Israel Matzav

This time, even the US says it's biased

The United Nations 'human rights council' has appointed as the head of its commission of inquiry a Canadian law professor who has called for Prime Minister Netanyahu to be investigated for war crimes. This time, even the United States State Department has had enough.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department joined in on the criticism on Monday, with deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf telling reporters that any investigation related to Gaza should be done in a way that is non-biased.

“We’ve always said that if there are specific incidents that need investigation, that we think they should be. We said that with UNRWA schools and we’ve said that in other cases as well,” she said.

At the same time, she added, “there’s a way to investigate things that’s not one-sided and biased, and there’s a way that we don’t support.”

For the State Department, that's strong opposition.

Meanwhile, the professor, William Schabas, doesn't understand what the fuss is about.

A Canadian law professor chosen to helm a United Nations commission examining possible war crimes in Gaza scoffed Monday at charges he's biased against Israel, while Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird scoffed at the UN.

"The suggestion that I'm anti-Israel is absurd," William Schabas said Monday in an interview from Toronto, pointing out that he's on the editorial board of the Israel Law Review.

"Like everybody inside and outside Israel, I disagree with people. Is everyone in Israel who has an opinion about (Benjamin) Netanyahu anti-Israel?"

Of course not. But there's a huge difference between someone who opposes Netanyahu's policies, and someone how is supposed to be conducting an independent investigation into his conduct of a war who has already accused him of war crimes. It's pretty clear already what the conclusion of this 'investigation' will be.

In the meantime, another member of the 'commission' has resigned before the work even started.

The 63-year-old Order of Canada officer, renowned for his work on international criminal and human rights law, was to be working alongside British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Alamuddin — the future wife of actor George Clooney — and Senegalese lawyer Doudou Diene, who has filled UN posts on racism and human rights in Ivory Coast.

However, Alamuddin rejected the appointment late Monday, citing pre-existing commitments.

How 'unbiased.'

There's a lot more criticism from the Canadian government and NGO's. Read the whole thing. 

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, civilian casualties, Gaza, Hamas, human shields, IDF, Operation Protective Edge, United Nations Human Rights Council, William Schabas

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:48 AM