Israel-bashing at the United Nations
By Mindelle Jacobs
July 10, 2006
The Edmonton Sun
Original Source: http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Columnists/Jacobs_Mindelle/2006/07/10/pf-1676555.html
You can dress up a dictator in a suit, but he's still a thug. The same goes for the UN Human Rights Council. New name but brutish business as usual. 
It didn't take long for the council, which replaced the discredited UN Human Rights Commission, to get into Israel-bashing mode. 
Right off the bat, at its inaugural session last month, the council singled out only one state - Israel - for denunciation. Never mind that there are atrocious human rights violations being committed in numerous countries. 
A prime example is the Darfur region of Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of non-Arab civilians have been killed and more than two million displaced in a genocidal orgy perpetrated by government-backed militias. 
A coalition of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) noted a host of other human rights violations in various countries in a statement to the council a couple of weeks ago. 
The eyes of the world are turned to the new Human Rights Council in the hope that it will effectively protect and promote human rights universally, the NGOs said. 
To truly address the reality of human rights violations on the ground, the council cannot shy away from the most relevant situations around the world. 
Zimbabwe has engaged in systematic and widespread human rights violations, the coalition noted. In North Korea, a dictatorship controls every aspect of political, social and economic life. 
In Pakistan, violence against women is a serious problem and in Saudi Arabia, women have virtually no rights whatsoever, the coalition added. 
Over in the Democratic Republic of Congo, four million people have been killed since 1998 and armed groups are killing, raping and abducting civilians. 
Iran consistently represses the rights of human rights defenders, political prisoners and minorities. 
In fact, the official implicated in the torture and killing of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi three years ago was part of the observer delegation Iran sent to the council session in Geneva last month. 
The list of countries that routinely engage in murder, torture and dehumanization is a long one. Incredibly, only 25 of the 47 members of the council extend full civil and political rights to their citizens, according to UN Watch, an NGO that monitors the performance of the United Nations. 
Four members of the council - China, Cuba, Russia and Saudi Arabia - are among the most repressive states in the world. 
Yet tiny, democratic Israel, which has been trying to make peace with its largely despotic neighbours for decades, is being stigmatized by the council. 
Last week, at the instigation of the Arab bloc, the council held a special session and voted 29-11 to condemn Israel's recent incursion into Gaza. 
There will now be a fact-finding mission to the Palestinian territories to investigate alleged Israeli human rights violations. 
Of course, there was no mention of the nihilistic band of Palestinian terrorists attacking Israelis on a daily basis. Israel pulled out of Gaza and what did the Palestinians do? Lay down their weapons and begin building a state? 
Not likely. They just expanded their terror operations, bombarding Israel with rockets, with Hamas renewing its vows to eradicate the Jewish state. 
Apparently, the UN Human Rights Council isn't much different than the disgraced commission it replaced, where the world's worst human rights violators watched each other's backs. 
The NGOs weren't even allowed to speak last week. And Israel is being portrayed as the world's greatest villain, says UN Watch. 
Yes, it's business as usual at the UN.