VOA states that its staff must follow the principle of presenting “a comprehensive, reliable, and unbiased description of events.” In relation to its coverage of the COI, VOA has come up well short of these principles.
Once you boil away the antisemitism and false claims, Crossette’s article comes down to the fact that a Jewish opinion editor and an Israeli ambassador separately expressed opposition to a bigot being honored with an award, and the only conclusion Crossette can find is that there is an “Israel lobbying campaign,” instead of two Jews having an understandable problem with antisemites being honored in Germany in 2022.
There is a pattern at the UN of selecting those with a demonstrable enmity towards the Jewish state for positions dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Commission of Inquiry members are only three examples. Media consumers beware.
There is something deeply objectionable about leaving three individuals known for making antisemitic statements empowered to use the imprimatur of the UN to uniquely delegitimize Jewish self-determination.
On June 13, the United Nation’s new Commission of Inquiry (“COI”) against Israel is scheduled to deliver its first report. Created after the conflict in May 2021, the COI is just the latest addition to the UN’s overflowing arsenal of weaponry against the Jewish state. Here is some basic background information that everyone, including both journalists and their audiences, needs to know.