In a particularly one-sided anti-Israel report on Thursday, researchers for the United Nations found that Israel likely committed war crimes during its security operations at the Gaza-Israel border last summer. Shockingly, the report includes only one mention of Hamas in a negative sense.
But judged against the abundant evidence of Hamas malfeasance at the border last year, that single recognition is clear evidence of the report’s bias. Not only did Hamas fighters use civilians as human shields, and as propaganda during those showdowns at the border, the group did so repeatedly and deliberately.
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Of course, like most of the media, the U.N. doesn’t identify these material, egregious breaches of humanitarian law. Instead, it focuses on Hamas’ decision to allow Palestinians to fly incendiary kites into Israel. It does not, however, do what the facts demand and blame Hamas for directing those kites. This is a deliberate attempt to present Hamas as the poor, weak, unarmed, innocent David, and Israel as the bloodthirsty and overpowering Goliath.
We shouldn’t put up with this kind of absurdity for a simple reason: It is grossly unfair.
It’s unfair, because where Israeli forces do sometimes act outside their rules of engagement, Israeli military law addresses and punishes those crimes. In contrast, Hamas fighters are rewarded for their innovation in provoking Israeli acts of self-defense and in causing civilian casualties. That’s also deliberate: Hamas strategy seeks the maximized suffering of civilians during moments of conflict. The group knows that most international observers have no clue about its tactical and strategic nature, so it uses Palestinian bodies as a propaganda weapon for international sympathy.
Regardless, this report deserves no serious attention. It is what it is: another crystal clear example of the absurdity that is the U.N. Human Rights Council.
