(UN)limited obsessions continue…writes Michael Kuttner
Another week and more obsessive, unmitigated outpourings of condemnation issue forth from groups which are dedicated to slandering the Jewish State.
It’s not just outright bias and hate that spews forth from United Nations sanctioned bodies; it is also the spectacle of those who should know better, pontificating about things of which they are blissfully ignorant. Ignorance comes in various forms ranging from genuine lack of knowledge through to willful distortion and deliberate fudging of facts. This week has produced a bumper crop of biased bloopers. Dissecting them should provide an illuminating illustration of how deliberate dissemination of untruths and half-truths with the help of a willing media contributes to the ever-growing delegitimizing of Israel in particular and Jews in general. As mentioned in my previous op-ed, generous funding from European sources fuels these continual torrents of destructive accusations.
The UNHRC – otherwise known as the UN Human Rights Council, whose membership consists of the worst human rights abusers, has once again as predicted produced a document pillorying Israel’s attempts to defend itself from terrorist rockets and murder on a grand scale. Explaining that the Hamas tunnels were only intended to target the IDF it completely ignores the fact that they were instead targeting Israeli civilians. With the exits underneath kibbutz dining rooms and kindergartens only those with an agenda to pillory Israel could come up with a report like this. Apparently the Hamas technique of using civilians, including children, as human shields and the storage and firing of rockets from mosques, schools, hospitals and UNRWA facilities is of no major consequence. This report as expected is riddled with the usual phobic accusations against Israel and follows a familiar pattern so beloved of the misnamed Human Rights Commission.
Israel was correct in not having had anything to do with this corrupt bunch of bigots because to do so would only have legitimized their activities. The outcome was pre-ordained regardless of any facts and its conclusions should be consigned to the dustbin. Some will say that Hamas was also mildly accused of war crimes. It however escaped being condemned for starting the war in the first place. Hamas was not held accountable for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers and then bombarding Israeli civilians with barrages of rockets. By contrast, Israel is portrayed as the major villain and perpetrator of war crimes in trying to defend its citizens and defeat terror.
What happens now? The UNHRC hopes to present this abortion of a report to the UN Security Council with the aim of having it endorsed and thereby putting the seal of approval on its findings. This is where things get interesting because it presents New Zealand with a challenge. As a self-professed “friend of both sides” it has three choices. It can vote against its adoption as a fatally flawed work of fiction, thereby siding with the endangered moral minority. Alternatively it might vote in favor and thereby earn the undying gratitude of the rulers of Gaza and Ramallah. The third option is to sit on the fence, repeat the usual meaningless mantras and abstain. The first option takes guts, the second smells of appeasement & double standards and the third option is a cop-out. Which alternative will Wellington take? Don’t hold your breath.
As a pre-ordained sequel to this UNHRC farce, it was announced that the “peace” partners we are commanded to embrace have lodged the first in a series of accusations against Israel with the International Criminal Court at The Hague. The war crimes we are supposedly guilty of include not only trying to defend ourselves from terror but also the heinous acts of building houses for Jews and the jailing of terrorists responsible for the murder of Israelis. Apparently there are more “crimes” in the pipeline. It is patently apparent that for Abbas and company, smearing Israel via compliant international organizations is far more productive and satisfying than sitting down to make peace and promoting tolerance. It seems that this fact continues to be ignored by foreign ministries worldwide.
A perfect example of hypocritical myopia is the statement by Ban Ki Moon that Israel needs to stop sensitive and unilateral activities, a code phrase for Jews building houses again. Just imagine. There are no other critical problems in the world other than this. As the PA utilizes all its resources to libel Israel and ISIS descends to further depths of barbarity all that the Secretary General of the United Nations can obsess about is the Jewish State. It is indicative of how sick and irrelevant this corrupt body has become. Israel’s Prime Minister gave the best answer the other day when he stated that UN resolutions will not bring peace. Please note Monsieur Fabius and Mr. Murray McCully.
Now for something somewhat different.
A classic case of gutless caving in revolves around the recently released video cartoon by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs which brilliantly exposed the hypocrisy of the international media and its reporting of the Gaza war. It went viral in no time at all and then the wrath of the Foreign Press Association descended in all its righteous fury. Instead of standing up to this expected barrage of self-induced indignation at the “outing” of tendentious reporting, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs caved in and withdrew the cartoon explaining that it merely wanted to expose media bias. If that really was the case why did it hastily take the video down? If this is not a typical example of shooting oneself in the foot I do not know what is.
For those of you who are wondering what all the fuss was about, here is a link to the video clip concerned. Judge for yourselves whether this satirical exposure of media double standards merited the knee buckling reaction of those who originally promoted it. If it tells the truth, why censure it? We need more of these to combat every falsehood spread by those who hate us. Satire can often be the best weapon to defeat lies and hypocrisy. It should be circulated far and wide, not shamefully buried.
In addition to what I wrote previously, it seems that we still have a galut complex [re- cartoon].
A very well written article. Kol Hakavod!!!!!