The missing phrase

BBC Radio 4's Today programme have been reporting all morning that a UN Human Rights Council investigation has found that Israel's military broke international laws during a raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and that the action by commandos, which left nine dead, was "disproportionate" and "betrayed an unacceptable level of brutality".
The BBC radio news do report that Israel rejected the report as "biased" and "one-sided." but not why.

So when I read the BBC's web news report I do find an interesting line hidden away in the middle of the report:

'The panel had interviewed more than 100 witnesses in Britain, Jordan, Switzerland Turkey, but not in Israel.'

So the UNHRC investigation whose findings the BBC are reporting with great glee did not interview any Israelis. Might that explain why before the report was released, Israel dismissed the Human Rights Council as being biased, politicised and extremist.

In fact the Israeli government has subsequent to the findings being published said that the report was "as biased and as one-sided as the body that has produced it".

One sided? Let's look at some of the members of the UNHRC and why either they might be anti-Israel or have their own human rights issues:
Bahrain - Muslim state
Bangladesh - Muslim state
China - Tibet, repression of dissidents, killing of millions in the Great Leap forward
Indonesia - Largest Muslim state
Jordan - Muslim state, setup as the Palestinian Arab's country
Malaysia - Muslim state
Pakistan - Islamic Republic
Saudi Arabia - Islamic state where no other religion can be seen to be practiced and where 'apartheid style' non Muslims are not allowed to even visit Mecca & Medina
Sri Lanka - Tamils, need I say more
Algeria - Largely Muslim population
Morocco - Largely Muslim population
Nigeria - Need I list the issues here?
South Africa - remember 'necklacing'?
Tunisia - Largely Muslim population
Cuba - One of the most repressive states over the last 50 years
Russian Federation - Remember the recent invasion of Georgia?
That's 16 extremely dodgy countries to which you can add more that are heavily influenced by China's imperialism or appeasing vocal Islamic minorities.

For more on the UNHRC try reading my previous articles.


I wouldn't place much credence on a report from an investigation setup by such a body.