UN report on Israeli conduct encouraging: BDS
The report from the special committee of the UN’s human rights office that we just described tells companies to divest from investing in Israel to avoid contributing to the war on Gaza.
The purpose of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel is to end Israeli genocide and apartheid, Shir Hever, a coordinator with the movement, told Al Jazeera.
“This is a welcome report by the UN committee. The divestment is one thing that corporations are obligated to do for moral, ethical, legal and practical reasons. But it’s not just divestment,” he said.
Hever said concerned parties must stop sending weapons or any other assistance that could be used in the war.
“The UN itself does not have the power to force corporations to take actions,” he said. “But states have an obligation to force their corporations to take this action. And also the employees have an obligation. So, this is something new and encouraging.”
Recommendations in UN special committee report binding in light of Genocide Convention
The report from the special committee of the UN’s human rights office leaves “no doubt about its interpretation”, says Triestino Mariniello, professor of law at Liverpool John Moores University.
“The committee is confirming that Israel is committing genocide through several violations of international law,” Mariniello, who is a member of the legal team representing Gaza victims before the International Criminal Court, told Al Jazeera.
These violations include mass killings, causing serious bodily and mental harm, imposing harsh conditions of life, forced displacement and deprivation.
While the report is not itself binding for UN member states, Mariniello said its recommendations are binding in light of the Genocide Convention, which obliges member states to adopt all possible measures to prevent genocide and punish those responsible for committing it.
US ‘unequivocally disagrees’ with UN finding on Israel’s genocide in Gaza
US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel has rejected the findings of the report by the UN that Israel is carrying out a genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
“This is something we would unequivocally disagree with. We think that kind of phrasing and those kinds of accusations are certainly unfounded,” he told reporters about the report that also said Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war.
Patel also questioned a report by Human Rights Watch that said Israel’s forcible displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians amounts to “crimes against humanity”.
Translation: The co defendant / co-conspirator enters a not guilty plea.
