US Supports Ally Israel Against Damning UN Report On Palestinians' Plight

The United States denounced a United Nations agency report Wednesday that claimed Israel established an “apartheid regime” to oppress the Palestinian people. The report on “Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid” was published by the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).

“The United States is outraged by the report of the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia,” Nikki Haley, the U.S. permanent representative to the U.N., said in a statement Wednesday, condemning the report. “That such anti-Israel propaganda would come from a body whose membership nearly universally does not recognize Israel is unsurprising. That it was drafted by Richard Falk, a man who has repeatedly made biased and deeply offensive comments about Israel and espoused ridiculous conspiracy theories, including about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is equally unsurprising.”

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The report also claimed that the international community, particularly the U.N. and its agencies as well as member states, "have a legal obligation to act within the limits of their capabilities to prevent and punish instances of apartheid that are responsibly brought to their attention.” It added: “The report concludes that the weight of the evidence supports beyond a reasonable doubt the proposition that Israel is guilty of imposing an apartheid regime on the Palestinian people, which amounts to the commission of a crime against humanity, the prohibition of which is considered jus cogens in international customary law."

The U.N., however, said it did not endorse the report and that it reflected only the views of its authors. "The report as it stands does not reflect the views of the secretary-general (Antonio Guterres)," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

Referring to Dujarric’s stance, Haley added in her statement: “The United Nations Secretariat was right to distance itself from this report, but it must go further and withdraw the report altogether. The United States stands with our ally Israel and will continue to oppose biased and anti-Israel actions across the U.N. system and around the world.”

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According to U.N. Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf, the report was the first of its kind from a U.N. body. The ESCWA, established in August 1973, comprises 18 Arab nations in West Asia, and works to strengthen cooperation between the member nations.

The report was authored by Richard Falk, a former U.N. human rights investigator for the Palestinian territories, and Virginia Tilley, a political science professor at Southern Illinois University. Falk had also previously accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing.” In March 2014, before leaving his post at the U.N., Falk told a news conference, “Every increment of enlarging the settlements or every incident of house demolition is a way of worsening the situation confronting the Palestinian people and reducing what prospects they might have as the outcome of supposed peace negotiations."

The report was also denounced by Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon, who wrote a scathing statement on Twitter, comparing the report to anti-Semitic Nazi publication Der Stürmer.

The latest U.N. agency report comes at a time when President Donald Trump is expected to hold his first conversation Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Last month, in a joint conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump moved away from the U.S.’ years-long commitment to the two-state framework in the Middle East region. He said he hoped to reach “the ultimate deal.”