May 2021).
• Violation of Personal Freedoms: Hamas security officers assault female journalist for not wearing Hijab, traditional Muslim headscarf. (May 2021).
• Discrimination Against Women: Hamas-run Islamic court rules that women cannot travel without permission of a male guardian. (February 2021).
• Religious Discrimination: Hamas issues memo banning Muslims from attending Christmas celebrations in Gaza, a move described by some as “racist” and characterized as part of a Hamas crackdown on Christians in the Gaza Strip. (December 2020).
• Censorship: Hamas bans all Gaza journalists from working with Al-Arabiya and Al-Hadath news networks. (July 2020).
• Arbitrary Arrest: Hamas security forces arbitrarily arrest Muhammad Saqr on charges of “misusing technology” for Facebook posts criticizing Hamas. (April 2020).
• Fair Trial and Due Process Violations: Hamas military court sentences six Gazans to death for collaborating with Israel. (December 2018).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Suppression of Freedom of Expression: Hamas arrests Gazans Salah Jadallah and Khader Mihjez, after they made statements critical of Hamas. (December 2018).
• Torture of Children: Hamas fighters in Gaza beat and torture 13-year-old Gazan boy because he got into a fights with the son of a Hamas military commander. (August 2018).
• Suppression of Freedom of Assembly: Armed Hamas operatives use violence to suppress peaceful protest against Hamas in Gaza, assaulting and threatening protesters and stealing phones. (June 2018).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Torture: Hamas jails Palestinian mother of six for 23 days in unspeakable conditions without family visits or access to a lawyer, and without any criminal charges. (May 2018).
• Extrajudicial killing: Hamas affiliated family kills relative Ahmad Said Barhoum accused by Hamas of aiding Israel in killing three Hamas commanders in summer 2014. Execution takes place just after Hamas releases Barhoum to his family, after having held him in custody for several months without trial. Hamas praises execution. (January 2018).
• Torture: Hamas tortures militants responsible for rocket fire into Israel. (December 2017).
• Torture of Juveniles: Hamas imprisons Mustafa Salman, 16, for injuring a young man’s hand in a fight. Salman is detained in a cell with other adults and subjected to torture and abuse by the other prisoners and by police, leading him to commit suicide. (September 2017).
• Torture, Arbitrary Arrest: Hamas agents arrest and torture Mohammed Sufian al-Qassas, owner of internet cafe due to complaints that victim was “insulting god;” victim suffers severe injuries and remains in coma for two and a half days. (September 2017).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Censorship: Hamas detains journalists Fouad Jaradeh and Amr Balousha for “collaborating with Ramallah and misusing technology.” (June and July 2017).
• Extrajudicial Killing: Hamas hangs three Palestinians convicted in unfair military trial for collaborating with Israel. (April 2017).
• Torture, Censorship: Hamas detains and tortures journalist Mohamed Ahmed Othman, seeking the source of a government document he had published. (September 2016).
• Torture, Denial of Due Process: Hamas executes three Palestinians convicted of murder in proceedings which lacked due process and involved torture. (May 2016).

Palestinian Terrorism Against Israelis – Ignored by Lynk

• Inciting War: Deputy Chairman of the Hamas politburo Musa Abu Marzouk calls Israel’s existence an “injustice,” adding that Hamas’s war will end only when the “occupation” ends, the Jews “leave Palestine,” and the Palestinians “return to their homes.” Hamas co-founder Mahmoud Al-Zahar states outright that Israel has no right to exist because this is “an Arabic area…an Islamic area.” (May 2021).
• Terror Tunnels: Hamas spends millions to construct highly sophisticated network of over 60 miles of terror tunnels beneath civilian infrastructure in Gaza, the sole purpose of which is to attack Israel. (May 2021).
• Inciting Murder of Jews: Hamas politburo member Fathi Hamad urges the people of Jerusalem to purchase five shekel knives and “cut off the heads of the Jews.” (May 2021).
• Rocket Attacks: Terrorist groups in Gaza indiscriminately fire over 36 rockets and mortars at Israeli civilian areas along the border, damaging buildings and vehicles and terrorizing the civilian population. (April 2021).
• Murder of Civilian: Palestinian terrorist brutally murders 52-year-old Israeli mother-of-six Esther Horgan while she is out for a run on a local nature trail. (December 2020).
• Rocket Attacks: Terrorist groups in Gaza indiscriminately fire rockets at Israeli city of Ashkelon. (November 2020).
• Murder of Civilian: Palestinian terrorist stabs to death 39-year-old Israel father-of-four Rabbi Shai Ohayon outside Israeli city of Petach Tikvah. (August 2020).
• Planning Terror Attacks: Hamas members planning bomb attacks at Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium and other terror attacks are arrested by Israeli security forces (April 2020).
• Stabbing: In premeditated attack, West Bank Palestinian stabs and injures 62-year-old Israeli woman multiple times on Israel’s Memorial Day. (April 2020).
• Praising Terrorist Car-ramming: Hamas praises Palestinian car-ramming attack which injured 12 Israeli soldiers outside Jerusalem’s First Station as a “practical response” to US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan. (February 2020).
• Rocket Attacks: Palestine Islamic Jihad indiscriminately fires more than 20 rockets into Israel after Israel killed one of its militants planting a bomb along the border fence. (February 2020).
• Antisemitic Blood Libel: At anti-corruption conference, PA President Mahmoud Abbas recycles antisemitic libel accusing Israel of actively supplying drugs to Palestinians in order to ruin their future. His words are broadcast on official PA TV. (December 2019).
• Rocket Attacks: The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group indiscriminately fires more than 400 rockets from Hamas-controlled Gaza, injuring 84 Israelis including three with physical injuries. (November 2019).
• Bombing: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist cell detonates bomb on Jewish family visiting nature spring, killing 17-year-old Rina Schnerb and seriously injuring her brother and father. (August 2019).
• Praising Terrorism: Hamas and Islamic Jihad praise terrorist stabbing of teenage Israeli student Dvir Sorek, as a “heroic operation.” (August 2019).
• Inciting Murder of Jews: Hamas official Fathi Hamad calls on Palestinians to “attack every Jew possible in all the world and kill them.” In other statements, he has referred to Jews as “filth,” “cancer” and “Allah’s enemies.” (July 2019).
• Rocket Attacks: Four Israeli civilians killed by indiscriminate rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza. (May 2019).
• Shooting and Stabbing: Palestinian terrorist stabs to death Israeli soldier, steals his weapon and then shoots and kills Jewish father of twelve, Rabbi Achiad Ettinger. (March 2019).
• Explosive Balloons: Explosive balloons launched from Gaza land near Israeli kindergarten. (December 2018).
• Shootings, Praising Terrorism: Hamas terrorists shoot at Israeli civilians standing at a bus stop, wounding 7, including a pregnant women whose baby was delivered by emergency c-section and later died. Hamas praised the perpetrator, Salih Omar Barghouti, calling the attack “heroic.” (December 2018).
• Shootings: Hamas terrorist shoots at Israeli soldiers and civilians at bus stop, killing two soldiers, and wounding another soldier and a civilian. (December 2018).
• Praising Terrorism: Hamas and Islamic Jihad praise terrorist shooting of Israelis Kim Levengrond Yehezkel and Ziv Hajbi at Barkan Industrial Park in October as “heroic.” Similarly, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah’s military wing, all praise terrorist stabbing and murder of Israeli Ari Fuld a few weeks earlier. (September and October 2018).
• Explosive Balloons: Hundreds of explosive balloons and kites are catapulted into Israel, sparking an average of 12 fires per day in the Israeli forests and fields near Gaza. The fires have burned over 7,000 acres of Israeli land and caused millions of shekels in damage. One explosive balloon lands in Israeli kindergarten in July while children play outside. (March to October 2018).
• Attempt to breach Gaza border fence: Since March 2018, Hamas affiliated terrorists have made numerous attempts to violently breach the border fence separating Israel from Gaza with the express intention of invading Israeli communities and murdering Israelis. (March to October 2018).
• Inciting Terrorism: Hamas leaders incited March of Return protesters to violence and murder with statements like: “We will tear down the border and we will tear out their hearts from their bodies,” and “Death to Israel.” (May 2018).
• Building Terror Tunnels: Islamic Jihad tunnel stretching from Gaza into Israel is blown up by the Israeli army in October. Islamic Jihad leader admits purpose of tunnel was to kidnap Israeli soldiers and use them as bargaining chips in negotiations. In June the IDF destroys a tunnel extending into the sea off the Gaza coast for infiltrating Israel by sea (June – October 2018).
• Rockets at Civilians: Barrage of 45 rockets fired into Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in June land in Israeli towns, including next to a community center and a kindergarten. In August, rocket fire from Gaza injures three in the Israeli town of Sderot. Gaza Rockets fired into Israel in October land in Israeli city of Be’er Sheva and off the coast in Central Israel, damaging two homes and terrorizing civilians. (June – October 2018).
• Training children as terrorists: Islamic Jihad affiliated terrorists in Gaza train kindergarteners in terrorism, having 5-year olds dressed in uniform with fake weapons simulate military attack and hostage-taking against Israelis at kindergarten graduation ceremony. (May 2018).
• Shooting at Civilians: Hamas terror cell responsible for murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevach in drive-by shooting. (January 2018).
• Rockets at Civilians: Following President Trump’s announcement on Jerusalem, at least 18 rockets are fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip into Israel communities, one of which damages a home near the Israeli city of Ashkelon. (December 2017).
• Building Terror Tunnels: In a span of less than six weeks, the IDF discovers two terror attack tunnels leading from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip into Israel. (October-December 2017).
• Calling for Israel’s Destruction: Following Palestinian unity deal, Hamas leader Salah Arouri rejects any possibility of recognizing Israel, stating “we are now in the stage of preparing to eliminate the Zionist entity.” The statement was condemned by by Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace. Michael Lynk said nothing. (October 2017).
• Stabbing Civilians; Inciting Terrorism: Hamas affiliated terrorist murders three members of Salomon family at Friday night Shabbat dinner in their home, following vicious incitement by Palestinian leaders in Fatah and Hamas and mass Palestinian rioting over Temple Mount security measures. (July 2017).
• Praising Terrorism: Hamas praises terror attack in which Israeli border police officer Hadas Malka is killed. The attack was condemned by Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace. Michael Lynk said nothing. (June 2017).
• Rockets at Civilians: Rocket fired into Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip shatters windows and damages car in the Israeli town of Sderot. (October 2016).
• Shooting Civilians: Palestinian terrorists kill two Israelis in separate terrorist attacks —13 year-old girl Hallel Ariel in her home in Kiryat Arba and 48 year-old Rabbi Michael Mark in a drive-by shooting in which his wife and two of his children were also injured. (June & July 2016).
• Suicide Bombing: Hamas carries out suicide bomb attack on Israeli bus injuring at least 19 Israelis. (April 2016).
• Kidnapping: In violation of international humanitarian law, Hamas holds three Israelis who entered the Gaza Strip between 2014 and 2016, as well as the remains of two Israeli soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge. (2014 to today).

The post Human Rights Violations Ignored by UN Palestine Rapporteur Michael Lynk appeared first on UN Watch.

Several days later and despite over 4,000 rockets fired from Gaza, much of the UN system has still failed to internalize the situation, preferring to fall back on knee-jerk anti-Israel responses. Below are recent examples of egregiously biased statements from the UN Human Rights Council, UNRWA and UNICEF.

UNHRC Appointees Distort International Law to Attack Israel

The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a statement from five UNHRC “experts” led by Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk, who consistently turns a blind eye to both Palestinians and Israelis victimized by human rights violations committed by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and others in favor of focusing solely on attacking Israel.

“This most recent violence has a depressingly familiar pattern to it,” said the experts. “Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza exchange missiles and rockets following dispossession and the denial of rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, with Israel’s far greater firepower inflicting far higher death tolls and injuries and a much larger scale of property destruction.”

Nowhere in the statement is the primary initiator of this recent violence mentioned by name: Hamas. Nowhere is Hamas’ role in escalating this violence mentioned. Instead, it is Israel that is held responsible as the party that has far greater firepower, that inflicts far higher death tolls and denies Palestinians their rights according to the UN experts.

False Moral Equivalence

The reference to an “exchange of missiles and rockets” creates a false moral equivalence between one side that initiated hostilities by deliberately firing at civilians and the other that is exercising its legitimate right to self-defense.

The statement says that Israel’s actions to stop the rocket fire from Gaza “constitute indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks against civilians and civilian property. These attacks likely violate the laws of war and constitute a war crime.” That this is followed by a paragraph claiming that rocket fire from “Palestinian armed groups” is deemed merely ‘reckless’ while “similarly” to Israel’s actions also “likely a war crime.”

Five UNHRC appointees condemn only Israel for "indiscriminate attacks against civilians."

Meanwhile, Hamas launching thousands of rockets at civilians is merely "reckless."

Will U.N. chief @antonioguterres condemn this outrageously one-sided statement?https://t.co/oTXTUnHcBk pic.twitter.com/1L9wHvyTQa

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) May 20, 2021

On the contrary, as former U.S. military judge advocate David French states: “The use of an otherwise-civilian building for military purposes converts it into a military target. This is a basic aspect of the law of war. The blame for the attack on the target thus rests with the entity that converted it into a military target.”

Hamas has deliberately embedded its military assets within the civilian population, firing rockets from residential neighborhoods, thus turning these buildings into legitimate military targets under international law. Despite this, Israel has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid civilian casualties, warning civilians by phone to evacuate in advance of airstrikes, and other methods such as the “knock on the roof,” where non-explosive missiles are dropped to warn those inside to exit before larger bombs destroy the building.

Yet the statement by the five UNHRC appointees distorts the concept of proportionality in armed conflict to accuse Israel of violating international law when, in reality, by hiding behind its own civilians, exposing them to attack while deliberately targeting Israeli civilians, it is Hamas that is the guilty party. Despite this, the UN experts seek to deny Israel’s right to self-defense.

Falsely Accusing Israel of Targeting Journalists

According to the statement:

The experts condemned the Israeli attack on a civilian apartment building which housed the offices of several international news agencies. “Violence or threatened violence against journalists, particularly those reporting in a conflict zone, breaches the freedom of expression and the right of the media to report unhindered,” they said.

Yet it was not the news agencies in the building that were targeted but Hamas assets located there. Rather than threatening or carrying out violence against journalists, the IDF warned the occupants of the building in advance in order to ensure civilians, including those journalists, were not injured or killed.

Former AP correspondent says source close to IDF suggests “there were indeed Hamas offices” in Gaza building that housed AP.
“Any press organization operating in a dictatorship is going to be compromised, and will further compromise itself to conceal how it has been compromised.“ https://t.co/mNRT4zqzJ9

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 16, 2021

All About the “Occupation”

Ultimately Hamas gets a free pass from the UN experts as the root cause of the violence does not include systemic factors such as Palestinian rejectionism, terrorism, incitement, antisemitism or the rejection of multiple peace offers over the decades. Instead:

“The underlying reality is that there is an occupying power, with one of the best equipped militaries in the world, ruling over an occupied people who have the right to be freed from an unwanted and protracted alien regime,” they said. “This struggle is deeply unequal. The 54-year-old Israeli occupation – already the longest occupation in the modern world – is becoming even more entrenched and even more abusive of fundamental human rights.”

The current conflict is emanating from Gaza, a territory that has not been occupied since Israel’s withdrawal in 2005. Hamas has turned Gaza into a terror statelet with significant consequences for the entire Palestinian people. The UN experts, however, choose to ignore the human rights abuses of a Hamas regime that keeps its own people under its brutal control.

It becomes clear that the priority of the UN experts is not to bring any positive contribution to restoring regional stability. For the experts, it’s about punishing Israel as peace is only possible by “imposing a meaningful cost on Israel, the occupying power, to fully end its illegal occupation.”

Hamas Prevents Humanitarian Aid; UNRWA Blames Israel

Nothing illustrates the disconnect between UN bodies and the reality of the situation more than UNRWA’s press release calling on Israel to “enable humanitarian supplies and its staff timely access to Gaza, in accordance with its obligations under international law.”

On the very same day, Israel reopened its Kerem Shalom and Erez border crossings to enable humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. Hamas, however, launched a mortar attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing, injuring an Israeli soldier who was facilitating the transfer of the aid.

To her credit, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lynn Hastings unequivocally condemned the attacks.

🇮🇱 Israel reopens border crossings to facilitate entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

🏴‍☠️ Hamas bombs the crossings preventing the aid from entering.

When will @UNRWA follow the lead of UN Humanitarian Coordinator @lynnhastings and condemn Hamas' attacks? https://t.co/1g5xooGP2s

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) May 19, 2021

Yet, UNRWA’s spokesperson was still tweeting footage of television interviews 24 hours later, calling on Israel to open the crossings even as Israel was attempting to facilitate a transfer of humanitarian aid from Jordan before this too was prevented by another mortar attack.

UNRWA continues to call on Israel to enable access to the Gaza Strip:

“Humanitarian corridors are always extremely effective in situations of conflict. They’re supposed to protect humanitarian convoys going into a danger zone.”

🎙️: @TamaraAlrifai, UNRWA Spokesperson pic.twitter.com/VmM9G5syqp

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) May 19, 2021

UNRWA has so far failed to condemn Palestinian attacks on border crossings that have prevented humanitarian aid from reaching their own people. While the crossings have been forced to shut as a result, UNRWA continues to falsely place responsibility on Israel.

UNICEF: Only Gazan Children Count

UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, who was famously probed by then Senator Barack Obama for racism, issued a press release that stated: “Gaza’s one million children are reeling from the mounting consequences of violent conflict with nowhere safe to turn. Lives have been lost, and families shattered.”

Gaza’s one million children are reeling from the mounting consequences of violent conflict with nowhere safe to turn.@UNICEF is calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities on humanitarian grounds to allow the entry of staff and essential supplies. https://t.co/y0kySBcYs9

— Catherine Russell (@unicefchief) May 18, 2021

While Fore focuses on child deaths, injuries and mental health issues in Gaza, she fails to note the suffering of Israeli children, particularly those in the south of the country who have been subjected to the trauma of rocket barrages.

Children’s rights should be universal. Yet UNICEF’s statement only pays lip service to Israeli children in its final paragraph.

In addition, Fore repeats UNRWA’s call for the entry of humanitarian aid while ignoring Hamas’ bombing of the border crossings and Israel’s efforts to facilitate that aid.

The post UN Bodies Attack Israel appeared first on UN Watch.

In a January 14 press release, the UN appointees acknowledge Israel’s impressive vaccination rollout and the inclusion of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. “However,” they say, “Israel has not ensured that Palestinians under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza will have any near-future access to the available vaccines.”

Claiming that millions of Palestinians will remain unprotected and exposed to the coronavirus while Israeli citizens, including settlers, will be vaccinated, they opine: “Morally and legally, this differential access to necessary health care in the midst of the worst global health crisis in a century is unacceptable.”

Yet, in a seeming contradiction, the press release then states that the Palestinian Authority has ordered COVID-19 vaccines separately even if it may take some weeks before delivery.

It is worth noting that on the very same day, the World Health Organization was lamenting that 95 percent of vaccine doses so far administered worldwide were limited to 10 countries, including Israel. Equitable global distribution of vaccines is clearly an issue of concern but the UN has not singled out the U.S., China, the UK, United Arab Emirates, Italy, Russia, Germany, Spain and Canada for prioritizing their own populations above those of other countries. Would the two UN monitors be so focused on Israel were it not for the significant speed and efficiency of vaccinations that has brought the country so much attention?

At this time, approximately a quarter of Israel’s eligible population have received their first vaccine dose, reportedly recently reaching over 2 million people. This means that the majority of Israelis are, like the Palestinians, still waiting to be vaccinated.

In an interview with Sky News, Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein reiterated that while Israel has been assisting the Palestinians from the very beginning of the crisis with medical equipment, training and supplies, “I don’t think that there’s anyone in this country, whatever his or her views might be, that can imagine that I would be taking a vaccine from the Israeli citizen, and, with all the goodwill, give it to our neighbors.”

Asked if Israel would provide the vaccine to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza once its population is vaccinated, he said: “We definitely will consider that but as I’ve said, I sincerely hope that by that time part of their population will be vaccinated by different vaccines that they are trying to purchase. If any other help will be needed, we will offer.”

Misinterpreting International law, Implying Israeli Racism

The UN monitors justify their criticism by claiming Israel is obligated to provide the Palestinians with vaccines as an “occupying power” under the Fourth Geneva Convention, a charge similarly made by Human Rights Watch’s Ken Roth that UN Watch executive director addressed as part of a recent Twitter thread:

2/ See Oslo Accords, 1995 Interim Agreement, Annex I, Art. 17:

Powers and responsibilities in the sphere of Health…will be transferred to the Palestinian side…

…the Palestinian side shall continue the vaccination of the population…https://t.co/DhIieKwiUn

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 4, 2021

In a particularly malicious comment, Lynk and Mofokeng say: “The denial of an equal access to health care, such as on the basis of ethnicity or race, is discriminatory and unlawful.” This reference is nothing more than an attempt to portray Israel as a racist “apartheid” state that discriminates against Palestinians on the basis of their ethnicity. This despite having already acknowledged that Palestinian residents of Jerusalem have been offered the vaccines. Indeed, as members of Israeli health maintenance organizations, these Palestinians are entitled to the same healthcare benefits as all Israelis, irrespective of race or religion.

In another deliberate twist, according to the press release the experts said that “some Israeli commentators have justified the differential treatment on the grounds that the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement, an integral part of the Oslo Accords, provides that the Palestinian Authority would assume the responsibility for health care in the Palestinian territory, including for vaccinations.”

The emphasis on “some Israeli commentators” implies that this is a minority view held only by Israelis and therefore a less legitimate legal opinion of which agreements govern Israel’s responsibilities. Until they saw anti-Israel critics successfully propagating the smear that Israel had withheld vaccines from them, the Palestinians hadn’t even asked Israel to provide them with the vaccine, recognizing their own responsibilities even to the extent of signing their own deal with the AstraZeneca pharmaceutical firm, as well as procuring the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.

That the UN monitors’ criticism of Israel follows the Palestinian Authority’s sudden release of a statement claiming that Israel is nevertheless responsible for providing vaccines, speaks volumes.

An Inappropriate Comparison

According to the press release, the experts pointed to the example of the 1991 Gulf War when the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the Israeli military to distribute gas masks to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza on the same basis as it had delivered them to all Israelis. They quoted the court ruling that “the military commander should treat everybody with equality. He must not discriminate between residents. Once the military commander came to the conclusion that protective kits should be distributed to the Jewish residents of the area, he should also distribute kits to the Arab residents.”

This is an entirely irrelevant and inappropriate comparison. From a legal perspective, the Gulf War occurred before the Oslo Accords at a time when both the West Bank and Gaza were under full Israeli military and civil control. At this time, Israeli authorities were responsible for all aspects of Palestinian lives in those territories. In the face of the perceived risk of Iraqi Scud missiles falling indiscriminately on those territories, Palestinians clearly had no means of defending themselves.

Today, the Hamas terrorist organization controls the Gaza Strip, while the Palestinian Authority services the health needs of its people in the West Bank, and has a budget for this. In 1991, the Palestinians had neither the means nor the responsibility to procure their own protective kits. Today they have both.

The press release concludes by expressing concern that the Israeli Prison Service has been instructed by the Israeli Public Security Ministry not to vaccinate Palestinian security prisoners. Despite internal wrangling, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein has said that Israel would start vaccinating all prisoners next week, including Palestinian security prisoners being held in Israeli correctional facilities.

It was only a matter of time before appointees of the UN Human Rights Council would join the propaganda campaign launched by politicized non-governmental organizations and appropriated by the Palestinians. For Michael Lynk, the coronavirus is but another opportunity to attack Israel, while Tlaleng Mofokeng diminishes her position by diverting attention away from the billions of people worldwide who require urgent help in the face of the pandemic.

Authors of UN Press Release Are Both Pro-Palestinian Partisans

The two authors of the UN press release have a record of partisanship.

Canadian law professor Michael Lynk, whose full UN title is “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967,” holds the dubious honor of 3rd place in UN Watch’s Top 10 Worst UN Anti-Israel Actions of 2020 for his bias and discrimination against Israel. Lynk wants people to think he examines the situation of human rights in that area, concerning any victims, Palestinians and Israelis alike. Yet contrary to what his title says, Lynk issued 15 press releases in 2020—and every one targeted Israel alone. None focused on abuses by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority.

In July, the United Nations published as an official document a UN Watch submission that detailed Lynk’s failure to uphold universal human rights. (See A/HRC/44/NGO/131)

Lynk’s co-author is South African Tlaleng Mofokeng, the “Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.” A controversial appointment due to her campaigning for the decriminalization of prostitution, Mofokeng has no specialization in Israeli or Palestinian issues. Nonetheless, in November 2020, she made it clear that she is anything but neutral and objective when it comes to Israel when she tweeted “Free Palestine.”

Free Palestine.

— Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng (@drtlaleng) November 29, 2020

The post UN ‘Experts’ Attack Israel Over Palestinian Coronavirus Vaccinations appeared first on UN Watch.

When Lynk’s anti-Israel report was presented to delegates today in the council’s Order of the Day, UN Watch’s rebuttal appeared next to it, circulated to delegates as official U.N. document A/HRC/44/NGO/131. See full text below.

Although the law professor from Ontario’s Western University (which continues to provide support for Lynk’s biased mandate) claims to be impartial, UN Watch created a stir when he was appointed in 2016 by exposing his lengthy career as an anti-Israel activist.

UN Watch documented how, prior to his UN appointment, Lynk played a leadership role in numerous Arab lobby groups in Canada, including CEPAL, which promotes “Israeli Apartheid Week” events. Lynk lobbied against the Canada-Israel free trade agreement, signed anti-Israel petitions, and addressed “One State” conferences that called to eliminate Israel.

This year, Lynk was of several Arab lawyers endorsed by the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association as an “Influential Lawyer” of Canada, on account of his “stellar contribution to the legal profession and Arab community.”

For the past four years, Lynk repeatedly claimed he was legally unable to mention Palestinian violations — even though he is the UN’s supposed expert on Palestinian human rights.

________

HRC/44/NGO/131 | Written Statement by United Nations Watch

Remedies for the Protection Gap in the Mandate
of the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine

Appeal to the European Union to Uphold Amnesty international’s Call for “Comprehensive” Mandate Reform

United Nations Watch is concerned by the protection gap fostered by the mandate under Agenda Item 7.

Despite the geographic and situational mandate denoted by the title of the position—Special Rapporteur “on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories”—the text of the mandate charges the Rapporteur only with investigating “Israel’s violations.”

Amnesty International has stated that the mandate’s “limitation to Israeli violations… undercuts both the effectiveness and the credibility of the mandate.” Amnesty noted that the mandate “fails to take account of the human rights of victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by parties other than Israel.”

We call on the European Union to take action in the 44th session to institute a clear mandate, as Amnesty International has said, “to investigate and report on violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by all parties—Israeli and Palestinian, state agents and non-state actors.”

Precedents Show Mandate-holder Can Protect All Palestinian Victims

Previous mandate-holders have found it possible to address certain violations by Palestinians, and to seek to remedy the protection gap of the mandate.

The current Special Rapporteur (Michael Lynk)  has acknowledged the existence of abuses by Palestinian actors but explained why he would not address them. “In the present report, the Special Rapporteur focuses on the human rights and humanitarian law violations committed by Israel, in accordance with his mandate.”(Emphasis added). Each of his previous reports to the Council, in 2017 and 2018, contain a similar statement.

When the current mandate-holder was appointed in 2016, he stated that he was “open to looking at expanding the job” to look at human rights abuses by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas. Over the last four years, United Nations Watch raised this issue numerous times, including in its Written Statements to the Council’s 37th, 38th and 40th Sessions.

In a February 12, 2019 letter to the Special Rapporteur, United Nations Watch renewed its request for him to expand the mandate, as he had indicated on October 26, 2017, in response to a question from a reporter at a UN press conference. He had stated: “I am actively considering whether or not, when I make my next report, which will be in March [2017] to the Human Rights Council, that I will ask for my mandate to be expanded.”

However, at the March 2019 session, he did not do so. “This,” he said, “is a decision of the Human Rights Council with respect to the scope of my mandate.”

Commending the First Mention of Hamas and PA Violations

Suddenly, however, in his October 2019 report to the General Assembly—in wake of the repeated appeals by United Nations Watch—the Special Rapporteur for the first time addressed certain violations by Hamas and the PA.

United Nations Watch commends the Special Rapporteur for beginning to remedy the protection gap, but much more needs to be done.

The criticism of the PA and Hamas, who commit multiple serious violations including arbitrary detention, torture, killings, and violations against LGBTI person and women was mild, and took up only two short paragraphs in a 24-page report.

The other 99% of the report focused exclusively on alleged Israeli violations and called for harsh measures against Israel including economic and other sanctions, international prosecutions of Israeli military and government officials, and an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on Israel’s legal obligations to end the “occupation.”

The report also continued to completely ignore PA and Hamas incitement and terrorism against Israelis. In addition, the mandate-holder’s official UN statements and press releases continue to categorically ignore all rights violations by Palestinian actors.

Examples of Palestinian violations that have been ignored

A list of Palestinian human rights violations that have been ignored by the current mandate-holder is published online.

They include:

Ignored Palestinian authority violations in West Bank

• Arbitrary arrest, torture: PA security forces arbitrarily arrest and torture 50-year-old Palestinian man from Hebron who converted to Judaism. The Man says he was beaten and his hands and feet were burned during the interrogation. (October 2019).

• Persecution against LGBT: PA bans LGBT organization al-Qaws after it holds meeting in Nablus, claiming the group’s activities are “contrary to the values of Palestinian society.” LGBT Palestinians in the West Bank are routinely subjected to
persecution and even “honor killing” at the hands of their own families. (August 2019).

Ignored Hamas violations in Gaza

• Arbitrary arrest, suppression of freedom of association: Hamas arbitrarily arrests Gaza peace activist Rami Aman for holding a Zoom call with Israelis on charges of “holding a normalization activity,” a crime described by Hamas Interior Ministry
Spokesman as “a betrayal of our people and their sacrifices.” (April 2020).

• Torture of children: Hamas fighters in Gaza beat and torture 13-year-old Gazan boy because he got into a fight with the son of a Hamas military commander. (August 2018).

• Extrajudicial killing: Hamas affiliated family kills relative Ahmad Said Barhoum accused by Hamas of aiding Israel in killing three Hamas commanders in summer 2014. Execution takes place just after Hamas releases Barhoum to his family, after
having held him in custody for several months without trial. Hamas praises execution. (January 2018).

Ignored Palestinian Terrorism against Israelis

• Bombing: Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terrorist cell detonates bomb on Jewish family visiting nature spring, killing 17-year-old girl and seriously injuring her brother and father. (August 2019).

• Rocket attacks: Four Israeli civilians killed by indiscriminate rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza. (May 2019).

• Shooting and stabbing: Palestinian terrorist stabs to death Israeli soldier, steals his weapon and then shoots and kills Jewish father of twelve, Rabbi Achiad Ettinger. (March 2019).

• Explosive balloons: Explosive balloons launched from Gaza land near Israeli kindergarten. (December 2018).

• Shootings, praising terrorism: Hamas terrorists shoot at Israeli civilians standing at a bus stop, wounding 7, including a pregnant woman whose baby was delivered by emergency c-section and later died. Hamas praised the perpetrator, Salih Omar Barghouti, calling the attack “heroic.” (December 2018).

CONCLUSION

We urge the mandate-holder to acknowledge that if universal human rights standards are
applied selectively — and systematically denied to any class of people — they cease to be
universal standards at all.

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___________________________________________________________

Letter from UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer to
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, 21 February 2019
Dear Secretary-General Guterres,
United Nations Watch is deeply concerned by the actions of Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, which violate the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures (HRC Res 5/1). We urge you to speak out just as your predecessors did against comparable misconduct by rapporteurs such as Richard Falk and Jean Ziegler.
Mr. Lynk has repeatedly acted to legitimize notorious antisemites. Last month, on January 31^st, Mr. Lynk addressed an event in Hamilton, Ontario, co-organized by the extremist group CJPME, whose racist leader Dimitri Lascaris was condemned by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for making “vile antisemitic smears.”
Mr. Lynk has been closely associated in the past with Lascaris, who acted as Lynk’s surrogate during the controversy surrounding Mr. Lynk’s nomination to the UNHRC in 2016, an appointment that was challenged by Canada’s then Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion. In addition, Mr. Lynk shared a stage with Lascaris this past October, only one month after the latter was condemned for his antisemitism by Canada’s New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh as well as by Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer.
In 2017, Lynk met in London and posed for photos with the Hamas front group known as PRC, and with the virulent antisemite Sameh Habeeb, who posts antisemitic videos by former KKK grand wizard David Duke, publishes stories accusing Israelis of stealing organs in Haiti and articles claiming that World Wars I and II were Jewish plots. Complaints to Lynk on his legitimizing of antisemites have gone ignored.
By legitimizing antisemites, and by speaking for an extremist group led by a condemned racist, Mr. Lynk is in violation of Article 3 of the Code of Conduct for Special Procedures, which requires that mandate holders should uphold the highest standards of “integrity,” “probity” and “impartiality.”
Moreover, we are deeply concerned that Mr. Lynk’s latest report to the Human Rights Council, for the fifth consecutive time, fails to address human rights violations committed by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Mr. Lynk acknowledges these omissions at par. 4, stating that the report only “focuses on Israel’s obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law.” While he notes that violations “by any actor are deplorable and will only hinder the prospects for peace,” at Footnote 1 he seeks to justify his neglect of abuses committed by the PA and Hamas by citing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur set out in resolution 1993/2, which indeed is “to investigate Israel’s violations of the principles and bases of international law.”
In that regard, the title of his mandate—“Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory”—is deliberately misleading. If the title were a true reflection of the mandate, it ought to read “Special Rapporteur on Israel’s Violations.” Instead, the current title is designed to mask the mandate’s discriminatory and prejudicial nature. As implied by his title, the mandate would be of universal application to all actors, be they Israeli or Palestinian. As it actually is, and as he acknowledges in his reports, however, the mandate applies only to Israeli actions—leaving a troubling protection gap—and with Israel’s violations prejudged, and its guilt presumed. There is a substantial difference between the two.
Clearly, Mr. Lynk is aware of the inherent discrimination in his mandate as he notes it in each of his reports. Moreover, we have brought this issue directly to his attention at least twice over the last two years, asking him to expand the mandate:

• At a UN meeting with special rapporteurs in June 2017, UN Watch representative Dan Smith asked Mr. Lynk whether he was still “open to expanding the job” to Palestinian violations in light of the protection gap, as he had indicated to The Globe and Mail in March 2016. Although in that article the newspaper had specifically asked him about this, at the UN meeting he responded: “no one has ever asked me that question before, but my mind remains open.”
• In October 2017, we raised this issue again in a letter calling on him to expand the mandate, and noting that one of his predecessors, John Dugard, had done so. Mr. Lynk ignored this letter, and when confronted about it at a UN press conference, he disingenuously stated that he was “unaware” that John Dugard had spoken out against PA torture. He also stated: “I am actively considering whether or not, when I make my next report, which will be in March [2018] to the Human Rights Council, that I will ask for my mandate to be expanded.”

Notwithstanding these statements, Mr. Lynk has never called for the mandate to be expanded, and he continues to ignore PA and Hamas violations.
In addition to ignoring all PA and Hamas violations, the mandate is inherently flawed for “prejudging the outcome of the findings” because, in the words of former Special Rapporteur Hannu Halinen, it “takes for granted that there were violations” and that “they were committed by Israel.” As a law professor committed to the rule of law, it is disturbing that Mr. Lynk continues to serve this overtly discriminatory and legally flawed mandate without making any effort to remedy it.
In 2018 alone, Mr. Lynk issued 16 press releases. Seven of these concerned the situation in Gaza or the violence at the Gaza border. Yet none of his statements condemned Hamas’s numerous violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including Hamas use of civilians as human shields, Hamas sending children to the front lines, Hamas combatants committing armed attacks under the cover of “civilian protests,” Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, or Hamas incitement to murder Israelis.
Likewise, while he condemned Israel’s detention of terrorism supporter Ahed Tamimi for assaulting an Israeli soldier, he did not once condemn PA or Hamas arbitrary detention and torture of prisoners.
Following is a non-exhaustive list of human rights violations perpetrated by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas in the past year, from January to December 2018, which Mr. Lynk has ignored. If he were truly the Special Rapporteur for “the situation of human rights in Palestinian Territories” then he must address these.
Palestinian Authority Violations in West Bank Ignored by Michael Lynk

• Arbitrary Arrest and Prosecution, Antisemitic Laws: PA court sentences East Jerusalem man, Issam Akel, to life in prison and hard labor for attempting to sell Old City property to Jew, in violation of PA law prohibiting land sales to Israeli Jews. (December 2018)
• Arbitrary Arrest, Torture: PA forces arrest and torture activist Suha Jbara, beating her, depriving her of water and use of the toilet, and threatening to harm her family. (December 2018)
• Suppression of Freedom of Assembly: PA police use excessive force to break-up Ramallah protest opposing PA policies in Gaza, violently beat protesters, arresting wounded from the hospital, and smashing and confiscating phones and cameras. (June 2018)
• Arbitrary Arrest, Suppression of Freedom of Thought, Conscience, and Religion: PA police arrest 31 for eating, drinking, and allegedly gambling in a café during Ramadan. (June 2018)

Hamas Violations in Gaza Ignored by Michael Lynk

• Fair Trial and Due Process Violations: Hamas military court sentences six Gazans to death for collaborating with Israel. (December 2018).
• Arbitrary Arrest, Suppression of Freedom of Expression: Hamas arrests Gazans Salah Jadallah and Khader Mihjez, after they made statements critical of Hamas. (December 2018)
• Torture of Children: Hamas fighters in Gaza beat and torture 13-year-old Gazan boy because he got into a fights with the son of a Hamas military commander. (August 2018)
• Suppression of Freedom of Assembly: Armed Hamas operatives use violence to suppress peaceful protest against Hamas in Gaza, assaulting and threatening protesters and stealing phones. (June 2018)
• Arbitrary Arrest, Torture: Hamas jails Palestinian mother of six for 23 days in unspeakable conditions without family visits or access to a lawyer, and without any criminal charges. (May 2018)

Palestinian Terrorism Against Israelis Ignored by Michael Lynk

• Explosive Balloons: Explosive balloons launched from Gaza land near Israeli kindergarten. (December 2018)
• Shootings, Praising Terrorism: Hamas terrorists shoot at Israeli civilians standing at a bus stop, wounding 7, including a pregnant women whose baby was delivered by emergency Caesarean section and later died. Hamas praised the perpetrator, Salih Omar Barghouti, calling the attack “heroic.” (December 2018)
• Shootings: Hamas terrorist shoots at Israeli soldiers and civilians at bus stop, killing two soldiers, and wounding another soldier and a civilian. (December 2018)
• Praising Terrorism: Hamas and Islamic Jihad praise terrorist shooting of Israelis Kim Levengrond Yehezkel and Ziv Hajbi, who were killed at the Barkan Industrial Park in October, as “heroic.” Similarly, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatah’s military wing, all praise terrorist stabbing and murder of Israeli Ari Fuld a few weeks earlier. (September and October 2018)
• Incendiary Kites Burn Forests & Fields: Hundreds of incendiary balloons and kites are catapulted into Israel, sparking an average of 12 fires per day in the Israeli forests and fields near Gaza. The fires have burned over 7,000 acres of Israeli land and caused millions of shekels in damage. One explosive balloon lands in Israeli kindergarten in July while children play outside. (March to October 2018)
• Attempt to breach Gaza border fence: Since March 2018, Hamas affiliated terrorists have made numerous attempts to violently breach the border fence separating Israel from Gaza with the express intention of invading Israeli communities and murdering Israelis. (March to October 2018)
• Inciting Terrorism: Hamas leaders incited March of Return protesters to violence and murder with statements like: “We will tear down the border and we will tear out their hearts from their bodies,” and “Death to Israel.” (May 2018)
• Building Terror Tunnels: Islamic Jihad tunnel stretching from Gaza into Israel is blown up by the Israeli army in October. Islamic Jihad leader admits purpose of tunnel was to kidnap Israeli soldiers and use them as bargaining chips in negotiations. In June the IDF destroys a tunnel extending into the sea off the Gaza coast for infiltrating Israel by sea (June – October 2018)
• Rockets at Civilians: Barrage of 45 rockets fired into Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip in June land in Israeli towns, including next to a community center and a kindergarten. In August, rocket fire from Gaza injures three in the Israeli town of Sderot. Gaza Rockets fired into Israel in October land in Israeli city of Be’er Sheva and off the coast in Central Israel, damaging two homes and terrorizing civilians. (June – October 2018)
• Training Children as Terrorists: Islamic Jihad affiliated terrorists in Gaza train kindergarteners in terrorism, having 5-year olds dressed in uniform with fake weapons simulate military attack and hostage-taking against Israelis at kindergarten graduation ceremony. (May 2018)
• Shooting at Civilians: Hamas terror cell responsible for murder of Rabbi Raziel Shevach in drive-by shooting. (January 2018)

All human rights victims deserve protection and a voice at the United Nations—regardless of the perpetrator. UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk’s refusal to speak out on behalf of the victims of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas is antithetical to the universal values of the United Nations.
Excellency, we are aware that Special Rapporteurs such as Mr. Lynk are appointed by the Council, not by the Secretary-General. Their continuance in their jobs is thus for the Council to decide. That said, the spokesman of your predecessor Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated: “I feel very strongly that these representatives, however eminent they may be in their fields, have a clear responsibility to uphold the high standards of the United Nations and the Council.” Therefore, we urge you to follow your predecessor’s example and condemn Mr. Lynk’s support for racists, breach of his Code of Conduct and betrayal of the founding principles of the UN Charter.
Sincerely,
Hillel C. Neuer
Executive Director

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GENEVA, October 24, 2018 —Geneva-based rights group UN Watch today called on UN expert Michael Lynk to denounce his long-time supporter Dimitri Lascaris, who was condemned for anti-Semitism last month by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as by the leaders of three other Canadian political parties.
UN Watch today also released a video showing Lynk and Lascaris sharing a stage at a Winnipeg, Canada event on September 8, 2018, one day after Lascaris was castigated for targeting Jewish lawmakers with what Prime Minister Trudeau called “vile anti-Semitic smears.”
During the presentation, Lascaris claimed that Hamas is not a terrorist group, and that Hamas rockets fired into Israel amount to “little more than glorified fireworks.”
When Lascaris added that “the Palestinian people have the right to use force to resist,” UN official Lynk took the microphone and said, “I agree with what Dimitri said with respect to the right to resist.”
In recent years, Lascaris has served as a top advocate and surrogate for Lynk and his one-sided mandate, which is to investigate only “Israel’s violations.”
In 2016, when former Canadian foreign minister Stéphane Dion opposed Lynk’s appointment as UN special rapporteur on Palestine, Lascaris came to Lynk’s defense by praising him as “very even-handed” and “very measured.”
Lascaris recently lost a libel suit in Canada concerning his meeting with the father of Palestinian terrorist Bahaa Alayan, after which Lascaris posted via social media that Alayan had been “killed extrajudicially by Israeli authorities.”
UN Watch called on Lynk to distance himself from Lascaris. “The UN was founded 73 years ago today to fight the scourge of racism, and no UN official should be legitimizing notorious anti-Semites like Dimitri Lascaris,” said UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer.
“If Lynk refuses to disavow Lascaris and denounce his anti-Semitism, we will request Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet to investigate.”

Canadian Leaders Condemned Lascaris’ Anti-Semitism

September 6th, 2018: Dimitri Lascaris posted an anti-Semitic tweet that accused Jewish Canadian lawmakers of dual loyalties. According to the IHRA definition of antisemitism, “Accusing Jewish citizens of being more loyal to Israel […] than to the interests of their own nations” is a textbook example of anti-Semitism.

Apparently, Liberal MPs Anthony Housefather and Michael Levitt are more devoted to apartheid Israel than to their own Prime Minister and their own colleagues in the Liberal caucus.@AHousefather @LevittMichael #cdnpoli @justintrudeau @liberal_party #apartheidIsrael #cdnpoli

— Dimitri Lascaris (@dimitrilascaris) September 6, 2018

September 7th, 2018: Canadian PM Justin Trudeau called Lascaris’ tweet a “vile anti-Semitic smear.” Lascaris was also condemned as racist by former Canadian Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler, leader of Canada’s Conservative Party Andrew Scheer, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party Jagmeet Singh and leader of Canada’s Green Party Elizabeth May.

Vile anti-Semitic smears like this are completely unacceptable, and should always be called out. Thank you @LevittMichael and @AHousefather for standing up to this, and for everything you do for your communities and our country. https://t.co/WCGgT55GWP

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) September 7, 2018

 

UN expert Michael Lynk (right) shared a Winnipeg stage with Dimitri Lascaris (left) on September 8th, one day after the radical activist was condemned for “vile anti-Semitic smears” by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Click here for YouTube video.

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Michael Lynk, U.N. Special Rapporteur on Palestine
U.N. Press Conference
Oct. 26, 2017

U.N. special rapporteur on Palestine Michael Lynk was challenged repeatedly by three different journalists in wake of a UN Watch letter, released ahead of his U.N. appearance, documenting how his biased Human Rights Council mandate against Israel systematically ignores Palestinian Authority and Hamas torture and arbitrary arrest, and Palestinian stabbings, car ramming attacks and shootings committed against Israelis. UN Watch’s letter cited precedents to demonstrate how Lynk could address Palestinian abuses even though his mandate from the U.N. is to “investigate Israel’s violations.” (See UN Watch’s report, Mandate to Discriminate.)

Benny Avni: Unlike some of your predecessors you haven’t in your report mentioned any violations by Palestinians – by the Palestinian Authority, by Hamas, and so on. So, why not, and is that part of your mandate?
Lynk: Ok I’ll answer both of your questions. I have been asked in the past as to my mandate with respect to human rights violations by either the Palestinian Authority, or Hamas. That’s not my decision to make. My mandate has been created by the Human Right Council in Geneva.
One of my predecessors did recommend – it was Richard Falk – to the Human Rights Council several years ago that his mandate be expanded to be able to include that. I also note that Amnesty International several years ago had also asked that as well.
I am actively considering whether or not, when I make my next report, which will be in March to the Human Rights Council, that I will ask for my mandate to be expanded. All I can do with respect to that is make a recommendation. The decision as to whether or not my mandate is expanded to be able to do that belongs to the Human Rights Council itself.
Avni: But John Dugard did include some reporting on Palestinian Authority violations…
Lynk: I am not going to dispute what you said. I am unaware of that. I read some but not all of his reports, with respect to that. If he did, I would be happy if you would want to show me.
Avni: I don’t understand the thing about the mandate because it says you are the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories..
Lynk: Right but if you kept on reading for the full description of the mandate it focuses on the Occupying Power, so for me to be able to expand that, and look I have heard arguments both ways and I think there are good reasons both ways, with respect to that. But watch what I do when I come in March.

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Matthew Lee: To follow up, you had said that you’d never seen a John Dugard report that dealt with the other side of the issue. The site is A/60/271. That’s one of them.
Lynk: I am happy to take a look. But I did say I did not read all of his reports.
Matthew Lee: On the same topic, it’s good to hear your view, Hannu Halinen, who is another special rapporteur on the same mandate, even absent a change in mandate, sought to visit Palestinian prisons to visit prisoners. I’m asking mostly in the case of certain journalists – there has been a decay in freedom. Jihad Barakat is somebody who was arrested for filming Abbas going through an Israeli checkpoint. There is Tariq Abu Zaid. So I’m just wondering – are you aware of these cases? In the course of carrying out your mandate, do cases of journalists arrested come to your attention? And, if so, why do you choose not to look into them as Hannu Halinen did, even under the existing mandate?

.@UN Palestine expert Michael Lynk "unaware" he can address Palestinian abuses—yet his predecessor Halinen did so & slammed mandate's bias. pic.twitter.com/9DBDof9DUx

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) October 27, 2017

Lynk: OK, OK, you have sparked a new question in my mind. I am happy to go back and see those. If they have used a creative interpretation that fits within the wording of the mandate, then maybe I don’t need to ask for permission from the Human Rights Council. I do know that, as I said, Richard Falk did say he asked for and hadn’t received.
But I am acutely aware of what goes on with respect to the PA and Hamas. I have met human rights defenders, most recently Issa Amro, who is I think a strong voice for nonviolent resistance to the Occupation, based in Hebron, and inspiring many youth in Palestine to do that, who was arrested and kept in Palestinian detention for a week.
There should be no division with respect to human rights. One of the guiding points of human rights is that they are indivisible. And my intention was to be able to come to a decision and make a recommendation come March, when I next appear before the Human Rights Council. But, you know, if at your suggestion, the last two of you, if you think that there are creative ways within the current mandate to be able to do that, then I am all ears with respect to that. Because no side is an angel with respect to this.

.@UN's Palestine expert Michael Lynk today called it "the #Goldberg report." Iceberg, Goldberg, what's the difference? pic.twitter.com/me1WCA60sb

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) October 26, 2017

The post Video: U.N. Palestine rapporteur 'unaware' he could address Palestinian human rights violations appeared first on UN Watch.

GENEVA, July 25, 2017 – The Geneva-based non-governmental organization UN Watch expressed disappointment today that the reply from the president of the University of Western Ontario, Dr. Amit Chakma, fails to address the concerns detailed in our letter last week concerning its support for the discriminatory UN mandate held by Michael Lynk. UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer issued the following statement:

1. Lynk’s Mandate is Uniquely Discriminatory: President Chakma says that 10 other universities provide in-kind support to UN experts. But he misses the point: Lynk’s mandate is different from all other mandates. Whereas the UNHRC’s mandates on, for example, Cambodia, Eritrea, and Iran — which received in-kind support from the universities of Newcastle, Pretoria, and CUNY — direct those Special Rapporteurs to report on all human rights violations in the respective countries, Lynk’s mandate is unique. It’s the only mandate that expressly does not treat all human rights victims equally. Israelis are subjected to overt discrimination. Palestinian terrorist attacks against Israelis, such as the Friday night gruesome murder of Yosef Salomon, his daughter Chaya and son Elad, are disregarded under Lynk’s mandate, which focuses exclusively on “Israel’s violations.” Lynk’s mandate denies protection for Israelis whose right to life is violated, and it denies protection for Palestinians victimized by Hamas and Palestinian Authority torture, arbitrary detention, and religious persecution.

2. Effect vs. Intent: Whatever the intent, Western has now been put on notice that its in-kind support — as disclosed to the UN by none other than Michael Lynk — has the effect of aiding and abetting a discriminatory and unethical mandate, which denies the right to life to Israelis, and which denies basic human rights to Palestinians victimized by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. Western should be setting an example, not encouraging discrimination and human rights denial. Going forward, any future Western support for the discriminatory mandate constitutes the knowing aiding and abetting of discrimination.

3. Discrimination on Origin or Citizenship is Prohibited Ground in UWO Policy: Western’s own policy on discrimination prohibits discrimination based on race, origin or citizenship. Chakma disregards the fact that Western’s resources for Lynk’s mandate, which discriminates against Israelis and Palestinians whose human rights are violated by Palestinian terrorists, the Hamas, or the PA, is aiding and abetting the violation of Western’s own non-discrimination policy. 

4. Lynk’s Mandate Condemned by Amnesty International: President Chakma fails to address the fact that Amnesty International criticized the mandate now held by Lynk on at least three occasions, saying its “limitation to Israeli violations” serves to “undercut both the effectiveness and the credibility of the mandate,” and “fails to take account of the human rights of victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law committed by parties other than the State of Israel.” No other UN mandate has ever been criticized like this by Amnesty. (See French version here.)

5. President Chakma Misleads on Western Support:  Chakma’s reply says that Lynk was “approached by” two Western law students whom he accepted as research assistants. This characterization is inconsistent with the fact that Western actually published an ad soliciting researchers specifically to work for Lynk’s bigoted UN mandate. See p.21: ad on Western Law website, with Western Law logo. Contrary to Chakma’s letter, it would seem that Western is more implicated than he would suggest in providing direct support for Lynk’s UN mandate. Hard to square with the notion that students on their own just “approached” Lynk.

6. UWO Board Must Appoint Investigator:  In light of this apparent obfuscation, key facts remain in question. We are therefore asking the UWO Board to appoint an independent investigator to ascertain the facts.

Hamas front group PRC met last month in London with Michael Lynk, second from left,
who sat across from virulent antisemite Sameh Habeeb, second from right.

7. Lynk’s Meeting with Antisemite & Hamas Front Group: Lynk says he received “admin assistance” from Western. Chakma ignores that. Did Western employees, for example, help arrange for Lynk to meet in London last month with the Hamas front group known as PRC, and with the virulent antisemite Sameh Habeeb, who posts antisemitic videos by former KKK grand wizard David Duke, publishes stories accusing Israelis of stealing organs in Haiti, and articles claiming that World Wars I and II were both Jewish plots?

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