'What About The Rights Of Israelis!'

by Marc Shoffman in Geneva - Thursday 5th of April 2007
http://www.totallyjewish.com/news/world/?content_id=6006

The United Nations is neglecting other areas of human rights because it is too obsessed with the Palestinian territories, Israel’s Ambassador to the Human Rights Council said this week.

Itzhak Levanon expressed anger at the UN in Geneva after it passed two resolutions criticising Israel’s treatment

The United Nations Human Rights Council agreed to resend a delegation to the Palestinian territories and called on Israel to comply with investigators. But Levanon described the ruling as “selective” and “biased.”

It comes after UN Special Rapporteur John Dugard presented a report to the UN last month criticising the killing of 19 Palewstinian civilians in Beit Hanoun last November. The resolution calls on Israel to “end its military operations in the occupied Palestinian territory, abide scrupulously by the provisions of international humanitarian law and human rights law, and refrain from imposing collective punishment on Palestinian civilians.”

Levanon criticised the Council for failing to consider how the Israelis have to live. He told TJ that there is no point in complying with the demands.

He said: “I don't see the benefit of discussing the issue. We had our own investigation on Beit Hanoun, we have our own values, the Jewish values. We reached a conclusion and apologised, why do I need people to come and check what I have already done, if they don't believe me then it doesn't make any difference.

“The UN took a special session, a selective step, to see what happened. Beit Hanoun and Gaza do not exist in a vacuum, it was a direct result of terrorists. Is there no Israeli suffering?

“If they send a mission to examine both sides I would accept it. But they took a one sided resolution.”

He accused Arab countries of trying to hijack the Council, “The human rights situation is very bad. Darfur is sometimes discussed because there is a genocide. But there are other places, Chechnya, Tibet, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria - all these have human rights problems and daily persecutions that must be discussed. The fact that Israel has excavated something to make it safer, this is not the place to discuss it.

“The Council is letting down all human rights, everyone should be under review, Israel, the UK, and Arab states, everybody without any exception. If you would like to reach a higher level of human rights you have to deal with it, but Muslim countries are trying to hijack the agenda.”