Israel Accused of 'Apartheid' at the UN Human Rights Council, Touro Institute Pushes Back

"As the U.N. Human Rights Council on Monday held its once-a-session condemnation of Israel, the word 'apartheid' featured frequently, as members drew attention to the recent verdict of an obscure U.N. body declaring Israel 'guilty of the crime of apartheid.'...

Among those accusing Israel of apartheid on Monday were the delegates of the 'state of Palestine,' Nicaragua, Qatar (three times), Bahrain (twice) and Pakistan; and representatives of four NGOs – the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, American Association of Jurists, Union of Arab Jurists (which also accused Israel of genocide), and World Muslim Congress...

The pushback came from ... the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust.

'In so-called apartheid Israel,' Anne Bayefsky of the Touro Institute told the council, 'Arabs are Supreme Court judges, cabinet ministers and ambassadors. Arab parties are the third-largest bloc in Israel's parliament, and 1.8 million Arabs – a fifth of the population – have more democratic rights and freedoms than in any Arab state.'

'Apartheid Palestine on the other hand – promises Palestinian leader Abbas – will be judenrein [Jew-free],' she added.

'Apartheid at the U.N. Human Rights Council is already well entrenched,' Bayefsky charged, pointing to permanent agenda item seven and to the lopsided number of resolutions targeting the Jewish state.

Bayefsky said the situation left the U.S. with 'just one anti-apartheid and pro-human rights choice' – to quit the HRC..."