Outrage as UN Report Calls for Israel Boycott

Maayana Miskin

The United Nations official responsible for investigating Israel-PA affairs has openly expressed support for a boycott of all companies doing business with Israelis east of the 1949 armistice line.



In his latest report, UN special rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Richard Falk has called for a boycott on all companies tied to Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria.



Falk included “settlement expansion” as one of the reasons to boycott.



His statements have been severely condemned by Israel and its allies. Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird, quoted by the AFP news agency, called on Falk to “either withdraw this biased and disgraceful report – or resign from his position at the United Nations.”




Falk has “not only done a disservice to the United Nations, but also to the Palestinian people,” Baird charged.



Israel condemned Falk’s statements as “grossly biased.” United States UN Ambassador Susan Rice rejected his statements as well, saying, “His call for a boycott of private companies is irresponsible and unacceptable.”



Falk’s boycott statements “do nothing to further a peaceful settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and indeed poison the environment for peace,” she added.



Israeli experts say that Israel’s civilian communities in Judea and Samaria are legal under international law. The Palestinian Authority, backed by much of the international community, claims that the territories won by Jordan in 1949, and retaken by Israel in 1967, rightfully belong to Arab residents of the area for the establishment of a new Arab state.



Richard Falk was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, not by UN Chief Ban-Ki-Moon. The Human Rights Council is notoriously anti-Israel, and has gone so far as to conduct its own probes criticizing Israel in cases where other official UN reports are more balanced.



Falk’s mission was criticized from the beginning due to his biased mandate, under which he is to examine Israeli Jewish violations of Arab rights, with no mention of Arab terrorism or other Arab violations of Israeli rights. The appointment of Falk, specifically, also came under fire due to his past extremist statements, including claims of a U.S. cover-up in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.