Israel files complaint with UN; complaint goes into circular file. Shyeah, like the UN is going to do something about Lebanese terrorists launching katyushas into Israel. It’s not like UNIFIL is doing anything to stop Hezbullah from building stockpiles of rockets in south Lebanon, even when the stockpiles blow up and UNIFIL can’t pretend they don’t exist anymore. The fact that UNIFIL and the Lebanese army actually found four unfired katyushas is astonishing, as they can’t seem to find their asses with either hand when it comes to Hezbullah arms and munitions.

The Goldstone dividends: Over 1,500 lawsuits are being filed by Gazans over damages from Cast Lead. Yeah, good luck with that. Israeli courts are not the UN. You have to go by actual laws in order to say that the IDF violated them. I anticipate about 1,500 dismissals.

Turkey and Iran: Together again for the very first time. Turkey’s prime minister goes to Iran, stands smiling while Ahmadinejad denounces “the Zionist regime” yet again. Oh, yeah. The honeymoon with Israel is over, and the Islamists have won. Then there’s that little bit about Erdogan saying that Avigdor Lieberman told him he wanted to nuke the Palestinians. I call bullshit on that, but of course, the Guardian printed it anyway.

J-Street is like Kadima like this blog is like J-Street: Shyeah, pull the other leg, Ben-Ami. Gawd. You are such a loser. Your student arm is dropping the words “pro-Israel” to keep people from thinking that, gee, they’re pro-Israel. Yeah, that’s just like Kadima, the party that Ariel Sharon built to keep himself in power long enough to disengage from Gaza (and that worked out so well, too). Sure. Uh-huh. In Bizarro World, maybe.

It’s certainly news that Human Rights Watch’s critics were able to get a former HRW chairman to slam the organization for having the temerity to hold Israel to the same standards of international humanitarian law to which it holds every other country. But Bernstein doesn’t appear to have any arguments to make that any of the instances of human rights violations HRW has documented didn’t take place. Instead his view is basically that Israel ought to be exempt from criticism because its enemies are mean:

No, Bernstein’s argument is that HRW is spending far more time and effort portraying Israeli violations than it is the human rights offenders that surround Israel. And Yglesias’ ever-astute commenters (the ones that aren’t slamming Zionism as racism) are comparing search result pages with number of reports, and declaring that since Israel and Egypt have the same number of pages, they have the same number of HRW reports. Argument over.

Except, well, let’s take a look by date, shall we? And include news releases as well as reports. For Israel and the Territories, we have the following press releases dating back to July. I’m going to put in bold those releases that do not concentrate on Israel:

Hamas: Investigate Attacks on Israeli Civilians   Oct 20, 2009
UN Security Council: Demand Justice for Gaza Victims   Oct 12, 2009
Israel: Stop Blocking School Supplies From Entering Gaza   Oct 11, 2009
UN: US Block on Goldstone Report Must Not Defer Justice   Oct 2, 2009
UN Human Rights Council: ‘Traditional Values’ Vote and Gaza Overshadow Progress   Oct 2, 2009
UN: US, EU Undermine Justice for Gaza Conflict   Sep 30, 2009
US: Endorse Goldstone Report on Gaza    Sep 27, 2009
EU: Demand Justice for Victims of Gaza War   Sep 25, 2009
Any chance for justice for victims of the Gaza war?   Sep 11, 2009
Israel: Gaza ‘White Flag’ Deaths Inquiry a Step Forward   Sep 10, 2009
‘Better than’ is not always good enough   Sep 9, 2009
Gaza: Rescind Religious Dress Code for Girls   Sep 4, 2009
Human Rights Watch plays no favorites in probes   Sep 3, 2009
Right of Reply: Don’t Smear the Messenger   Aug 25, 2009
False Allegations about Human Rights Watch’s Latest Gaza Report   Aug 14, 2009
Israel: Investigate ‘White Flag’ Shootings of Gaza Civilians   Aug 13, 2009
Gaza/Israel: Hamas Rocket Attacks on Civilians Unlawful   Aug 6, 2009
Will Arab States help end the Scourge of Cluster Munitions?   Aug 6, 2009
Israel: Ensure Improved ‘Attack Warnings’ to Civilians Are Effective   Aug 3, 2009
Palestinian Authority: Lift the Ban on Al Jazeera   Jul 17, 2009

The total: One release a month on the Palestinians. All the rest about Israel. Now, let’s take a look at the press releases about Egypt from July through the present.

Nobel Spotlights Need for Obama to Act on Rights   Oct 9, 2009
Egypt: Stop Killing Migrants in Sinai   Sep 10, 2009
US/Egypt: Obama Should Highlight Rights at Meeting With Mubarak   Aug 17, 2009
Will Arab States help end the Scourge of Cluster Munitions?   Aug 6, 2009
African Civil Society Urges African States Parties to the Rome Statute to Reaffirm Their Commitment to the ICC   Jul 30, 2009

Now let’s look at the totals. Twenty press releases under the category “Israeli and the Occupied Territories” since July. Four concern the Palestinians. Eighty percent of the HRW press releases in that time period concern Israel. Was Hamas firing rockets at Israeli civilians during that time? Yes. Was Hamas torturing Fatah prisoners during that time? Yes. Was Hamas killing “collaborators” without trial during that time? Yes. Was Hamas shooting at Israeli civilians on their farms during that time? Yes. What does HRW consider newsworthy? Lifting the press ban on Al Jazeera in the West Bank.

Look at the press releases concerning Egypt. Only one of them directly concerns Egyptian human rights abuses—the killing of migrants trying to get into Israel. Egyptian border guards have killed dozens of Africans fleeing over the border, and they’ve been doing it for years. A million African immigrants are poised along the Israeli border, so many that Israel will be building a fence to keep them out. And yet, there is only one news release about the deaths of civilians trying to make a better life for themselves than they can find in the Egyptian refugee camps. Why is that?

The commenters at Yglesias cite the number of pages in a search result as evidence that the reporting is equal. Clearly, their research skills need a little brushing up. HRW released three reports on Israel so far this year. HRW also released two about the Palestinians, one regarding the rockets from Gaza (in August, the first in two years about the nonstop rocket attacks on Israel), one regarding Hamas’ human rights abuses against Fatah and others in Gaza. HRW wrote zero reports about Egypt this year. That’s right. None.

In other words, Matthew, Robert Bernstein’s main point—that Human Rights Watch spends far more time on Israel than it does on the human rights abusers in the neighborhood around her—is true. Bernstein never said that Israel should be exempt, only that HRW should pay more attention to the human rights abusers in the countries without a free judiciary and laws on the books preventing such abuses. It’s a point I’ve been making for years. But when the founder of Human Rights Watch makes it—well, then one would have to think that there’s some validity to it. And if not, there’s always the evidence I’m citing in this post. But why would Yglesias let a little thing like facts get in the way of his opinion?

“It is easier to dismantle the Palestinian Authority than it is to dismantle us, and we will take them apart before anyone thinks of touching us.”

Ah, the Hamas/Fatah truce. The snark simply writes itself.

Turkey, the friend of Jews—not. France’s Le Monde polled the Turks, and 53% say they would not want to live next door to a Jew. But really, the Turks luuurve Israelis. Truly. They do. Probably a little more than they love Armenians, but I wouldn’t want to lay odds on that.

Abdullah to Obama: Forget Iran, it’s not that important. Uh-huh. We shouldn’t concentrate on Iran, because the king of Jordan is tired of hearing about Iran, Iran, Iran. It’s the Palestinians that are the key to mideast peace, you see—not the country that’s trying to build nuclear weapons, murdering American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, funding terrorists in Israel, South America, and, well, all over the world, and oh yeah—violently repressig its own people. So yeah, really, Obama—what’s with the Iran obsession?

Bill Maher is a great big idiot: Want to laugh? Watch this video over at Hot Air, where Bill Maher, the world-renowned scientist, tells us how dangerous flu vaccinations are, and vaccinations in general. Biggest laugh-line: It’s not settled science, like global warming. Yes, he really says that. Like Allahpundit says, when Chris Matthews is your voice of reason—well.

Obama abandons the victims of genocide: Now our president is turning his back on Darfur. He’s committing to a “softer” approach to Sudan. Because hey, it totally fits with the Obama foreign policy: Screw our allies, and give breaks to all our enemies. Even the ones that like to rape, torture, and murder with impunity. So, to the 78% of Jewish voters who voted for Obama, how’s that feeling about now? I mean, Jewish voters make up a large part of the save Darfur movements. Feeling proud of your guy, still?

Only Israel can violate UN resolutions: UNIFIL is still “investigating” those explosions in southern Lebanon, trying to determine if they’re in violation of UN Resolution 1701, which forbade Hezbollah from arming south of the Litani. But there is no such hesitation whatsoever in calling out Israel.

Williams said the use of drones was an obvious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and resolution 1701 “and not particularly helpful at a time of obvious tension in the south”.

Israel supplies evidence that Hezbollah is stocking arms, but UNIFIL must investigate. Uh-huh. No bias here. Move along. Nothing to see.

You know what isn’t brave? Criticizing Israel. Hell, everybody does it, and everybody seems to think that it’s a difficult thing to do. Jimmy Carter, Walt & Mearsheimer, and now, the president of Turkey. Because there’s so much negative impact from his countrymen for criticizing Israel. Now, if he stood up and supported Israel—well, that’d be very courageous. Also only in Bizarro World, so let’s not even pretend it might happen someday. It won’t.

Another kassam attack, another day of silence from the MSM: You won’t read about this kassam attack in the AP or Reuters until after Israel bombs a smuggling tunnel or three. Or unless Israel gets a rocket squad. Because it’s obvious that unprovoked attacks on civilians in Israel aren’t newsworthy—only Israel’s response to the unprovoked attacks. This is also one of those things that the Goldstone report didn’t bother to cover—you know, the reason why Israel went into Gaza in the first place. That’s unimportant. Well, maybe if it fell short and killed some Palestinians. I’m sure they’d blame Israel for that.

The resolution – which also condemns recent Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories and East Jerusalem – endorses the report’s recommendation that both sides in the conflict should show the Security Council within six months that they are carrying out credible investigations into alleged abuses. If they are not, the matter should then be referred to prosecutors at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands.

Both sides are in violation of… well, something. Both sides must carry out “credible” investigations. And if not, both sides will be referred to the ICC. Shall we start a pool now on how, in six months, Hamas doesn’t even come up in the resolution to refer Israel to the ICC?

But let’s step back a moment and see exactly how the UNHRC works. In particular, let’s take a look at part of the report on the review of the Central African Republic. (For some light background reading, you can read this 23-page report at Human Rights Watch. Or just read the summary here.)

Here are a few choice bits of the draft of the UNHRC report from the current (12th) session:

219. In relation to recommendation 35, the delegation indicated that all press offences had been abolished, while noting that journalists may be guilty of common law offences, such as defamation and press offences defined by the High Communication Council.

221. Regarding recommendations 25 and 33, the delegation underlined that, in accordance with the Constitution, the judiciary was a branch power which independence was guaranteed through a number of management bodies. Despite some problems, such as arbitrary arrests, corruption and other irregularities, several projects were being undertaken, with the financial assistance of the United Nations Development Programme.

223. In relation to recommendations 11, 16-19, 27-29, and 30, the delegation underscored that the Central African Republic had ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Female genital mutilations are not practiced throughout the territory and are prohibited by law. However, cultural beliefs/practices and the interests of practitioners made its full implementation challenging. The Family code was being reviewed to ensure its compliance with international standards, and with a view to either maintaining or abolishing polygamy. The delegation stressed that due to cultural concerns, the Central African Republic was not ready to sign a declaration on discrimination based on sexual orientation, adding that no law prohibited or authorized it.

Let us note that the Central African Republic is shutting down press freedom, making arbitrary arrests, has a thoroughly corrupt judiciary, refuses to end discrimination against homosexuals, and insists that female genital mutilation is not a state problem, but rather a cultural phenomenon. Hold those thoughts, though, because this is my personal favorite part of the report:

224. On the recommendation to remove reference to the crime of witchcraft in the penal code, the delegation indicated that witchcraft was a reality in Central Africa. The Government envisaged training prison wardens who committed violence against women suspected of witchcraft and developing sensitization programmes to modify behaviours of the population and of the justice system.

Now, remember this. The representatives of the CAR told the UNHRC that witchcraft is a reality in Central Africa, and therefore, they will not remove the laws against witches on the books. They might, however, educate prison guards to stop raping women who are in prison for being accused of witchcraft. That is, they “envisage” it. Could happen. Someday.

What was the result of this review of a major human rights offender?

228. The Russian Federation congratulated the Central African Republic for having given its consent to approximately two thirds of the recommendations and for having expressed its willingness to study others. It noted the voluntary commitments taken by the State including the adoption of the national plan of action for the promotion and protection of human rights and a new criminal code. It wished the Central African Republic maximum success in realizing all accepted commitments and future progress in promoting and protection of human rights.

229. Egypt welcomed the comprehensive presentation by the Central African Republic. It stressed that despite many challenges and constraints, the government had made efforts to promote human rights, which resulted in considerable progress and the attainment of stability since the adoption of the 2004 Constitution. It appreciated the responses given to recommendations and reiterated its call that the State continue its efforts to promote all universally agreed human rights and fundamental freedoms and to resist attempts to enforce any values or standards beyond the universally agreed ones. It also encouraged the State to implement its penal code in conformity with the universally agreed human rights standards, including the application of the death penalty.

230. The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya commended the government for its efforts, including regarding poverty reduction, economic reforms, ratification of most human rights international instruments and reforms aimed at guarantying women’s rights. It stressed that support from the international community was important to reach the Millennium Development Goals and to promote human rights. It considered that voluntary commitments made by the State during the presentation of its national report were highly important.

232. The United States welcomed the Central African Republic’s efforts to improve human rights. It remained concerned about the impunity enjoyed by perpetrators of human rights abuses in the security forces, including the presidential guard. It strongly supported the recommendations to investigate abuses and hold those responsible of violations accountable, and to incorporate human rights training into the military training. It appreciated the State’s efforts on the issue of child soldiers and to undertake reforms of the justice system, its willingness to work with human rights organizations and encouraged the State to continue allowing special procedures to visit the country. It welcomed the national action plan on gender-based violence.

Compare this to what the same states say about Israel on a regular basis. And then, tell me there is no anti-Israel bias in the United Nations. No, I’m not speaking to my regular readers, who already know that. I’m speaking to the rest of the world. J’accuse.

In criticizing militant rockets, Farrow advised Gazans not to “give the international community ammunition to view you in a negative way.” Stopping them, she said, could lead to greater international aid.

Got it? Don’t stop firing rockets at Sderot’s schoolchildren because it’s immoral, illegal, and outright wrong. Stop firing rockets so that you can get more money.

Way to be a goodwill ambassador.

Asshat.

Some of the Israeli witnesses who testified before the committee were injured by rocket fire before Operation Cast Lead, but their testimonies were left out of the report.

Dr. Mirela Siderer, a resident of Ashkelon, was severely injured by a Grad missile and is about to undergo her eighth operation.

“I didn’t have high hopes, so I wasn’t very disappointed, but I still feel awful after reading the report,” she said. “They didn’t refer to incidents that occurred before Operation Cast Lead, including my injury.”

Don’t you understand, Mirela? It’s not about Israeli suffering. The narrative can only take into account Palestinian suffering. They, the victims, and only they, the victims, can have testimonies embedded into the report. Israelis, the oppressors, are not counted when they are killed or injured, except as victims of what is, ultimately, their own fault—for stealing Palestinian land and causing untold misery.

That would be the misery in Gaza like the misery of having to smuggle brand-new 2009 vehicles into Gaza. Oh, the misery! They have to cut the cars into four pieces and weld them back together for the wealthy Gazan owners.

Eight thousand rockets flying into civilian areas of Gaza? Pshaw! Not worth paying much attention to in the Goldstone report.

“When I stood up and started to testify before the judges, Justice Goldstone fell asleep in front of me. It was an embarrassing moment but I continued talking, realizing that I should not have high hopes,” he added.

Bedin said the testimony had felt pointless. “One of the judges on the committee had already expressed the very clear opinion that Israel was committing war crimes against the Palestinians,” he said.

When the outcome of the report is determined by its mandate, one cannot be surprised to hear that the author of the report fell asleep while listening to testimony of rockets injuring and killing Israeli civilians.

The kangaroo court’s verdict is partially in. Next comes the General Assembly, then the ICC. The delegitimization of Israel continues apace.

This is impossible.

The mandate itself declared that war crimes were committed by Israel. This is a case of a court issuing a guilty verdict before any facts are in.

“Human Rights Council… Decides to dispatch an urgent, independent international fact-finding mission, to be appointed by the President of the Council, to investigate all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by the occupying Power, Israel, against the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, due to the current aggression, and calls upon Israel not to obstruct the process of investigation and to fully cooperate with the mission”.

This is not a mandate to investigage if war crimes occurred. This is a mandate that states its purpose, and the commission’s responsibility is to document the war crimes that were already declared.

UN Watch has a history of the judges, many of whom are—surprise—biased against Israel.

Christine Chinkin signed a letter dated January 11, 2009, which appeared in The Times, stating: “Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is not self-defence – it’s a war crime.”

The jury is already in. Israel is going to be accused of war crimes by a UN commission. And they’re releasing the report sometime during the ten Days of Awe, just for a little extra added insult.

The UN decided the defendant was guilty as charged before examining a single fact. And so the UN’s obsession with Israel continues, and yet another anti-Israel resolution will come of it. Watch for it.

First, the AP report on the HRW report on Hamas war crimes:

Rights group: Hamas may have committed war crimes

Next, the AP report on the current HRW accusation that Israely committed war crimes:

Rights group: Israel killed unarmed Palestinians

No, no bias there. Let us check the leads.

A prominent human rights group said there is “strong evidence” that Gaza’s Hamas rulers committed war crimes by allowing militants to fire rockets from the territory that killed civilians in Israel, according to a report released Thursday.

The 31-page report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch focuses on Hamas’ actions in connection with Israel’s three-week offensive in Gaza that ended in late January. Human Rights Watch, as well as other groups, have previously accused Israel of committing war crimes during the offensive aimed at stopping Palestinian rocket fire.

“Hamas rocket attacks targeting Israeli civilians are unlawful and unjustifiable, and amount to war crimes,” said Iain Levine of Human Rights Watch. But the report stopped short of accusing Hamas militants of war crimes, with officials saying only a court could make that determination.

Note that in the article about Hamas war crimes, the AP writers and editors put accusations of Israeli war crimes in the second paragraph. And note the quote that says even though Hamas sent rockets into civilian areas, HRW isn’t really saying they’re war crimes because, well, an actually court hasn’t stated them as such. Will there be such even-handedness regarding Israel?

A new report by Human Rights Watch charged Thursday that Israeli soldiers killed eleven unarmed Palestinian civilians who were carrying white flags in Shooting incidents during Israel’s offensive in Gaza earlier this year.

The report says the civilians included five women and four children. The group urged Israel to conduct investigations into the deaths, which it said occurred when the civilians were “in plain view and posed no apparent security threat.”

The group says at least three witnesses confirmed the details in each of the seven separate shootings.

The report is the latest in a slew of charges from human rights groups alleging that Israel violated the rules of war in its Gaza offensive. The reports on the Gaza war have focused on Israeli violations, but Human Rights Watch has also said Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups violated the rules of war by firing thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians.

Look at the two bolded sections of each lead, and figure out which one is the more damning. Here’s a hint: It ain’t the one about how Hamas “violated the rules of war.” Funny how they use the phrase “war crimes” so easily when applied to Israel, and yet can’t seem to muster the same phrase when applied to terrorists using human shields, children in combat, and based themselves in hospitals to protect themselves.

What time is it again? Of course. It’s Israeli Double Standard Time, which, luckily, only occurs on days that end with a “y.”

I particularly like this insistence by John Ging that there’s no way, really, no way in hell, that the concrete and iron rods would be diverted by Hamas and turned into tunnels and rockets. No way.

“We account for every sack of flour and we can equally account for every bag of cement,” he said. “It’s just a matter of political will to move forward on this issue. We’d like to get on with the job, and then be held accountable on whether we are achieving it or not.”

All right, John. Kindly explain this Reuters video, taken years ago, of Palestinian terrorists in Gaza using UN ambulances to escape from the IDF.

You don’t get to be the ones accountable for Israeli deaths. That would be the Israelis themselves, who have the responsibility to protect their citizens. Urge away, UN and NGOs. Just don’t issue the dreaded strongly-worded statement.