Israel reacted angrily to a new UN Human Rights Council report Thursday, after it concluded that “a multitude of the human rights of the Palestinians are violated in various forms and ways due to the existence of the settlements”.
Labelling such conclusions as “counterproductive”, the Israeli foreign ministry released a counter-statement insisted that such analyses “will only hamper efforts to find a sustainable solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict”.
“The only way to resolve all pending issues between Israel and the Palestinians, including the settlements issue, is through direct negotiations without preconditions,” the ministry said.
The Council concluded that “settlements are established and developed for the exclusive benefit of Israeli Jews” and help embed “total segregation between the settlers and the rest of the population living in the Occupied Palestinian territory”.
“Such human rights violations form part of an overall pattern of breaches that are characterised principally by the denial of the right to self-determination and systematic discrimination against the Palestinian people which occur on a daily basis”, continued the Council’s findings.
The report is the product of an International Fact-Finding Mission appointed last July with members drawn from France, Botswana and Pakistan and utilising testimonies collated “from a wide-range of stakeholders including people affected by the Israeli settlements; individuals and organisations working in the OPT and Israel; UN agencies, and Jordanian and Palestinian authorities”.
“The magnitude of violations relating to Israel’s policies of dispossessions, evictions, demolitions and displacements from land shows the widespread nature of these breaches of human rights. The motivation behind violence and intimidation against the Palestinians and their properties is to drive the local populations away from their lands, allowing the settlements to expand,” said Unity Dow, member of the Mission from Botswana
In a statement reflecting Israel’s growing disillusion with the Human Rights Council, following the revelation this week that it had chosen to skip the four-yearly UN review of its human rights record in an unprecedented move, the foreign ministry declared “the Human Rights Council has sadly distinguished itself by its systematically one-sided and biased approach towards Israel. This latest report is yet another unfortunate reminder of that”. US diplomats have similarly corroborated Israel’s position in deeming that the council is too focused on Israel.
All UN Nations are required to submit a review of human rights concerns every four years to the council, but following Israel’s request for a deferral, the council delayed its review meeting until October or November at the latest.
Israel cut all ties with the 47-member state Council last March after the body announced that it would probe Israeli settlements.
"We cut all our contacts with the Council last March, including the current activity," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said, stressing: "Our policy has not changed."
"A jury of brigands is not justice, it’s a travesty," said Hillel Neuer executive director of Human Watch, a Geneva-based human rights organization which monitors UN compliance with the principles of its Charter.
"We regret that today's resolution failed to acknowledge the elephant in the room: the council's systematic bias against Israel, » he said.Israel reacted angrily to a new UN Human Rights Council report Thursday, after it concluded that “a multitude of the human rights of the Palestinians are violated in various forms and ways due to the existence of the settlements”.
Labelling such conclusions as “counterproductive”, the Israeli foreign ministry released a counter-statement insisted that such analyses “will only hamper efforts to find a sustainable solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict”.
“The only way to resolve all pending issues between Israel and the Palestinians, including the settlements issue, is through direct negotiations without preconditions,” the ministry said.
The Council concluded that “settlements are established and developed for the exclusive benefit of Israeli Jews” and help embed “total segregation between the settlers and the rest of the population living in the Occupied Palestinian territory”.
“Such human rights violations form part of an overall pattern of breaches that are characterised principally by the denial of the right to self-determination and systematic discrimination against the Palestinian people which occur on a daily basis”, continued the Council’s findings.
The report is the product of an International Fact-Finding Mission appointed last July with members drawn from France, Botswana and Pakistan and utilising testimonies collated “from a wide-range of stakeholders including people affected by the Israeli settlements; individuals and organisations working in the OPT and Israel; UN agencies, and Jordanian and Palestinian authorities”.
“The magnitude of violations relating to Israel’s policies of dispossessions, evictions, demolitions and displacements from land shows the widespread nature of these breaches of human rights. The motivation behind violence and intimidation against the Palestinians and their properties is to drive the local populations away from their lands, allowing the settlements to expand,” said Unity Dow, member of the Mission from Botswana
In a statement reflecting Israel’s growing disillusion with the Human Rights Council, following the revelation this week that it had chosen to skip the four-yearly UN review of its human rights record in an unprecedented move, the foreign ministry declared “the Human Rights Council has sadly distinguished itself by its systematically one-sided and biased approach towards Israel. This latest report is yet another unfortunate reminder of that”. US diplomats have similarly corroborated Israel’s position in deeming that the council is too focused on Israel.
All UN Nations are required to submit a review of human rights concerns every four years to the council, but following Israel’s request for a deferral, the council delayed its review meeting until October or November at the latest.
Israel cut all ties with the 47-member state Council last March after the body announced that it would probe Israeli settlements.
"We cut all our contacts with the Council last March, including the current activity," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said, stressing: "Our policy has not changed."
"A jury of brigands is not justice, it’s a travesty," said Hillel Neuer executive director of Human Watch, a Geneva-based human rights organization which monitors UN compliance with the principles of its Charter.
"We regret that today's resolution failed to acknowledge the elephant in the room: the council's systematic bias against Israel, » he said.