this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023
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Top UN official in New York steps down citing ‘genocide’ of Palestinian civilians (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 year ago by bedrooms@kbin.social to c/news@beehaw.org
18 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Craig Mokhiber, director of human rights body, accuses the US, UK and much of Europe as ‘wholly complicit in the horrific assault’

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[–] jet@hackertalks.com 53 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

“We must support the establishment of a single, democratic secular state in all of historic Palestine, with equal rights for Christians, Muslims, and Jews,” he wrote, adding: “and, therefore, the dismantling of the deeply racist, settler-colonial project and an end to apartheid across the land.”

What a controversial statement, that a government should represent the people that it governs. Crazy

By contrast, Anne Bayefsky, who directs Touro College’s Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust in New York, accused Mokhiber on social media of “overt antisemitism”. She said he had used a UN letterhead to call for “wiping Israel off the map”.

I see the if you're not with us you're against us rhetoric is coming out. They're deliberately using language that makes it sound like someone wants to remove the Jewish people, when really they're talking about the government needs to change. Wanting to change a government is not anti-Semitic by any extent, deliberately calling people anti-Semitic by trying to improve the living conditions, and the ability of a government to govern, isn't helping anybody. It's hurting people it's disingenuous

If removing Hamas, and changing the government of Gaza, isn't anti-Muslim, then people wishing to change the government of Israel should be measured by the same yardstick.

[–] Omegamanthethird@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I've seen a lot of reporting on antisemitism increasing. And I'm sure it is. But shit like this and the fact that I've seen ADL referenced twice now makes me really question how severe it is.

[–] PotentiallyAnApricot@beehaw.org 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I would try to be cautious about that line of thinking. Some incidents that have nothing to do with criticism of the Israeli government: the threats this week at cornell, high profile people like kanye getting away with and normalizing overt hate (not criticizing israel, saying literal weird antisemitic stuff), the qanon stuff, the Pittsburgh shooting, the hate incidents in Florida, the neonazi and fascist militias increasing in many parts of the u.s., etc. These are people making threats, specifically against Jewish people, and saying that Jewish people existing is a problem. These are not people criticizing Israeli government policy. I think the ADL and other entities have been criticized for sometimes not making a clear distinction, but incidents completely unrelated to criticism of Israel’s gov have definitely been rising in a lot of places and it’s unfortunate that bad faith geopolitical rhetoric is obscuring that.

[–] Omegamanthethird@beehaw.org 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

ABSOLUTELY! I do want to clarify that when I say that I question how severe it is, I don't mean to minimalize it.

ADL has pretty consistently exaggerated numbers. So when I see 4000% increase, I don't believe it. They absolutely include Israeli government criticisms.

But I do expect that there's extreme increases, in the same way there has been increases in Islamophobia. Probably more. The incidents are real and cannot be ignored.

I just do not trust what the news is putting out when it relies on subjective information or an outside source. This has honestly been the sloppiest news I've witnessed in my life.

[–] PotentiallyAnApricot@beehaw.org 4 points 1 year ago

Oh ok, sorry for misinterpreting! I also feel the same way. It seems that while multiple incredibly serious things are ongoing, every possible source of information on any of it is kind of… full of gaps at best, deliberately propagandizing or misleading at worst. It’s maddening. Feels almost impossible to get a full and clear picture of anything which is, of course, the point for at least some of the governments and news orgs involved. It sucks.

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 17 points 1 year ago

Just to add more literature supporting this position :

https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide

Authored by

Raz Segal wiki Raz Segal (Hebrew: רז סגל) is an Israeli historian residing in the United States who directs the Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies program at Stockton University.

I can absolutely understand why people would resign rather than participating, though I think it might be better to stay in office and make as much noise as possible. But I respect their choices.

[–] dumdum666@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago (3 children)

He steps down because of his Retirement - not because of the Hamas - Israel war. Suggesting otherwise, is Disinformation.

[–] prole@beehaw.org 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"Retiring" and "resigning" are different things. He may have been near retirement age, but the statement he made makes it clear this was a resignation for a cause. With a good reason.

[–] dumdum666@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Quit framing the war as the cause. From the article:

A spokesperson for the UN in New York sent the Guardian a statement about Mokhiber, saying: “I can confirm that he is retiring today. He informed the UN in March 2023 of his upcoming retirement, which takes effect tomorrow. The views in his letter made public today are his personal views.”

So he informed the UN in March 2023 that he wanted to step down and now he did it.

[–] prole@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

So the letter was just for funsies? Seems like he was planning on retiring soon, and that date was moved up for reasons outlined in his letter.

[–] jet@hackertalks.com 16 points 1 year ago

Being near retirement age, and retiring are two different things. The timing of this retirement is clearly coupled with the current genocide.

If he was a man in his early '40s, stepping down from a UN platform would have more personal sacrifice, which would give the narrative greater impact, sure. But as an elder statesman, making a grandstand as your final exit also has good impact.

[–] bedrooms@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago

Yes I agree it's misleading (and I'm OP). The first paragraph especially.

[–] autotldr@lemmings.world 1 points 1 year ago

🤖 I'm a bot that provides automatic summaries for articles:

Click here to see the summaryThe director of the New York office of the UN high commissioner for human rights has left his post, protesting that the UN is “failing” in its duty to prevent what he categorizes as genocide of Palestinian civilians in Gaza under Israeli bombardment and citing the US, UK and much of Europe as “wholly complicit in the horrific assault”.

“The current wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian people, rooted in an ethno-nationalist colonial settler ideology, in continuation of decades of their systematic persecution and purging, based entirely upon their status as Arabs … leaves no room for doubt.”

Mokhiber added: “This is text book case of genocide” and said the US, UK and much of Europe were not only “refusing to meet their treaty obligations” under the Geneva Conventions but were also arming Israel’s assault and providing political and diplomatic cover for it.

“We must support the establishment of a single, democratic secular state in all of historic Palestine, with equal rights for Christians, Muslims, and Jews,” he wrote, adding: “and, therefore, the dismantling of the deeply racist, settler-colonial project and an end to apartheid across the land.”

Louis Charbonneau, the UN director at Human Rights Watch, told the Guardian that he had made a powerful argument against double standards in the stance of the world body.

By contrast, Anne Bayefsky, who directs Touro College’s Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust in New York, accused Mokhiber on social media of “overt antisemitism”.

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