According to many recent flawed news accounts, the “flare-up” in violence began only with the introduction of a new Israeli government and has been driven by extremist Israelis. The data, however, disagrees. Not only did the “flare-up” begin long before the current government took power in November 2022, but it has been overwhelmingly driven by Palestinian attacks.
CNN International’s Isa Soares brought on one deranged racist, the United Nations’s Francesca Albanese, to accuse Israelis of being deranged racists. Lest one ponder whether Soares believed “it takes one to know one” when it comes to racists, her viewers were left in the dark about Albanese’s widely known and condemned history of antisemitism.
The answer as to why these actors are so militant about appointing and defending known anti-Israel partisans and antisemites should be obvious. A fair analysis of the allegations would not produce the outcome they so desire. Whether ensuring only anti-Israel partisans are appointed to investigate Israel or crying “smear campaign” when those partisans are caught saying the quiet part out loud, these actors are invested in creating a lose-lose game for the Jewish state and the Jewish people.
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.
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.
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.
