In May 2021, Palestinian terror groups in Gaza fired over 4,000 rockets and mortars toward Israeli population centers – each one an unequivocal war crime.
As with previous flare-ups involving Gaza, NGOs ignored Palestinian violence. Instead they engaged in intense political advocacy campaigns targeting Israel, pressing the ICC to investigate Israeli officials and calling for anti-Israel BDS measures such as arms embargoes.
In response, the UN Human Rights Council established a Commission of Inquiry to “investigate” crimes allegedly committed by Israel since April 13, 2021. Fueled by disinformation provided by NGOs, the COI is yet another UN body marred by secrecy and tainted by conflicts of interest, in order to target Israel, and disseminate false and antisemitic narratives about the conflict.
NGO Monitor's legal advisor and UN expert Anne Herzberg and barrister Joshua Kern of 9BR Chambers have co-authored a letter to United Nations Human Rights Council President Federico Villegas calling on him to initiate an assessment of the UNHRC’s Commission of Inquiry on Israel for violations of the mandate and UN codes of conduct.
On August 1, 2022, NGO Monitor was a signatory on a joint letter to the UNHRC President calling for the removal of the Commissioners due to their antisemitic biases
On May 31, 2022, Palestinian NGO Al-Haq, along with 90 co-signatories, submitted a flagrantly antisemitic report to the UN's permanent Commission of Inquiry presenting a blatantly false historical account, denying Israel’s right to exist and denying the Jewish people their right to sovereign equality.
The 50th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), held in June 2022, perpetuated the bias and hypocrisy that has come to define the UNHRC specifically and the United Nations in general. Several statements made during the session by NGO officials, many of which receive large portions of their funding from European governments, promoted the apartheid canard and advocated for BDS.
NGO Monitor submits an written submission to the UN Human Rights Council in response to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
NGO Monitor addressed the UN Human Rights Council during the discussion of the Commission of Inquiry report on Israel
On June 7, 2022, the UN Human Rights Council “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel” (COI) published its first report. As expected, this initial report perpetuates outright falsehoods, and relies on information provided by terror-linked and anti-Israel NGOs to previous UN bodies. This is consistent with the COI’s prejudicial mandate and the bias of commission members.
On July 22, 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council appointed the members of a “Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel." The chosen panel members’ have conflicts of interest and prejudicial backgrounds, including long histories of anti-Israel activism and highly inflammatory rhetoric.
