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SvennoJ on 08 March 2024
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More deflections, propaganda, distractions, aka Hasbara

US, UK and France call for UNSC meeting over sex crimes claims: Reports

Israel’s Foreign Ministry says the US, Britain and France have submitted a request for a UN Security Council emergency meeting over the findings of a UN report on the alleged sexual crimes in the October 7 attack, according to the Israeli media. Reports said that the move comes after a request from Foreign Minister Israel Katz, and the members of the UNSC also wish to meet with Premila Patten, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflicts and the author of the report.

Katz had recalled the country’s UN ambassador for consultations earlier in the week over alleged attempts by the organisation to keep quiet on the report in question. Israel’s foreign minister also slammed UN chief Antonio Guterres over the report, saying that he “brought the organisation to the lowest level”.


Israelis bring legal action against UNRWA

A legal case brought by Israelis, including family members of captives held in Gaza, alleges the US branch of the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) is complicit in aiding “terrorism”. The court complaint claims Hamas and other Palestinians are “financed and aided” by UNRWA and its US-based non-profit organisation during the October 7 attack on southern Israel.

UN Watch, a Geneva-based body that monitors the UN based on its charter, filed the complaint.

“Defendant UNRWA USA has been and is fully aware that UNRWA works with and for Hamas, providing operational and financial support for their activities, and UNRWA USA aids, abets, and provides material support for those activities under the guise of humanitarian assistance,” it said.

Israel says it wants to dismantle UNRWA, the main organisation getting aid to besieged Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, over claims some employees participated in the October 7 attacks.

Israel decries ‘political persecution’ after Columbia University investigates prof

An Israeli professor at Columbia University in New York says the prestigious school is probing him for his pro-Israeli activities, prompting a backlash from the Israeli government. Shai Davidai, a professor who identifies himself as a “Zionist” on his online profile, said the “investigation into my advocacy for the Jewish and Israeli students, faculty and staff at the university” amounts to “a clear act of retaliation and an attempt to silence me”.

He said in a statement that he’s fighting “student organisations that have turned this campus into a hostile environment by openly celebrating terrorism and promoting violence against Israel and Jews”.

Eylon Levy, the Israeli government spokesman, said, “We are at the point where Jews are being politically persecuted in the West.”

A free speech row with legal implications has erupted in major American universities since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.



Double standards on display

US officials meet with UN rapporteur on sexual violence report

Senior American officials met with the UN’s rapporteur on sexual violence in conflict to discuss a report on allegations made during the October 7 Hamas attack. US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer and White House Gender Policy Council Director Jennifer Klein were among officials in the meeting with Pramila Patten, according to a readout by the White House.

Patten detailed the scope and methodology of her team’s two-week mission to Israel and the occupied West Bank that concluded on February 14. “White House officials conveyed President Biden and Vice President Harris’s deep concern about the horrific reports of sexual violence committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7 and reports of ongoing acts of gender-based violence against those in captivity,” it said.

The White House didn’t mention UN findings on sexual violence against Palestinians by Israeli forces.