Statement of the Institute for NGO Research at the 28th Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council

Summary

Mr. President,

Yesterday, a senior Hamas official admitted that 50 of the claimed 62 dead in Gaza were Hamas combatants. Islamic Jihad acknowledged 3, including a 16-year old child soldier. In other words, at least 90% of the casualties were fighters, a percentage unmatched in the history of warfare.

So we ask this Council, what are we doing here? Why are we wasting everyone’s time, money, and focus on yet another Israel-bashing session? This Council barely has enough funding to hold its session in September. OHCHR staffers are repeatedly forced to take unilateral pay cuts. How many more times will this Council be held hostage to Palestinian exploitation and diversion of this Council’s attention?

Why does this Council again allow ideological and terror-linked NGOs, whose factual and legal claims have no substantive foundation, to shape a destructive agenda? Is doing the bidding of Hamas and the PLO the core function of the United Nations?

Why does this Council wish to yet again tarnish its reputation as an institution obsessed with one small country, a country with a human rights record that matches or exceeds every country in this room?

Does this Council really need another Goldstone or Schabas-Davis fiasco?

Mr. President, we urge the Council’s members to finally put an end to this farce and to stop misusing international institutions for Palestinian political theater.

Thank you.