Thursday, June 20, 2013
Elder of ZiyonA United Nations human rights body accused Israeli forces on Thursday of mistreating Palestinian children, including by torturing those in custody and using others as human shields.
From what I can gather, the UN committee did no original research on this report, but instead relied on anti-Israel NGOs like Adalah and DCI. It is filled with unfounded rumors and long discredited arguments.
But if you doubt for a minute that this is anything but a hatchet job aimed at Israel, here is one section of this report that has nothing to do with Palestinian Arabs:
Harmful practicesSure - a Jewish religious rite that has been taking place for thousands of years is suddenly a concern for the UN which calls for a "study" to see whether hundreds of generations of Jews have complications.
41. The Committee expresses concern about reported short and long-term complications arising from some traditional male circumcision practices.
42. The Committee recommends that the State party undertake a study on the short and long-term complications of male circumcision.
Perhaps they are referring to the practice of metzitzah b'peh, which has been marginalized in recent years after reports of health issues, but their recommendation indicates that the UN is taking aim at Jewish circumcision altogether - and only Jewish circumcision! The committee has no such recommendations for the Palestinian Authority or Hamas to study complications that result from Muslim circumcision.
A quick search through the UN domain finds a number of criticisms of female "circumcision" and many plaudits for male circumcision as a means of controlling AIDS, but at least at first glance I could not find a single negative mention of male circumcision - except here.
It is hard to escape the conclusion that the UN has crossed the line from virulent anti-Zionism into real anti-semitism.
