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.
On October 16, 2023, the UN Human Rights Council’s permanent COI published its fourth report, purporting to analyze the “human rights and legal consequences of force used and identifying root causes of recurring violence and protracted conflict.”
The following FAQs explain the role of the ICJ and how it works, as well as the way it has been and will continue to be instrumentalized against Israel.
On February 2, 2023, three Palestinian NGOs published a submission to the UN Human Rights Council whitewashing acts of violence by Palestinians, omitting core evidence linking Palestinians to the terror and terrorist organizations that maintain the conflict.
On November 29, 2022, Al-Haq published yet another antisemitic screed dedicated to denying the Jewish people sovereign equality, by defining Zionism and the State of Israel as inherently illegitimate.
On November 17, 2022, Professor Gerald M Steinberg wrote a letter to the President of the UN Human Rights Council regarding the the public hearings of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel (“COI” or “Commission”) that took place in Geneva from 7-11 November.
For three days, the UN’s permanent Commission of Inquiry (COI) against Israel conducted hearings ostensibly to investigate whether Israel was justified in designating seven Palestinian NGOs as terror organizations, due to their links to the PFLP. In practice, this was a forum for Commission members and NGO representatives to join in attempts to silence NGO Monitor's independent research.
On November 7-11, 2022, the UN Human Rights Council’s permanent “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel” (COI) held public hearings. Three out of the seven NGOs who appeared at the hearings used them as a platform to defame NGO Monitor in retaliation for its role in exposing the aforementioned terror links.
On October 27, 2022, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel” (COI) presented its second report at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.
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
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