Israel Matzav

UK names Israel a 'country of concern' for 'human rights' violations twice as bad as Iran

The British Foreign Office on Thursday released a 'human rights' report that named Israel a 'country of concern' alongside such serial human rights violators as Iran, Bahrain and Belarus.

The foreign office identified the Jewish State as a "country of concern," making a special mention of the recent Gaza escalation, Israeli settlement policy and the Israel government's withholding of Palestinian custom revenues.

Israel’s inclusion on the list of 28 countries perpetrating violations is likely to cause its incoming government  some concern, in light of its close British ally’s repeated cautions in recent months that Israel’s “illegal” pursuit of settlement expansion risks alienating its international allies.

'Close British ally'? Says who?

The update of the climate between October and December 2012 concluded that despite Hamas receiving widespread condemnation from foreign leaders at the time of November’s escalation for instigating the exchange of hostilities, “the violence has resulted in a number of humanitarian needs, including a worsening of the already precarious humanitarian situation in Gaza”.

On the issue of Israel’s contentious settlement building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the report recalled British Foreign Minister William Hague’s warnings that the continued policy “undermines trust between the parties” as it “constitutes a serious provocation and an obstacle to peace.” It further concluded that the planned expansions “would have an impact on the economic development, transport links and the ability of the Palestinian Authority to deliver services to its citizens,” as well as displacing Palestinians from the region.

The report also quoted an EU statement from December 17 stressing that “incursions by Israeli forces into Palestinian cities where the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords assumes the powers and responsibilities for internal security and public order, put in jeopardy the internationally recognized success of Palestinian institution building efforts”.

And how much of a double standard is this report employing? Consider this:

By contrast, the corresponding report on human rights violations in Iran measured half the length of that accumulated on Israel, with concerns about the continued use of the death penalty, as well as reports of violation of minority rights, including freedom of religion, being detailed.

This past week, Freedom House named Israel the only free country in the Middle East, but that apparently had no effect on the Brits, who are as determined as ever to pursue their agenda of extirpating the state whose founding they did all they could to prevent.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Britain, British anti-Semitism, British Foreign Office, double standards, human rights abuses, Iran

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:36 AM