THE TRUTH ABOUT IRAN AND HAMAS MUST TOLD TO THE UNITED NATIONS - PLEASE JOIN US IN THIS CLARION CALL
Thank You Camera and Human Rights Voices
The UN Human Rights Council is once again targeting Israel. We need all hands on deck to fight back - including yours! After Israel defended herself from an onslaught of thousands of rockets, mortars and missiles fired indiscriminately at civilian populations throughout the Jewish state by the Iranian-sponsored terror group Hamas in May of 2021, the UNHRC created an open-ended “Commission of Inquiry” (COI) , with unprecedented resources and staffing and an indefinite mandate to examine Israel's actions. The resolution creating the COI was organized by states known to be hostile to Israel, and the investigatory body is comprised of individuals known to be biased. Worse, the COI’s mandate calls for an examination of the “root causes” of the conflict. Considering the three commissioners appointed to the COI are known anti-Israel activists, the conclusion is all but written in stone, and it is widely believed that the report, expected in June of this year, will delegitimize the Jewish State and seek to re-litigate the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their indigenous homeland. It is also expected that the COI will take advantage of recent slanderous reports from groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and B’Tselem to label Israel as an “apartheid” state. The COI has put out a “call for submissions,” expecting that the usual anti-Israel organizations and individuals will provide it with the language and libels to aid in its effort to slander the Jewish State. But anyone, from professionals to students, individuals to large organizations, is allowed to make such submissions — including you! Further information about the bias of the Commissioners will be forthcoming. For now, we ask all of our friends and supporters to make submissions to the COI following the guidelines below. The purpose of sending submissions is to create compelling public record -- to present the truth in a manner that rings so loud and so clear that it cannot and must not be denied by the international community at large - regardless of the disposition the “kangaroo court” a/k/a the UN Human Rights Council. It is very important that you take the time to forward copies of your submissions to us and/or the folks at CAMERA and Human Rights Voices so we can have a complete record of all of the pro-Israel submissions which will presumably be ignored. While not required, you may also wish to add an introductory paragraph language explaining that you consider the COI process to be inherently flawed, illegitimate, and political.
Please create your own submission rather than forwarding this Alert to the COI.
Please prepare a short submission to the UN’s COI – using the guidelines below – and encourage your friends, family members, and synagogue and church Israel-action groups to do the same. Then turn in your submission to the four places designated below. While the COI isn’t expected to release its report until June, for practical reasons, we encourage you to have your submissions sent by February 28.
Guidelines: The COI states that submissions can be made on one or more of five topics. The three most relevant for our purposes are listed here. Ensure that at the beginning of your submission, you clearly identify which of the topics your submission fits under.
• “Underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict in and between the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel; as well as systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.” • “Facts and circumstances regarding alleged violations of international humanitarian law and alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021.” • “Identification of those responsible.”
Any length is acceptable, even just one page.
We have compiled some articles and videos below as a resource - but please feel to conduct your own research. If you find additional resources that are very compelling please send them our way so we can share them.
ARTICLES FROM CAMERA
• Sheikh Jarrah: The Facts, by Alex Safian, PhD, May 13, 2021 (Topic: Underlying root causes of recurrent tensions). • Understanding the Current Sheikh Jarrah (Jerusalem) Property Dispute, by Professor Avi Bell, May 9, 2021 (Topic: Underlying root causes of recurrent tensions). • Backgrounder: New Hamas Platform, by CAMERA, June 9, 2017. (Topic: Underlying root causes of recurrent tensions). • How Many Gaza Palestinians Were Killed by Hamas Rockets in May? An Estimate by Alex Safian, PhD, June 27, 2021 (Topic: Identification of those responsible). • Tweet by Defense for Children International, Palestine, reports two children and six adults killed by “a homemade rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group.” (Topic: Identification of those responsible). • Hamas, Not Israel, Violated International Humanitarian Law, by Samuel Estreicher and Julian G. Ku, June 10, 2021 (Reprinted here.) (Topic: Alleged violations of international law). • Media Must Improve Conflict Coverage, by Geoffrey Corn, July 9, 2021 (Topic: Alleged violations of international law).
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Shocked U.N. Delegates as Hamas and PLO Abuses Exposed by Palestinian Hero, September 27, 2017
TRUMPETS AND TANK ENGINES: A TURNING POINT IN GAZA? Colonel Richard Kemp
Exposing the Lie of Israeli Apartheid, Colonel Richard Kemp, February 4, 2022
Amnesty International Wants To End The Jewish State, by Colonel Richard Kemp, February 5, 2022,
There Is Apartheid in the Holy Land - but Not In Israel , Palestinian Law Makes Selling Land To Jews A Crime Punishable by Death, Sometimes Without A Trial, Eugene Kontorovich, Wall Street Journal, February 8, 2022
The ‘Apartheid’ Libel of Israel, Amnesty International all but says the Jewish state shouldn’t exist, Wall Street Journal Editorial Board, January 31, 2022
Hold Hamas Accountable for Human Shield Use During the May 2021 Gaza War , June 23, 2021 Memo, Orde Kittre - Foundation For the Defense of Democracies
Testimony of Colonel Richard Kemp Before the United Nations - May 18, 2018 - Human Rights Watch
Interview of Colonel Richard Kemp - Iran Wants Chaos in Israel - Iran has provided Hamas with weapons, money and direction
Former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan Col. Richard Kemp Speaks at UN Watch Rally Against Anti-Israeli Bias - March 18, 2019
How Iran Fuels Hamas Terrorism, June 1, 2021 - Ido Levy
Hamas Terrorist Trainingh Summer Camp for Boys and Teens , June 30, 2021
International Authorities Ignore Recruitment of Child Soldiers - June 29, 2021
You may want to include a sentence about the legitimacy of the process. Here is some sample language to consider:
The creation of this Commission of Inquiry is based on flawed and politicized processes and serves as a bigoted attack on the Jewish State, applying standards not used for any other Member State. Provided below is evidence that contradicts the predetermined conclusions of this Commission and the Human Rights Council.
WHERE to send your submissions: It is important to send your submissions to four places.
• Email a copy to the UN Secretariat at coi-opteji@un.org • Upload your submission to the UN COI’s “cloud” at https://owncloud.unog.ch/s/eYqkCWdqgMUqFTs • Send a copy to letters@camera.org • Send a copy to Human Rights Voices at Submissions.coi@gmail.com
Send a copy to StopIranNow.org at
More detailed instructions on submissions can be found here. For any questions, please contact us here or David Litman at dlitman@camera.org or
BACKGROUND
In the wake of Operation Guardian of the Walls, according to the Times of Israel, the UNHRC passed a resolution calling “for the creation of a permanent ‘Commission of Inquiry’ – the most potent tool at the council’s disposal – to monitor and report on rights violations in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It would be the first such COI with an ‘ongoing’ mandate.” The resolution, according to the Times of Israel, was organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a group whose 57 members include the states of Iran, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, and of course, the “State of Palestine.” The draft of the resolution that was adopted on May 27, 2021 had been submittedby Pakistan, a country in which both Christians and the Ahmadi Muslim minority are persecuted. Other states that are members of the Council include China, Cuba, and Venezuela – hardly exemplars of human rights. At the time the resolution was adopted, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet admitted that Hamas fired rockets at Israeli civilians, from within densely populated areas in Gaza. Yet, the Commission almost certainly will focus mainly on Israel. Even the Austrian ambassador, Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger, “said the session ‘continues the regrettable practice of singling out Israel for criticism in the Human Rights Council.’” The goal, of course, is to further tie Israel’s hands and to make it even more difficult for Israel to defend itself and protect its citizens. As Anne Bayefsky, President of Human Rights Voices, wrote in JNS, “the resolution doesn’t mention Hamas, or rockets, or any civilians but Palestinians. Instead, it sets up a mechanism to destroy the modern Jewish state by criminalizing its self-defense and ravishing its economy.” At the end of December, the UN General Assembly voted to fully fund the Commission – though notably, a bipartisan group of US Congresspeople have already urged defunding it. The make-up of the Commission shows that it cannot be independent or impartial. The head of the COI is Navi Pillay, who during 2014’s Operation Protective Edge, referring to Israel’s Iron Dome, complained that “no such protection has been provided to Gazans against the shelling.” The absurd statement ignored that Hamas had spent tens of millions of dollars or more on subterranean tunnels, but used those tunnels to protects its weapons and its leaders, while leaving its people in harm’s way. As also noted above, CAMERA will provide further background about her and the other Commissioners shortly. In his preface to the paperback edition of his book, Making David into Goliath: How the World Turned Against Israel, Joshua Muravchick wrote that in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, Israel’s enemies learned to use their numerical advantage to turn the UN into “the world’s most bully pulpit for the vilification of Israel and the engine room of anti-Israel campaigns.” We are now watching how these efforts will play out in real time, and we can’t allow them to succeed. This is why as many submissions as possible are needed. Despite the bias of the Commissioners, the strong evidence and arguments in Israel’s favor must be put into the public record so that those who seek the truth may learn it. You can make a difference here and now!
Thank you and G-d bless you.
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