Greg Bouwer
IINZ
Once again, the UN’s so-called Commission of Inquiry (CoI) has proven itself to be less about justice and more about demonizing Israel. Chaired by Navi Pillay, whose long history of anti-Israel bias is well documented, this latest report is yet another attempt to rewrite history and fuel hostility against the Jewish state.
The UN has completely lost its moral compass. A body founded to prevent war and promote peace is now weaponizing the term genocide against the only Jewish state – while ignoring the actual genocidal terrorists who started this war.
On October 7, Hamas stormed into Israel, murdering 1,200 people – including babies and the elderly – sexually assaulting women and kidnapping hundreds. Hamas terrorists filmed themselves laughing and celebrating as they butchered entire families. But according to the UN, Israel’s real crime is defending itself.
The CoI’s recent report accusing Israel of committing genocidal acts in Gaza is a glaring example of this bias. It alleges that Israel’s actions – including the destruction of women’s healthcare facilities and the use of sexual violence – amount to genocidal acts against Palestinians. However, a critical examination reveals these claims to be built on misinterpretations and lacking substantial evidence.
Reactions to the Report
Israeli officials have categorically rejected the allegations, condemning the report as biased and antisemitic.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described it as a “blood libel,” emphasizing that Israel’s actions are directed against Hamas militants, not the Palestinian population. He rejected the report’s findings, saying that “instead of focussing on the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed by the Hamas terrorist organisation… the United Nations once again chooses to attack the state of Israel with false accusations.”
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have also refuted claims of misconduct, asserting adherence to international law and ethical standards. “The IDF has concrete directives… and policies which unequivocally prohibit such misconduct.”
What Constitutes Genocide?
Genocide, as defined by the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, involves acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group. This includes killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting conditions calculated to bring about its physical destruction.
The key element here is specific intent (dolus specialis) – a high threshold requiring incontrovertible evidence, which the UN report fails to provide.
Examining the Report’s Claims
Now, the same UN that has spent decades condemning Israel’s very existence is falsely accusing it of “genocidal acts” and “sexual violence.” Their evidence? None. Their sources? Hamas-run propaganda outlets and terrorist sympathizers. They claim Israel is “preventing births” in Gaza – while ignoring that Hamas is using hospitals as terror bases, hoarding medical supplies, and turning Gaza into a battlefield.
The CoI alleges that Israel’s military operations in Gaza, particularly those impacting women’s healthcare facilities, constitute genocidal acts. It also accuses Israeli forces of employing sexual violence as a tactic against Palestinians. These claims warrant careful scrutiny:
- Intent to Destroy: While the destruction of infrastructure and tragic civilian casualties in war zones are deeply concerning, they do not inherently demonstrate genocidal intent. War is destructive, but destruction alone does not equate to genocide. Concrete evidence of deliberate intent to exterminate a people is required, and this is absent from the report.
- Context of Military Operations: Israel has repeatedly stated that its military actions are in self-defense against Hamas, a group designated as a terrorist organization by multiple countries, including the United States and New Zealand. Urban warfare in densely populated areas like Gaza leads to unintended civilian casualties, which, while tragic, do not automatically constitute genocide. Hamas’s strategy of embedding itself within civilian populations and using them as human shields exacerbates the toll on non-combatants.
- Allegations of Sexual Violence: The report’s claims of systematic sexual violence by Israeli forces are serious. However, such allegations require thorough, impartial investigations to substantiate them. Unverified accusations not only undermine the credibility of the report but also distract from real human rights violations occurring elsewhere in the world.
Meanwhile, the UN has ignored the well-documented and horrific sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas during their October 7 pogrom. Reports confirm that Hamas terrorists systematically raped Israeli women, men, and even children, justifying these atrocities as acts of “resistance.” Survivors have described the brutality inflicted upon them, yet the UN has chosen to overlook these war crimes while fabricating accusations against Israel. This selective outrage further highlights the organization’s blatant double standards.
Conclusion
This isn’t about human rights. It’s about demonizing Israel, plain and simple. The UN is corrupt, biased, and completely detached from reality. If they had a shred of integrity left, they’d be condemning Hamas for war crimes – not fabricating blood libels against the only democracy in the Middle East.
While the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is of grave concern, labelling Israel’s actions as genocidal acts without clear and incontrovertible evidence is both irresponsible and dangerous. The complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict demand careful, unbiased analysis – not politically charged accusations.
Moreover, the UN’s failure to acknowledge Hamas’s role in igniting the conflict – through its brutal massacre, mass rapes, and kidnappings of Israeli civilians – only further discredits the organization’s objectivity. Ignoring these atrocities while singling out Israel for condemnation does a disservice, not only to justice but to the credibility of the UN itself.
The international community must approach such reports with critical scrutiny, ensuring that allegations are backed by verifiable evidence rather than political agendas.
This article was originally published by the Israel Institute of New Zealand.
