US blasts UN rights body for anti-Israel resolution
The United States has condemned a UN Human Rights Council resolution for urging a database of companies running businesses in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank.
The Geneva-based UN council adopted the motion last week with 32 votes in favor, none against and 15, mostly European nations, abstaining.
The move came less than six months after the European Union published new guidelines for labeling products made in Israeli settlements that are illegal under international law as they have been built on seized territory.
On Wednesday, US State Department spokesman John Kirby criticized the measure, saying, "We continue to unequivocally oppose the very existence of that agenda item and therefore any resolutions ... that come from it," accusing the UN body of "bias against Israel."
Kirby said the creation of a database would be an unprecedented step by the UN council and exceeded its authority. The US is not currently a voting member of the council, which is made up of 47 members elected to three-year terms by the UN General Assembly.
Pakistan, a council member that pushed for the resolution, argued that the Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the Golan Heights violate international law.
The council urged to keep updating the list of enterprises annually. It also asked for the list to be appraised of the "human rights and international law violations involved in the production of settlement goods."
Earlier this month, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) called for a global ban on products from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Last November, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended Israel’s ties with the European Union after the bloc decided to label products imported from Israeli settlements as “made in Israel.” However, contacts were reestablished last month.
More than half a million Israelis live in over 230 illegal settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem (al-Quds). The Israeli settlements are regarded as unlawful by the United Nations and most countries.
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