Columnist criticizes U.N. treatment of Israel
Washington Post deputy editorial page editor and columnist Jackson Diehl answered his own question, “where does the global human rights movement stand?,” this way:
“Western governments and advocates stand by as the U.N. Human Rights Council bashes Israel” |
“If the first year of the United Nations Human Rights Council is any indication, it’s grown sick and cynical” (A Shadow on the Human Rights Movement,” June 25). Chief example? The council’s all-consuming anti-Israel activities.
“While ending the scrutiny of those [Cuba and Belarus] dictatorships, the council chose to establish one permanent and special agenda item: the ‘human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.’ In other words, Israel (or ‘Palestine,’ in the council’s terminology), alone among the nations of the world, will be subjected to continual and open-ended examination. That’s in keeping with the record of the council’s first year: Eleven resolutions were directed at the Jewish state. None criticized any other government.”
Sudan, China, Zimbabwe, Burma, Syria, Russia, as well Cuba, Belarus and Arab terrorist movements, all real, recurrent and large-scale human rights oppressors, escaped the U.N. council’s attention. But Israel, the one country in the Middle East in which human rights are routinely respected, received repeated censure. And Western self-proclaimed rights watchdogs, like Human Rights Watch, accept the travesty, Diehl points out.
George Orwell famously observed that “sometimes the first duty of intelligent men is the restatement of the obvious.” In “A Shadow on the Human Rights Movement,” Diehl fulfills that duty.
More from SNAPSHOTS
Double Standards: Boycotts and Discrimination in MassLive
May 16, 2025
Anti-Israel activists, including Harvard University’s Lara Jirmanus, a clinical instructor, seem to struggle with the concept of “discrimination.” Quoted in a May 14 MassLive article, “Harvard ‘failed to respond’ to 450 discrimination complaints. Staff hand-delivered [...]
Swarthmore Students Are Learning: It Was Never About Palestinian Rights
May 14, 2025
Students at Swarthmore College are so close to understanding the conflict. An article in the Swarthmore Phoenix details the frustrations of student activists with the college’s Students for Justice in Palestine. The gist of their criticism is [...]
AFP Arabic Stops Mislabeling Northern Israeli Communities ‘Settlements”
August 10, 2021
A view of Metulla, northern Israel (Photo by Hadar Sela)After failing to set the record straight last May when Agence France Presse's Arabic service repeatedly referred to Jewish communities in northern Israel as "settlements," the [...]
NY Times Praises Ilhan Omar’s Book While Glossing Over Her Antisemitism
August 19, 2020
A recent New York Times book review boosts Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) autobiography while glossing over her antisemitism. In the paper’s Aug. 16, 2020 edition, NYT reporter Christina Cauterucci writes: The memoir offers breathing room [...]
When TV Interviews of Ilhan Omar Constitute Journalistic Malpractice
August 11, 2020
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) documented animosity toward Jews and Israel was ignored in recent interviews by MSNBC and C-SPAN. MSNBC’s The Beat for July 23, 2020 included host Ari Melber’s 10-minute conversation at 6:16 [...]
Boston TV Station WCVB Teamed Up With Terrorist Supporter CAIR
July 7, 2020
WCVB-TV (channel 5) (Boston’s ABC network affiliate) recently misled area viewers about a matter involving antisemitic propaganda. This occurred on its local Sunday show Cityline hosted by Karen Holmes Ward who is described by the [...]
Harper’s Magazine Echoed Palestinian Propaganda Condemning Israel And America
June 2, 2020
Writing in Harper's, Kevin Baker condemns the U.S. Middle East peace plan [“The Striking Gesture,” Easy Chair, May 2020], mischaracterizing it as, “Give up all your [Palestinian] hopes and your holiest places, embark on a [...]