The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has condemned the United Nation report, issued by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) that accuses Israel of establishing an “apartheid regime” that “dominates the Palestinian people as a whole.”
The Report, co-written by Professor Richard Falk, a veteran traducer of Israel, 9/11 conspiracy therorist and former Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories for the perniciously anti-Israel UN Human Rights Council; and Virginia Tilley, a Political Science professor at Southern Illinois University who has advocated the replacement of Israel by a single Arab-dominated state,
claims that “the policies, practices and measures applied by Israel to enforce a system of racial discrimination threaten regional peace and security,” “concludes that Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole” and “accordingly recommends that the international community act immediately, without waiting for a more formal pronouncement regarding the culpability of the State of Israel, its Government and its officials for the commission of the crime of apartheid.”
A spokeswoman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres distanced the Secretary-General Guterres from the report, saying that the Report does not reflect his views (Adam Shaw, ‘Haley demands UN withdraw report branding Israel “apartheid” state,’ Fox News, March 15, 2017).
The US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said, “That such anti-Israel propaganda would come from a body whose membership nearly universally does not recognize Israel is unsurprising … That it was drafted by Richard Falk, a man who has repeatedly made biased and deeply offensive comments about Israel and espoused ridiculous conspiracy theories, including about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is equally unsurprising. The United Nations Secretariat was right to distance itself from this report, but it must go further and withdraw the report altogether … The United States stands with our ally Israel and will continue to oppose biased and anti-Israel actions across the UN system and around the world” (Barney Breen-Portnoy, ‘US ‘Outraged’ by UN Report That Accuses Israel of Establishing ‘Apartheid Regime’ That ‘Dominates the Palestinian People,’ Algemeiner Journal, March 15, 2017).
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “The Report issued by the ESCWA is one of the worst examples of UN defamation and bias against Israel, which is saying something.
“The authors, especially Richard Falk have a long record of obsessive and vicious bias against the Jewish state of Israel, which is undoubtedly why he was picked to write it by ESCWA.
“The UN Secretary-General was right to dissociate himself from this travesty and we particularly praise UN Ambassador Nikki Haley for her forthright and unambiguous condemnation of this defamation. She is also right to call upon the UN Secretary-General to go further and formally withdraw the Report. Nothing less is warranted.
“This is a litmus test. How the UN treats this Report, whether it repudiates it, or simply allows it to remain on the books, injecting a little more poison into the international bloodstream, matters.
“The Trump Administration has correctly called out UN bias and hatred towards Israel. It has also served notice to the UN Human Rights Council that it must reform or else the US will withdraw and should apply the same policy towards the UN ESCWA.”