A couple of days ago, the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC ) on May 27, 2021, submitted its first report. To no one’s surprise, the report is completely one-sided. In fact, it did not even pretend to be anything else. Navanethem Pillay, the Commission’s chair, stated bluntly, “The findings and recommendations relevant to the underlying root causes were overwhelmingly directed towards Israel.”
Although accustomed to being the perennial defendant, it seems that the Commission’s statements touched deeper this time. Rather than explain how the Commission is one-sided, apart from its self-explanatory title, I would like to quote a somewhat lengthy but very apropos passage from Israel Hayom’s senior diplomatic commentator, Ariel Kahana: “Russia invaded Ukraine and is committing war crimes there. China locked down cities with tens of millions of people, is menacing Honk Kong, and oppressing the Uyghurs. In Ethiopia, hundreds of thousands more have died in a war no one cares about. In Venezuela, mass protests were forcibly suppressed; and of course, in North Korea, the regime continues to abuse its citizens and threaten its neighbors,” writes Kahana.
“As for these ‘minor’ issues,” he continues, “the international body known as the ‘United Nations Human Rights Council’ either doesn’t address them at all or only partially. When it comes to Israel, on the other hand, the UNHRC has all the time and resources in the world … ‘special investigators’ … and professional, unbiased reports that somehow show that Israel is responsible for every atrocity across the globe. If it weren’t so sad, it would be funny.”
While this report is clearly another step in the campaign to delegitimize Israel, I must say that regrettably, we are complicit in this crime. We are allowing it to happen, even though we can prevent it.
I will say more than that: While every word Kahana wrote is true, the report is correct, as well. By failing to make the necessary changes within Israel, we are making ourselves “responsible for every atrocity across the globe,” as Kahana put it.
I have no wish to blame anyone in the world since, in my opinion, they have no free choice, while we, and only we, do have the choice to do what we must, yet we are not doing it. This is why we are treated as we are.
What is our choice? We have the choice to correct our relations here in Israel, transcend division and hate, and solidify our nation as one unit. We have the choice to place mutual responsibility and solidarity above all other values. We have the choice to practice “That which you hate, do not do unto your neighbor,” and we also have the choice to practice loving our neighbors as ourselves.
We have the choice, but we are doing none of the above. This is why the world says that our country “feeds resentment and fuels recurrent tensions,” to use the words of the report. We are not doing this by mistreating Palestinians; we are doing this by patronizing and hating one another.
Israel must show the world what it means to be a corrected society, a properly organized country based on mutual responsibility and genuine mutual concern. Then, and only then, will humanity accept us. Until we set such an example, the world’s attitude toward us will keep worsening, to drive us to do what we must.
You will find more on the link between Jewish unity and hatred of Israel in my book, 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑱𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝑪𝒉𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆: 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝑨𝒏𝒕𝒊-𝑺𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝑯𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊-𝑺𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒔𝒎 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅.
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Link to the first report by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC )