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 simply aren’t many examples of antisemitism targeted at Jews as Jews more obvious than Miloon Kothari’s remarks in July. Yet, Beinart and his cosignatories still chose to depict them as merely “insensitive” and as “criticism of Israel.”
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.
For a case study in confirmation bias, one need only look at the statement issued by a UN spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (“OHCHR”) on the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.
The UN’s newest anti-Israel “Commission of Inquiry” published its first report on June 7. The report itself is mostly recycled allegations against Israel published in past UN reports, but it would be a mistake to dismiss the report as a complete dud.
Given the UN’s history, it will be unsurprising to most that the report is riddled with dubious narratives of villainous Israelis and powerless Palestinians. As is also usually the case with the UN, the report is also filled with basic factual errors.
Today (June 7), the United Nations “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel” (“COI”) published its first report to the Human Rights Council. Provided below are four important facts about the COI for journalists and their audiences to understand in evaluating the credibility and content of the report, including some brief commentary on the contents of the report itself.
