UN Human Rights Council focuses on Jewish State with multiple resolutions speaking of illegal Israeli activity and rights violations.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFUNHRC headquarters 311 (R)(photo credit: REUTERS)
The United Nations Human Rights Council is set to vote on six resolutions on Israel, but only one that focuses on Iran and none on Libya, as it wraps up its 16th session Thursday and Friday.One of the resolutions asks that the Security Council consider referring the situation in the “occupied Palestinian territories” to the International Criminal Court.RELATED:Opinion: The UNHRC - Hard at work condemning IsraelUN expert repeats 'ethnic cleansing' claim against IsraelOverall the council is due to pass 38 resolutions, out of which 14 deal with individual countries.The UNHRC is expected to pass resolutions criticizing human rights in Myanmar, North Korea and Cote d’Ivoire. It also has resolutions dealing with change in Burundi, Tunisia, the Republic of Congo and the Republic of Guinea.When it comes to Iran the council’s short resolution calls for the creation of a special rapporteur to look at the situation of human rights. But it does not condemn any human rights violations in that country.With respect to Israel however, it has issued six resolutions. One resolution is on the Golan Heights, another on last May’s Gaza flotilla incident and a third on the Palestinian right to self-determination.Two resolutions deal with the Israeli presence in the West Bank and east Jerusalem and the sixth is a resolution based on the work of the panel which monitors Israeli compliance with the 2009 fact-finding mission into Operation Cast Lead, otherwise known as the Goldstone Commission.Four of the resolutions speak of illegal Israeli activity and human rights violations.Votes on the resolutions come in the same week that Palestinians in Gaza launched a barrage of rockets against southern Israel and a woman was killed and 39 other people were wounded by a bomb at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station.
Within the resolution on the Goldstone Report on Gaza is a call by the UNHRC for the General Assembly to reconsider that report, which strongly attacks Israeli for grave human rights violations and possible war crimes, during its 2011 session.It asks that the General Assembly refer the Goldstone Report to the Security Council for further action.It further asks that the Security Council consider referring the situation in the “occupied Palestinian territories” to the International Criminal Court.According to nongovernmental group UN Watch, which monitors the Human Rights Council’s activity, prior to its 16th session the council had approved 51 resolutions dealing with individual countries, out of which 35 were about Israel.
