UN Human Rights Council Establishing Database Of Israeli Settlement Companies

by Stephen Lendman

The normally pro-Western UN Human Rights Council (HRC) surprisingly intends establishing a database of Israeli settlement companies operating illegally on stolen Palestinian and Syrian land - including in the Occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and Syria's Golan.

Netanyahu blasts initiatives, reports or publicly revealed information critical of oppressive Israeli policies, especially its high crimes. Whenever he opens his mouth he puts his foot in it.

He called the HRC "an anti-Israeli circus…attack(ing) the only democracy (sic) in the Middle East…instead of dealing with the Palestinians' terrorist attacks (sic)…"

He called on "responsible governments (sic) not to honor the decisions of the Council that discriminate against Israel.

Israel's UN envoy in Geneva Eviatar Manor accused the UN body of suffering from "obsessive-compulsive disorder" on issues regarding Israel, claiming its action "deepened the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians."

The more Israel assails legitimate critics, the more it reveals its culpability for high crimes too grave to ignore.

HRC has no authority to enforce actions against Israel. Washington automatically vetoes critical Security Council resolutions introduced, no matter how serious the issue addressed.

The Global BDS Movement welcomed HRC's initiative, Europe Campaigns Officer for the Palestinian BDS Committee Riya Hassan, saying:

"By voting to establish this database, this resolution supports the view of the the BDS movement that companies must be held to account for their participation in Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights and international law."

"Just as at the height of the boycott of South Africa, the BDS movement is successfully persuading international companies to end their support for Israel's crimes and we are starting to notice a domino effect."

French corporate giants Veolia and Orange recently "exited the Israeli market…" So did Ireland's largest company CRH.

The BDS Committee welcomed HRC's initiative, urging the UN body to go much further, "hold(ing) Israel to account for its violations of international law including by supporting a full ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements and a two-way military embargo."

"What use are the EU's regular condemnations of the ongoing expansion Israel's illegal settlements if they will not support measures aimed at stopping international businesses from supporting their expansion?"

"We urge the UN to lead by example and terminate its contracts with G4S, a private security company that provides services and equipment to Israeli occupation prisons at which Palestinian political prisoners, including children, are held without trial and tortured."

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Measures without teeth do nothing to stop Israeli high crimes. Full accountability is vital, including against culpable regime officials.

The same goes for Washington and its other rogue partners.

A Final Comment

There was nothing good about Friday in Occupied Palestine. Israeli soldiers and undercover forces lawlessly kidnapped over a dozen Palestinians, including five children - none guilty of any crimes.

All face brutal interrogations amounting to torture, isolated from family members and legal counsel, imprisonment perhaps to follow for being Arabs in a Jewish state.

Soldiers shot and wounded four Palestinians, peacefully protesting near Gaza's border with Israel, showing solidarity with what they call the "Jerusalem Intifada" ongoing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since last October.

Since January, 30 Gazans were lethally shot, over 1,300 injured, overall Palestinian casualties far higher in all of Occupied Palestine - their suffering virtually ignored by Western media. 

Israeli high crimes don't matter. On Friday, soldiers' live fire forced Gaza farmers and shepherds to flee their fields for safety.

They're often attacked, soldiers authorized to use live fire and kill with impunity. IDF claims about its use only to confront and deter "security threats" are flagrantly false.

Palestinians throughout the territories risk arrest, serious injury or death each day simply for not being Jews.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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