The United Nations was designed to be an international forum where countries of the world could gather to negotiate important matters such as international law, security and human rights. It was meant to be a tool to facilitate cooperation among nations.
Countries refusing to cooperate with the U.N., especially those that act counter to the United States’ and Western interests, are chastised for “denying the will of the international community.”
For example, when Iran refused to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Association and the United Nations’ investigations into its nuclear program, Western nations condemned the country. North Korea has been treated similarly in the past.
Yet, just last week, Israel refused to cooperate with the United Nations Human Rights Council’s decision to investigate Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The country stated it will bar any U.N. team from investigating.
Not a single shred of outrage was found among Western countries.
If any progress is to be made with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then Israel cannot deny an investigation into human-rights concerns in its occupied territories. Doing so only harms any attempts to broker peace and increases the distrust between both sides.
If Israel has a real commitment to working toward peace, it should allow the U.N. Human Rights Council to perform its investigation and cooperate in any way it can.
Israel’s settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are considered a violation of international law by many around the world, with those opposed arguing the settlements violate laws established at the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Israel, however, argues the Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply to the territories, which were captured from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War.
The U.N. Human Rights Council made its decision to investigate the settlements in a resolution designed to “respond to the humanitarian and human rights challenges,” according to the Pakistani envoy who presented the resolution. The Council hopes to investigate such human rights issues like alleged violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers and the impact the settlements have on Palestinian lives.
But, Israel has accused the Human Rights Council of holding an anti-Israel bias and has severed all ties with the council.
And Israel has a point.
Between its creation in 2006 and 2010, the Human Rights Council condemned Israel in 32 resolutions – 48.1 percent of all the resolutions it passed. The United States, the European Union, Canada and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have all criticized the council for its disproportionate focus on Israel and its conflict with Palestinians.
However, denying an investigation into human rights abuses in the occupied territories does nothing to bolster Israel’s claim that its settlements are legitimate. It only furthers the view among those antagonistic to Israel that the settlements violate international law and endanger the human rights of Palestinians.
In fact, Israel’s claims of bias sound more like an organization-wide ad hominem attack that misdirects criticisms of Israel’s settlements toward the Human Rights Council in an attempt to negate their claims without actually addressing the issue.
It is undeniable that human rights abuses are occurring in the occupied territories.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs released statistics that state settler attacks increased by 32 percent in 2011 and that 139 Palestinians were displaced as a result that same year. These include physical assaults as well as attacks on Palestinian property.
Assaults against settlers have also taken place in the territories, although at a much smaller rate.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a source of great division and contention, and peace talks between the two sides have largely amounted to nothing over the years.
Cooperating with the Human Rights Council’s investigation and doing something to better the human rights situation in the region could potentially weaken Israel’s critics and positively impact the peace process.
David Scheuermann is a 20-year-old mass communication and computer science sophomore from Kenner. Follow him on Twitter at @TDR_dscheu.
 
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Contact David Scheuermann at [email protected].