On October 15-16, 2009, the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) held yet another special session dedicated to Israel, discussing the Goldstone report and an anti-Israel resolution. NGOs joined the politicized attacks against Israel, speaking as observers before the Council. They condemned Israel for “impunity” and employed demonizing rhetoric:

  • Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR – funded by EU, Norway, Ireland, NDC – Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Open Society Institute): “there is nothing to be proud of in the beginning of the 21st century to be a country that is creating a much worse apartheid system then what prevailed in South Africa.”
  • Al Haq (Netherlands, Ireland, Norway, Sweden [via Diakonia], Ford Foundation, Christian Aid, Norway): “Impunity has prevailed…The Israeli justice system has consistently failed to provide the Palestinian people with effective avenues for any meaningful action and effective remedies…demand an end to the relentless blockade on the Gaza Strip which collectively punishes the people of Gaza and deprives them of their basic needs. The occupation, which is the root cause of this conflict, has persisted for over 42 years.”
  • Adalah (EU, NIF, Ford Foundation, Oxfam-Novib, Switzerland): “The Israeli legal and judicial systems have consistently failed in providing any legal remedies to the Palestinian people…” [Ed. Note: This claim is particularly disingenuous, since Adalah was involved in more than 20 cases in Israeli courts in 2008, many of which were successful.]
  • MRAP: “colonial occupation follows the destruction, massacres follow the abuses, and the international law is constantly trampled.”
  • Nord-Sud XXI: “people fighting for self-determination against foreign and oppressive occupiers are forced to turn to the use of force to try to end their oppression.”

These statements follow extensive NGO support for the Goldstone mission and report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty, and other groups.