American Jewish Committee Executive Director David A. Harris Testifies Before UN Commission on Human Rights

American Jewish Committee
Thursday, 29 March 2001

The American Jewish Committee today called on the UN Commission on Human Rights to be true to its original mandate and end its singular focus on one country, Israel.

"The Commission's agenda underscores all too graphically that Israel has been the only country to be separated from the rest of the world for special examination," David A. Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, told the Commission on Human Rights, which began its 57th annual session this week.

"The abuse of the Commission for transparently political purposes frustrates the defense of human rights and complicates still further the quest for peace," said Mr. Harris in his testimony (www.ajc.org).

Mr. Harris pointed out that the Commission's long-standing approach to human rights divides the world into two: one agenda item is dedicated solely to Israel, while the rest of the world is covered in a separate, single agenda item.

Moreover, the mandate for the Commission's "Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Territories" is unlike any other – it is open-ended, not subject to review, and presumes that Israel is guilty of violations.

"The Special Rapporteur, inexplicably, investigates only Israeli actions, not Palestinian actions," said Mr. Harris. "Palestinian violations of human rights are plentiful and well documented. They must not be ignored, even if politically inconvenient for some of the members of the Commission."

Mr. Harris, referring to the Commission's Special Session last October, recalled that some members "chose to ignore the historic opportunity offered by Israel last year to achieve a watershed peace deal based on unprecedented compromises, only to see it categorically rejected by a Palestinian leadership that once again took a counter-productive all-or-nothing approach."

The Special Session called for an inquiry commission to examine the violence in the West Bank, Gaza and Israel, but instead of an objective study, the report is "a virtual endorsement of Palestinian violence," said Mr. Harris. "Nowhere in the report does one find references to Hamas, Islamic Jihad, or Fatah's Tanzim, though each of these groups has publicly accepted responsibility for attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers."

An impartial investigation of this exceptionally complex conflict, said Mr. Harris, surely would have included in its report the following proven and pertinent facts:

- A Palestinian Authority Cabinet Minister publicly admitted that the violence, following Prime Minister Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount in September, was a premeditated response after the Palestinian refusal to move forward in the peace talks at Camp David.

- Jewish religious sites have been desecrated by Palestinian mobs. This is part of a determined Palestinian campaign, in Jerusalem and elsewhere, to deny the Jewish religious and historical link to the land.

- The Palestinian Authority continues its policy of incitement to violence in the media, in schools, and, through some religious leaders, in the mosques. The Palestinian leadership has not yet called for the cessation of the incitement or the violence.

- Acts of terror, with devastating consequences, have been perpetrated against Israel, both within the 1967 boundaries and beyond. Again, Palestinian leadership has failed to condemn these acts, much less call for their end.

"Instead, the report explicitly advocates Palestinian positions on political topics that are well-beyond the commission's mandate and are subject to negotiation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority," said Mr. Harris, who also testified at the Special Session in October.

Mr. Harris today called on the Commission to play a positive role in seeking to protect human rights for all, without prejudice, in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"By doing so, this body will be fulfilling its mandate and making a constructive contribution to the region," said Mr. Harris. "Otherwise, I fear, one-sided actions that fail to take into account all the facts, complexities, and nuances will do this Commission a grave disservice and, equally, a grave disservice to the cause of peace."

The American Jewish Committee has a long history of association with the United Nations, dating back to the founding conference in San Francisco. Historians have credited AJC with an indispensable role in the inclusion of human rights references in the UN Charter, as well as an active part in the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention. Jacob Blaustein, a president of the American Jewish Committee, in 1963, originally proposed the creation of the position of High Commissioner for Human Rights.

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org