UN High Commissioner of Human Rights: Israel, not Hamas, Responsible for Human Rights Abuses

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jordanian Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, is less than a year in the job but he has already found how to win hearts and minds in the UN "human rights" world. Pick on Israel and give the Palestinians a pass.

Speaking at the opening of the 29th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 15, 2015, the High Commissioner raised concern about the human rights of Palestinians. And nothing about the human rights of Israelis. Notwithstanding ongoing rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, targeting Israeli civilians and clearly a war crime, the High Commissioner never once named Hamas. Nor did he mention Hamas abuses of its own people, which include extrajudicial killings and torture of Gaza residents. His only call to action was directed to Israel.

In his words, "The continued presence and expansion of Israeli settlements and related activities, as well as settler violence, remain at the core of most of the violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and I repeat my calls to Israel to end immediately the expansion of the settlements, and to address settler related-violence."