The U.N. blacklist and a lesson on corporate responsibility

"On February 12, the United Nations Human Rights Council, an overtly political body that hypocritically includes some of the world's worst human-rights violators, published a blacklist of companies that they claim do business with or in Israeli settlements. The goal was to defame these companies by falsely implying they commit human-rights violations.

The UNHRC did this despite the fact that they have neither nor the capacity, nor the competence, nor any legal or other authority to deal with business enterprises or promote non-binding politically biased guidelines with respect to business practices.

To be clear, there is no international law whatsoever prohibiting business activity in conflict areas, occupied territory, or settlements...

Publishing the list was an attempt by the UNHRC to damage the Israeli economy and, per the description of UN officials, was specifically aimed at companies that are owned by Jews or do business with Jewish, as opposed to Palestinian, Israelis. It is meant to bolster the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, which singles out the State of Israel in violation of the internationally accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. In an uncharacteristically honest moment, UNHRC High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet admitted the process that produced the list was 'unprecedented.' In some aspects she is correct: Despite the fact that business activity in disputed territories is not uncommon internationally, no other countries have been targeted for boycotts. Unfortunately this discriminatory treatment of Israel is also not surprising, and reflects the UNHRC's ongoing and well-documented institutional bias against the Jewish state. That bias is so strong that in 2018 the US left the council in protest.

And so it is clear that this new list is just another in a long line of attempts by the UN to bully Israel, and to bully others into bullying Israel..."