Blogger's emphasis, not mine.
"UN expert on Israeli conduct stands by Nazi comments"
"UN expert stands by Nazi comments
By Tim Franks
BBC Middle East correspondent
The next UN investigator into Israeli conduct in the occupied territories has stood by comments comparing Israeli actions in Gaza to those of the Nazis.
Speaking to the BBC, Professor Richard Falk said he believed that up to now Israel had been successful in avoiding the criticism that it was due.
Professor Falk is scheduled to take up his post for the UN Human Rights Council later in the year.
But Israel wants his mandate changed to probe Palestinian actions as well.
Professor Falk said he drew the comparison between the treatment of Palestinians with the Nazi record of collective atrocity, because of what he described as the massive Israeli punishment directed at the entire population of Gaza.
He said he understood that it was a provocative thing to say, but at the time, last summer, he had wanted to shake the American public from its torpor.
"If this kind of situation had existed for instance in the manner in which China was dealing with Tibet or the Sudanese government was dealing with Darfur, I think there would be no reluctance to make that comparison," he said.
That reluctance was, he argued, based on the particular historical sensitivity of the Jewish people, and Israel's ability to avoid having their policies held up to international law and morality.
These and other comments from Professor Falk comments are, if anything, even harsher than the current UN investigator, John Dugard, who himself has been withering about Israel's actions.
A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Israel wanted the UN investigator's mandate changed, so that he could look into human rights violations by the Palestinians as well as Israel.
If that were not to happen, the Israeli government may consider barring entry to the new UN investigator."
And that's exactly what they did!
Thanks for staying on top of it, blogger!
"Israel to bar UN official for comparing Israelis to Nazis"
JERUSALEM: The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that it will not allow the U.N. official appointed to investigate Israeli-Palestinian human rights to enter the country, after he stood by comments comparing Israelis to Nazis.
Richard Falk is scheduled to take up his post with the U.N. Human Rights Council in May, but Israel's Foreign Ministry said it will deny Falk a visa to enter Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, at least until a September meeting of the council.
At that meeting, Israel intends to ask the council to expand the envoy's mission to include investigating Palestinian human rights abuses against Israelis. The mandate currently allows him to monitor only human rights violations by Israel in the Palestinian territories.
Israel will also express its displeasure with the council's choice of Falk as investigator. "If he already believes Israel is like the Nazis, how fair will he be?" said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel.Israel has objected for years to what it perceives as anti-Israel bias by many U.N. bodies.
Sort of like biting the hand that created it?
According to a Tuesday posting on the BBC's Web site, Falk defended statements he made last summer equating Israel's treatment of Palestinians with Nazi treatment of Jews during the Holocaust. He told BCC News that Israel has been unfairly shielded from international criticism.
About 6 million Jews were killed by the Nazis during World War II in an effort to liquidate all of Europe's Jews.
I'm not even going to get into that right now.
Go here if you want more on that set of lies.
Mekel called Falk's comments "unacceptable and, in fact, a little strange."
"To compare Israel to the Nazis is not just a total falsehood, it's also a personal insult to everybody," he said.
I'm not insulted at all.
Mekel said the choice of Falk is indicative of the Human Rights Council's negative attitude toward Israel. "Of all the people to be able to appoint, to find somebody who compares Israel to the Nazis is very bizarre and outrageous," he said.
The council's previous investigator, John Dugard from South Africa, compared Israeli treatment of Palestinians to apartheid, the discriminatory policy of the previous white regime in South Africa toward blacks.
Falk, a professor emeritus at Princeton University, could not be reached for comment."
