Saturday, January 29, 2022

US lawmakers demand an end to UN probe looking into Israeli atrocities committed in Gaza

ByNews Desk- The Cradle 

Members of the US congress closely associated with the Israel lobby have launched their latest attack against the UN Human Rights Council

On 25 January a group of 42 of US members of congress delivered a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging him to block a commission appointed by the UN to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza during the 11-day war on the enclave in May 2021.

The brutal assault on what many consider to be the world’s largest open-air prison killed at least 260 Palestinians and wounded nearly 2,000.

The 42 lawmakers, who are drawn from both the Democratic and Republican parties, claim that the investigation sanctioned by the UN Human Rights Council on 27 May 2021 perpetuates “a continued broader bias against Israel.”

The letter stated that it was ”irresponsible to spend precious resources on yet another unjustified UN investigation of Israel,” before going on to allege that the individuals selected to be part of the commission have a history of being “biased against Israel.”

The group, led by Democrat Josh Gottheimer and Republican Vicky Hartzler, demanded that the White House consider defunding the commission. All 42 congress members who signed the letter are also well-known for their close association with the Israeli lobby in the US.

Israel and its supporters have for years accused the UN Human Rights Council of unfairly targeting Tel Aviv. This is despite the fact that the council has equally investigated several other countries since its inception in 2006.

The US, which is the biggest defender of Israel at the UN, has also frequently attacked the council. On 18 June, 2018, then-US president Donald Trump announced that the country was withdrawing from the council due to its “hostility” towards Israel.

Former-US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, at the time also described the council as “a cesspool of political bias” that makes “a mockery of human rights.”

On 26 January Axios disclosed that the Israeli foreign ministry recently sent a confidential cable to all its diplomatic missions informing them that Tel Aviv would be launching a campaign to discredit the findings of the same UN investigation.

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