Days Before Hamas Attack, I Delivered Urgent Defense of Israel Before the U.N. Human Rights Council

The absolute evil that’s been unleashed on our ally Israel by the soulless terrorist organization Hamas is unfathomable. Babies, senior citizens, and innocent young people were slaughtered without provocation or justification. There is no excuse for it, and Hamas must be held accountable.

But we’ve been warning of some kind of attack such as we’ve now witnessed for a long time. It’s not enough that terrorists regularly fire rockets into Israel from Gaza, but they are emboldened by antisemitic and anti-Israel powers within the U.N. – and even in our very own Congress.

The ACLJ is committed to defending Israel’s interests against these attacks, both from Gaza and within international and federal institutions. Most recently, Israel was subjected to unfounded accusations of human rights violations against its Arab citizens.

Just days before the attack, I delivered an urgent oral intervention to the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC) defending Israel’s interests after the Jewish state was accused of human rights violations against its own Arab citizens. This was on the heels of a critical written submission we recently filed at the U.N. HRC.

These charges are completely absurd, as I pointed out in my address:

Israeli Arabs are represented in every walk of life, including politics, the workforce, professions, and academia, serving in senior cabinet positions and on Israel’s Supreme Court. They have full and equal voting rights and proudly serve in the IDF and security forces, even though they are not required to do so. Israel also spends significant funds to uplift the socioeconomic status of its minorities, including launching a $70 million program to integrate Arab men and women [into] its stellar high-tech industry.

These bogus accusations were really just another antisemitic witch hunt by Israel’s enemies to delegitimize the Jewish state.

As I explained:

As part of the ongoing political and lawfare campaign to demonize the world’s only Jewish state, Israel is falsely accused of discriminating against its Arab population. Yet, in reality, Israel’s Arab citizens have full and equal protection of the law.

In fact, it’s fair to say Israel is arguably one of, if not the most democratic and even progressive nations in the Middle East:

Few nations are as conscientious as Israel in their treatment of racial, ethnic, or religious minorities. Nonetheless, the international community continues to falsely accuse Israel of discriminating against its Arab citizens. The real discrimination lies in the ongoing defamation and double standards levied against the world’s only Jewish state.

You can view my presentation to the HRC here.

Sadly, my opening words to the U.N. HRC could not have been more timely: “Since its founding in the ancient, indigenous Jewish homeland, the multifront war against Israel’s existence has never ceased.” It was only a few days later that the world watched in horror as Hamas stormed Israel’s border, slaughtering thousands and abducting hundreds more to be used as human shields, or worse. Hamas is not a legitimate government. They are as evil and dangerous as ISIS and must be stamped out – as should any organization that would justify murdering babies in front of their parents or torturing and killing young people who were attending a music festival for peace. There is no other word for it but evil.

The ACLJ stands with Israel, and we will continue to defend her interests against these “lawfare” attacks at the U.N. while also urging intervention to stop the terrorist attacks on Israel by Hamas and other anti-Israel organizations.