UN Watch BriefingLatest from the United Nations  Vol. 478 |  February 18, 2014

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New report by UN rights investigator accuses Israel of “inhuman acts” 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. (UN Watch has launched an online petition here 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. UPCOMING EVENTS Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, February 25, 2014 UN Watch will gather some of the world's most courageous champions of human rights at its flagship event of the year, next Tuesday in Geneva. The event is supported by 20 other human rights organizations, and is expected to draw hundreds of diplomats, journalists, and activists. UN Watch board members and supporters from Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Miami, Montreal, Vienna, Tel Aviv and elsewhere will be flying in to participate. Join in person or by watching the live webcast on Tuesday, Feb. 25th at www.genevasummit.org. __________________ AIPAC Policy Conference, March 3, 2014, Washington, DC UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer will be addressing the upcoming AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC. Delegates are invited to register now for the session entitled "Report Card: Israel and the UN," on Monday, March 3rd, at 12:30 pm, and again at 3:00 pm. Co-panelists include former U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO David Killion, and Israeli Ambassador Aharon Leshno-Yaar, deputy director-general of Jerusalem's foreign service and head of its U.N. and international organizations division. ______________ UN Watch Parallel Event at 58th Session of UN Commission on the Status Of Women, March 13, 2014, New York UN Watch and several other human rights groups will host the first UN screening of the new award-winning film “Honor Diaries”, together with an expert panel discussion. Click here for flyer. Panelists include two of the women’s rights activists featured in the film, Raquel Saraswati and Raheel Raza, president of the Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow, along with Tinatin Khidasheli, a parliamentarian from Georgia, and Paula Kweskin, the film’s producer. The panel will be moderated by Celia Michonik, UN Watch’s Chair of International Outreach. The event will take place on Thursday, March 13, 2014, 12:30 pm, at the Church Center UN Chapel, 777 United Nations Plaza, New York. Space is limited. 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. 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. 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 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. 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.”