Anti-Israel Activist Named As UN Human Rights Council Special Investigator Of Israeli Actions

But natch.

From CAMERA:

Veteran anti-Israel activist Richard Falk has been named by the UN Human Rights Council as Special Investigator of Israeli Actions, replacing veteran anti-Israel rapporteur John Dugard. Falk has equated Israel with the Nazis, stating, "Is it an irresponsible overstatement to associate the treatment of Palestinians with this criminalized Nazi record of collective atrocity? I think not."

No, I suppose he doesn't...

Falk's article in TFF, Slouching toward a Palestinian Holocaust, no doubt served as his Curriculum Vitae that got him his job:

Is it an irresponsible overstatement to associate the treatment of Palestinians with this criminalized Nazi record of collective atrocity? I think not. The recent developments in Gaza are especially disturbing because they express so vividly a deliberate intention on the part of Israel and its allies to subject an entire human community to life-endangering conditions of utmost cruelty.

Keeping in mind that Falk wrote this stuff in June 2007--right after the Hamas coup--this part is touching:

After winning the Palestinian elections, Hamas was castigated as a terrorist organization that had not renounced violence against Israel and had refused to recognize the Jewish state as a legitimate political entity. In fact, the behavior and outlook of Hamas is quite different. From the outset of its political Hamas was ready to work with other Palestinian groups, especially Fatah and Mahmoud Abbas, to establish a ‘unity’ government.

This obvious contradiction to Hamas' supposed brotherly love is neatly glossed over in a single sentence:

The latest phase of this external/internal dynamic was to induce civil strife in Gaza that led a complete takeover by Hamas forces.

Falk goes on to claim that Hamas' love for Fatah if matched only by their desire for peaceful co-existence with Israel:

More than this, their leadership revealed a willingness to move toward an acceptance of Israel’s existence if Israel would in turn agree to move back to its 1967 borders, implementing finally unanimous Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.

But in March 2007:

After establishing unity government with Fatah, Hamas launches campaign to clarify that group is not surrendering hard-line principles; ‘Any Hamas leader who ever recognizes Israel will be kicked out,’ declares Hamas lawmaker

While Israel and most of the international community refuse to recognize the new Palestinian coalition, Hamas is planning a massive public relations campaign to clarify that the group is not capitulating its principles despites its cooperation with Fatah.

Pity that Falk never go the memo.

CAMERA debunks Falk just as it did his statement in the movie Occupation 101 that Israel "receives as much foreign economic assistance as all the countries combined in the world" from the US.

I think we can all agree that Richard Falk is indeed a worthy successor to rapporteur John Dugard.

At Hot Air, Ed Morrissey notes that in response to the new appointment

Israel has threatened to revoke Falk’s status unless the UN-HRC assigns someone to investigate the Palestinian actions against Israel with the same fervor of their continuing jeremiad against Israel.

Good luck with that.

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