Beverly Hills City Council
August 2, 2022

AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: August 2, 2022
Item Number:

To: Honorable Mayor and City Council
From: Cynthia Owens, Policy and Management Analyst
Subject: RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BEVERLY

HILLS CALLING UPON THE UNITED NATIONS TO END THE

INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

ON THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, INCLUDING

EAST JERUSALEM, AND ISRAEL DUE TO THE INHERENT
BIAS OF THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY AGAINST ISRAEL;

THE ANTI-SEMITIC STATEMENTS MADE BY TWO OF THE
COMMISSION OF INQUIRY’S MEMBERS; AND THE

QUESTIONABILITY OF THE CAPACITY OF THE COMMISSION

OF INQUIRY TO REMAIN IMPARTIAL DURING THEIR

ANALYSIS
Attachments: 1. Resolution

2. Terms of Reference – United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem, and Israel

3. United States Senate Letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken

4. Transcript of Podcast

RECOMMENDATION
Councilmember John Mirisch is requesting the City Council consider adopting a resolution calling upon the United Nations to end the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel (“Commission”) due to the bias of the Commission against Israel, the antiSemitic statements made by two of the assigned Commission members; and the questionability of whether or not those two Commission members can be impartial in their analysis.

F-2
Meeting Date: August 2, 2022

INTRODUCTION
This item requests the City Council consider a request by Councilmember Mirisch to adopt a resolution calling upon the United Nations to disband the Commission due to the bias of the Commission against Israel, the anti-Semitic statements made by two of the assigned Commission members; and the questionability of whether or not those two Commission members can be impartial in their analysis.

DISCUSSION
The City Council has traditionally adopted resolutions recognizing where human rights violations have occurred and calling for reform, which includes, but is not limited to:
 Condemning the unprovoked and inhumane Russian invasion of Ukraine;  Supporting the protestors in Iran and calling upon Iran to provide the right of free speech, basic human rights, and economic justice to its citizens; and  Condemning the Government of Brunei for implementing harsh penalties, including death by stoning, for homosexuality and other behaviors.

Additionally, the City Council of the City of Beverly Hills has a history of condemning anti-Semitic behavior including, but not limited to, adopting the following resolutions:
 Opposing the United Nations Resolution to deny Jewish historical and religious claims to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in Jerusalem;  Opposing the Court of Justice of the European Union’s ruling, which requires European Union countries identify food products made in Israeli settlements on the product’s label; and
 Opposing the decision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to release a list of companies that do business in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

On May 28, 2021, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations created the Commission (Attachment 2). The Commission’s mandate includes, but is not limited to:
 Identifying “…where possible, those responsible, with a view to ensuring that perpetrators of violations are held accountable.” (Page 1 of Attachment 2)  Investigating “… all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021…” (page 2 of Attachment 2)
 Making “…recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, all with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring legal accountability, including individual criminal and command responsibility, for such violations, and justice for victims.” (page 2 of Attachment 2)
The President of the Human Rights Council then appointed Navi Pillay (South Africa), Miloon Kothari (India) and Chris Sidoti (Australia) to serve as the three members of the Commission on July 22, 2021.

On March 24, 2022, United States House of Representative Greg Steube introduced bipartisan legislation (H.R. 7223), which abolishes the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel and combats systemic anti-Israel bias at the United Nations Human Rights Council. In a press release, Congressman Steube stated:

The ongoing anti-Israel commission formed by the UN's discredited Human Rights Council directly obstructs peace in the Middle East and intentionally targets the only democracy in the region. Our U.S. tax dollars Meeting Date: August 2, 2022

have no place funding an anti-Israel commission. This legislation will abolish the commission while addressing the UN Human Rights Council's anti-Israel bias.

On March 28, 2022, sixty-eight United States Senators, both Democrats and Republicans, signed a letter addressed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The letter urged Secretary Blinken to prioritize reversing the United Nations Human Rights Council’s discriminatory and unwarranted treatment of Israel by leading a multinational effort in the United Nations Human Rights Council and in the United Nations to end the Commission.

During a presentation of a report from the Commission to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Commission member Chris Sidoti, said "Accusations of antisemitism are thrown around like rice at a wedding", which is viewed by Israel as an antiSemitic statement.

On July 25, 2022, Commission member Miloon Kothari participated in an interview with Mondoweiss Podcast (“podcast”), an online publication known to be critical of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians. The full transcript of the interview can be found in Attachment 4 to this report.

The first concern regarding anti-Semitic statements, which may be seen as leading to bias by Mr. Kothari, is on page 8 of Attachment 3. The full exchange is shown below so as to not take Mr. Kothari’s statement out of context. The comment of concern is underlined:

David Kattenburg: In your assessment you wrote that the commission notes the strength of prima facie credible evidence that Israel has no intention of ending the occupation and its complete control over the Palestinian territory and is acting to create a favourable environment to settlers by altering the region. So, you have cited Michael Link’s comments that this is an occupation in perpetuity. This is illegal is it not? Miloon Kothari: Yes, it has been illegal from the beginning. One of our roles is to look at human rights law, international law, criminal law, and on all three counts Israel is in systematic violation of all the legislation. I would go as far to raise the question of why they are even a member of the UN as the Israeli government does not respect its own obligations as a UN member state. They consistently, either directly or through the US try to undermine UN mechanisms.

The second concern regarding Mr. Kothari’s impartiality occurs on pages 8 and 9 of Attachment 3 and is shown below with the relevant statement underlined:

David Kattenburg: I was going to ask about that. Your Chairperson Ms.

Pillay has been specifically the target of attacks in Canada and the Canadian government has expressed its displeasure with her as chair.

Miloon Kothari: “It is very unfortunate to attack individual members of the commission who have been appointed through a long and rigorous process and I think it is just a way to try and discredit the council and it is very counterproductive. First, it gives more attention to our work and also Meeting Date: August 2, 2022

more support. This year we have received overwhelming support from UN member states – the US got 22 to sign [in reference to 22 states objecting to the mandate of the Commission] but that is 22 out of a lot – not very much. It is not only governments, but we are very disheartened by the social media, whether controlled by The Jewish Lobby, or specific NGOs, a lot of money is being thrown to try and discredit us.” On July 28, 2022, Israel, the United States and Britain accused Mr. Kothari of making anti-Semitic remarks during the July 25 podcast. In particular, there are two responses which have caused concern as the remarks are viewed as anti-Semitic. Additionally, it brings into question whether or not Mr. Kothari can remain impartial during the continued investigation of the mandate of the Commission.

Additionally, on July 28, Ambassador Michéle Taylor, the United States permanent representative to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, tweeted that she was outraged by the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic comments and that the remarks are unacceptable.

United States Senator Bob Menendez, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also tweeted a response on July 28 to Mr. Kothari’s statements made on the podcast as follows: "Falsely labeling Israel as an ‘apartheid state’ belies history & the facts. Instead of fueling fringe members within the @UN_HRC who relentlessly promote a clear bias against Israel, the @UN needs to address this prejudice undermining its critical work."
Due to the bias of the Commission against Israel, the anti-Semitic statements made by two of the assigned Commission members; and the questionability of whether or not those two Commission members can be impartial in their analysis, Councilmember Mirisch is requesting the City Council consider adopting a resolution calling upon the United Nations to disband the Commission.

FISCAL IMPACT
There is no anticipated fiscal impact of this item.

Nancy Hunt Coffey
Assistant City Manager
Approved By
Attachment 1
B0785-0001\2698282v3.doc
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RESOLUTION NO. 22-R-_____

RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BEVERLY

HILLS CALLING UPON THE UNITED NATIONS TO END THE

INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF

INQUIRY ON THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY,

INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM, AND ISRAEL DUE TO THE

INHERENT BIAS OF THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY
AGAINST ISRAEL; THE ANTI-SEMITIC STATEMENTS MADE
BY TWO OF THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY’S MEMBERS;

AND THE QUESTIONABILITY OF THE CAPACITY OF THE

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY TO REMAIN IMPARTIAL

DURING THEIR ANALYSIS
WHEREAS, as an international destination, the City of Beverly Hills is proud to embrace and celebrate religions and cultures from all over the world; WHEREAS, the City of Beverly Hills and the State of Israel jointly entered into a declaration to promote and strengthen bilateral collaboration, economic development, enhance cultural relationships, and educational opportunities;
WHEREAS, the City of Beverly Hills has a history of condemning anti-Semitic behavior by the United Nations, including adopting a resolution on October 18, 2016, to oppose the United Nations’ Resolution to deny Jewish historical and religious claims to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall in Jerusalem;
WHEREAS, the City of Beverly Hills adopted a resolution on February 18, 2020, opposing the decision of the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights to release a list of companies that do business in Israeli settlements in the West Bank; WHEREAS, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations created the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel on May 28, 2021;
WHEREAS, the mandate of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel is to investigate “… all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021, and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.”; DocuSign Envelope ID: D6963677-47AF-439B-9168-9C8875624A5B B0785-0001\2698282v3.doc
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WHEREAS, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel is to “…establish the facts and circumstances that may amount to such violations and abuses and of crimes perpetrated.”; WHEREAS, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel is charged with making “recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, all with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring legal accountability, including individual criminal and command responsibility, for such violations, and justice for victims.”; WHEREAS, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel is to identify “…where possible, those responsible, with a view to ensuring that perpetrators of violations are held accountable.”;
WHEREAS, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel is to “…investigate violations of international humanitarian law, and violations and abuses of international human rights law committed throughout these territories, as well as apply international criminal law in identifying individual criminal and command responsibility for such violations and abuses. In addition, given the extra-territorial applicability of all three bodies of law, and taking particular note of the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice on the applicability of international human rights law in occupied territory , the Commission will also consider territories which are not part of the de jure territory of the concerned states but which fall within their effective control.”;
WHEREAS, on July 22, 2021, the President of the Human Rights Council announced the appointment of Navi Pillay (South Africa), Miloon Kothari (India) and Chris Sidoti (Australia) to serve as the three members of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel; WHEREAS, on March 24, 2022, Congressman Greg Steube (R-Fla.) introduced H.R. 7223, the “COI Elimination Act”, which seeks to:
(1) Abolish the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.

DocuSign Envelope ID: D6963677-47AF-439B-9168-9C8875624A5B B0785-0001\2698282v3.doc
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(2) Combat systemic anti-Israel bias at the United Nations Human Rights Council and other international fora.
(3) Restrict funding by 25 percent of the amount budgeted for the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.

WHEREAS, on March 28, 2022, sixty-eight (68) United States Senators, both Democrats and Republicans, signed a letter addressed to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urging him to prioritize reversing the United Nations Human Rights Council’s discriminatory and unwarranted treatment of Israel by leading a multinational effort in the United Nations Human Rights Council and in the United Nations to end the permanent Commission of Inquiry on the Israeli Palestinian conflict;
WHEREAS, the letter further states “… the [United Nations Human Rights Council] approved an unprecedented open-ended investigation of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, purported as war crimes and human rights violations. This Commission will not only focus on the actions Israel took in Gaza as it sought to defend its citizens, it will also have a carte blanch mandate – in perpetuity – to examine any period in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict …. within Israel’s pre-1967 borders. The mandate made no mention of the 4,300 lethal rockets fired by Hamas toward Israeli civilians in a matter of days and no mention of Israel’s right to defend itself.”;
WHEREAS, the letter states the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel is the latest endeavor by the United Nations Human Rights Council to discredit the only Jewish state; WHEREAS, in June 2022, Commission member Chris Sidoti, during a presentation of a report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel to the United Nations Human Rights Council said "Accusations of antisemitism are thrown around like rice at a wedding.", which is viewed by Israel as an anti-Semitic statement;
WHEREAS, on July 25, 2022, an interview with Commission member Miloon Kothari occurred on the Mondoweiss Podcast, an online publication known to be critical of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians;
DocuSign Envelope ID: D6963677-47AF-439B-9168-9C8875624A5B B0785-0001\2698282v3.doc
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WHERAS, during the Mondoweiss Podcast, Commission member Miloon Kothari was asked “… you wrote that the commission notes the strength of prima facie credible evidence that Israel has no intention of ending the occupation and its complete control over the Palestinian territory…” to which Commission member Miloon Kothari responded “Yes, it has been illegal since the beginning…. I would go as far to raise the question of why they are even a member of the UN as the Israeli government does not respect its own obligations as a UN member state. They consistently, either directly or through the US try to undermine UN mechanisms.”;
WHEREAS, during the Mondoweiss Podcast, Commission member Miloon Kothari was asked “Your Chairperson Ms. Pillay has been specifically the target of attacks in Canada and the Canadian government has expressed its displeasure with her as chair” to which Commission member Miloon Kothari responded “It is very unfortunate to attack individual members of the commission who have been appointed through a long and rigorous process and I think it is just a way to try and discredit the council and it is very counterproductive. First, it gives more attention to our work and also more support. This year we have received overwhelming support from UN member states – the US got 22 to sign [in reference to 22 states objecting to the mandate of this Commission] but that is 22 out of a lot – not very much. It is not only governments, but we are very disheartened by the social media, whether controlled by The Jewish Lobby, or specific NGOs, a lot of money is being thrown to try and discredit us.”; WHEREAS, on July 28, 2022, Israel, the United States, and Britain accused Commission member Miloon Kothari of making anti-Semitic remarks during the Mondoweiss Podcast, which included the statements of:
“…I would go as far to raise the question of why they are even a member of the UN as the Israeli government does not respect its own obligations as a UN member state.”; and “...very disheartened by the social media, whether controlled by The Jewish Lobby, or specific NGOs…”; and
WHEREAS, the City of Beverly Hills is greatly concerned about the impartiality of the members of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel as it only consists of three members, with two members making public statements, which could be viewed as anti-Semitic in nature; DocuSign Envelope ID: D6963677-47AF-439B-9168-9C8875624A5B B0785-0001\2698282v3.doc
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NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Beverly Hills resolves as follows:

Section 1. The City of Beverly Hills calls upon the United Nations to end the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel due to the inherent bias against Israel of the members assigned to the Commission.

Section 2. The City of Beverly Hills condemns Commission member Chris Sidoti, member of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, for his anti-Semitic statements during a June 2022 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Section 3. The City of Beverly Hills condemns Miloon Kothari, member of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, for his anti-Semitic statements during the Mondoweiss Podcast, an online publication known to be critical of Israel’s policies toward Palestinians.

Section 4. The City of Beverly Hills demands the United Nations Human Rights Council immediately remove Chris Sidoti and Miloon Kothari, members of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, for their inability to continue to act as impartial investigators.

Section 5. The City of Beverly Hills calls upon leaders the United Nations Human Rights Council to ensure all current and future members of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel are, and remain, impartial throughout their investigative mandate.

Section 4. The City Clerk shall certify to the adoption of this resolution and shall cause this resolution and her certification to be entered in the Book of Resolutions of the Council of this City.

Adopted:

DocuSign Envelope ID: D6963677-47AF-439B-9168-9C8875624A5B B0785-0001\2698282v3.doc
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LILI BOSSE
Mayor of the City of
Beverly Hills, California
ATTEST:
(SEAL)

HUMA AHMED
City Clerk
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LAURENCE S. WIENER GEORGE CHAVEZ
City Attorney City Manager
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Attachment 2

INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF INQUIRY

ON THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM, AND ISRAEL PALAIS DES NATIONS, 1211 GENEVA 10, SWITZERLAND
WWW.OHCHR.ORG/EN/HRBODIES/HRC/COIOPT-ISRAEL | [email protected] Terms of Reference
I. LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY
The Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel (COI OPTEJI), herein the “Commission”, was created by Resolution A/HRC/RES/S-30/1 of the Human Rights Council on 28 May 2021.1
II. MANDATE
Paragraph 1 of Resolution S-30/1 states that the Human Rights Council:
“Decides to urgently establish an ongoing independent, international commission of inquiry, to be appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council, to investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021, and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.” In Paragraph 2 of the same resolution, the Council
“also decides that the commission of inquiry shall:
(a) Establish the facts and circumstances that may amount to such violations and abuses and of crimes perpetrated;
(b) Collect, consolidate and analyse evidence of such violations and abuses and of crimes perpetrated, and systematically record and preserve all information, documentation and evidence, including interviews, witness testimony and forensic material, in accordance with international law standards, in order to maximize the possibility of its admissibility in legal proceedings;
(c) Have the capacity to document and verify relevant information and evidence, including through field engagement and by cooperating with judicial and other entities, as appropriate; (d) Identify, where possible, those responsible, with a view to ensuring that perpetrators of violations are held accountable;
(e) Identify patterns of violations over time by analysing the similarities in the findings and recommendations of all United Nations fact-finding missions and commissions of inquiry on the situation;
(f) Make recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, all with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring legal accountability, including individual criminal and command responsibility, for such violations, and justice for victims; 1 https://undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/S-30/1
2 (g) Make recommendations on measures to be taken by third States to ensure respect for international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with article 1 common to the Geneva Conventions, and in fulfilment of their obligations under articles 146, 147 and 148 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, including by ensuring that they do not aid or assist in the commission of internationally wrongful acts;
(h) Report on its main activities on an annual basis to the Human Rights Council under agenda item 2 as of its fiftieth session, and to the General Assembly as of its seventy seventh session;” After consultations, and taking into account comparable past experiences, the members of the Commission have interpreted the application of their mandate as follows:
i. Subject-matter mandate (ratione materiae)
Paragraph 1 of Resolution S-30/1 states that the Commission will investigate “all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law […] and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict […]”.

By “violations … of international human rights law”, according to the common definition, the resolution refers to all human rights violations by state agents or entities covered by national and international law. By “abuses of international human rights law”, the resolution refers to actions committed by non-state entities or their members or other individual non-state actors.

Paragraph 2 (a) of Resolution S-30/1 further asks the Commission to “establish the facts and circumstances that may amount to such violations and abuses and of crimes perpetrated”. Given the reference to “alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law”, this Commission will interpret the expression of “crimes” as being primarily of an international nature and will interpret it as “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole”, as defined in the Rome Statute.2 In light of its continuing nature, in investigating “all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict”, and “patterns of violations over time”, the Commission shall give priority to broad questions. It will seek to identify overall patterns, policies, historical legacies and structural inequalities that affect the enjoyment of human rights of all individuals in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, and that have led to instability and protracted conflict. In doing so, the Commission will examine, inter alia, the findings and recommendations of all United Nations fact-finding missions and commissions of inquiry on the situation and of other UN entities and mechanisms. While preserving its independence, it will also coordinate with other existing United Nations mechanisms.

Paragraph 2 (f) of Resolution S-30/1 calls on the Commission to make recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, all with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring legal accountability, including individual criminal and command responsibility, for such violations, and justice for victims.

Paragraph 2 (g) of Resolution S-30/1 further calls on the Commission to “make recommendations on measures to be taken by third States to ensure respect for international humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with article 1 common to the 2 Article 5(1) of the Rome State of the International Criminal Court. 3 Geneva Conventions, and in fulfilment of their obligations under articles 146, 147 and 148 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, including by ensuring that they do not aid or assist in the commission of internationally wrongful acts”.

In fulfilment of this part of the mandate, the Commission will make recommendations, in particular on accountability measures, with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring legal accountability, including individual criminal and command responsibility, for such violations, and justice for victims. It will also make recommendations on measures to be taken by third states, to ensure respect for international humanitarian law in accordance with article 1 common to the Geneva Conventions, and with specific regard to their obligations under articles 146, 147, and 148 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
ii. Actors investigated (ratione personae)
Paragraph 2(d) of Resolution S-30/1 tasks the Commission with identifying, “where possible, those responsible, with a view to ensuring that perpetrators of violations are held accountable”.

In doing so, the Commission will examine allegations of violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law committed by all parties in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel, along with territories under the effective control of the concerned states. This will include acts or omissions by both States and nonstate entities. It will also include identifying individuals allegedly responsible for such violations and abuses, with a view to ensuring that perpetrators are held accountable. iii. Geographic scope (ratione loci)
Paragraph 1 of Resolution S-30/1 lays out the geographical scope of the Commission to “investigate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel”.

The Commission will therefore investigate violations of international humanitarian law, and violations and abuses of international human rights law committed throughout these territories, as well as apply international criminal law in identifying individual criminal and command responsibility for such violations and abuses. In addition, given the extra-territorial applicability of all three bodies of law, and taking particular note of the jurisprudence of the International Court of Justice on the applicability of international human rights law in occupied territory, the Commission will also consider territories which are not part of the de jure territory of the concerned states but which fall within their effective control.3
iv. Temporal scope (ratione temporis)
Paragraph 1 of Resolution S-30/1 specifies that the Commission will investigate “all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since 13 April 2021, and all underlying root causes […]”. 3 On the extra-territorial applicability of international human rights law, see ICJ, Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, 9 July 2004, ICJ Reports 2004, paras. 111-113; ICJ, Case Concerning Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (DRC v. Uganda), Judgement of 19 December 2005, para. 178; see also the 2019 Report of the detailed findings of the independent international Commission of inquiry on the protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, paras. 43- 50; and Human Rights Council, Report of the detailed findings of the independent commission of inquiry established pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution S-21/1, paras. 38- 41. 4 The Commission interprets this as it having no temporal restrictions, and that both incidents leading up to and following 13 April 2021, as well as all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability and protraction of conflict can be investigated. The Commission will also investigate incidents that may have occurred or will occur since the date of its establishment by Resolution S-30/1.

III. APPLICABLE LAW
With respect to the mandate entrusted to the Commission by the Human Rights Council, described above, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law will constitute the law applicable to the Commission’s mandate. It will also consider other obligations under international law as applicable and where relevant.

Regarding international humanitarian law, both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine are party to the four Geneva Conventions of 1949. The State of Palestine acceded to Additional Protocols I, II and III. The State of Israel has ratified Additional Protocol III.4 Along with treaty law, the Commission will also apply customary international humanitarian law. Relevant provisions and rules of international humanitarian law are also binding upon non-state actors that are parties to a conflict.

Regarding international human rights law, both Israel and Palestine are state parties to seven of the core human rights treaties: the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Both states have also ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. 5 In addition to treaty law, the Commission will also apply customary international human rights law.

Regarding international criminal law, the State of Palestine acceded to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on 2 January 2015, with the Statute entering into force on 1 April 2015.

The State of Palestine accepted jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, since June 13, 2014. Israel is not a state party.

The Commissioners will apply the principal crimes of international criminal law as defined in applicable international treaties, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and customary international law. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court provides detailed elements for most of these crimes, and its subsequent ratification by a majority of member states of the United Nations reflects on the whole the definition of these crimes under customary international law.6In 4 For a full list of international humanitarian law treaties, and additional protocols ratified or acceded to by the State of Israel or the State of Palestine, see https://ihldatabases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/vwTreatiesByCountry.xsp 5 For a full list of international human rights treaties signed or ratified by the State of Israel, see:
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=84&Lang=EN; for signed or ratified by the State of Palestine, see:
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=217&Lang=en. 6 The Commission of Inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea adopted the “lowest common denominator” approach, applying the elements of the crimes of the Rome Statute where it is narrower than customary international law, and vice versa; while the Group of Eminent International and Regional Experts on Yemen took the position that the Rome Statute was a reflection of customary international law. See also the ICRC Study on customary IHL, rule 156. 5 situations, where the International Criminal Court is found to lack jurisdiction, the Commission will apply the elements of the crimes within the Rome Statute so long as they reflect customary international law.

IV. STANDARD OF PROOF
Paragraph 2 (b) of Resolution S-30/1 calls on the Commission to “collect, consolidate and analyse evidence of such violations and abuses and of crimes perpetrated, and systematically record and preserve all information, documentation and evidence, including interviews, witness testimony and forensic material, in accordance with international standards, in order to maximize the possibility of its admissibility in legal proceedings”.

In the course of its work, the Commission has decided to adopt the same standard of proof as the majority of international commissions of inquiry on human rights, that is one of “reasonable grounds”.

This means that findings will be included in the reports where the “reasonable grounds” standard of proof has been met, namely where, based on a body of verified information, an objective and ordinary prudent observer would have reasonable grounds to conclude that the facts took place as described and, where legal conclusions are drawn, that these facts meet all the elements of a violation or abuse, and any individual identified is responsible for the violation or abuse.

In applying the standard of proof adopted, the Commission will pay particular attention to corroborating relevant information it receives or has collected. It will do so by verifying every piece of information by obtaining consistent information from at least two other independent and reliable sources. In some cases, information provided by a reliable primary source may need to be corroborated by only one additional independent and reliable source, which may include the investigator’s own findings.
7 While acknowledging the COI as a human rights investigation, and the distinct and complementary role of judicial investigative processes, in line with its mandate the Commission will also develop methodologies and standard operating procedures aimed at ensuring that information and evidence collected and preserved will be done so in a manner which maximises the possibility of its admissibility in legal proceedings. It will undertake first hand interviews with witnesses and victims of violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of international human rights law. It will also collect information and documentation relevant to its inquiries from all states, relevant bodies and agencies of the United Nations system, civil society, the media, and other relevant stakeholders. The Commission will develop an information and evidence repository along with standard operating procedures to ensure that information or evidence collected or received is stored in a manner which meets international standards for evidence preservation.

V. COMPOSITION
i. Members of the Commission
On 22 July 2021, the President of the Human Rights Council announced the appointment of Navi Pillay (South Africa), Miloon Kothari (India) and Chris Sidoti (Australia) to serve as the three members of the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. The 7 Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Commissions of Inquiry and Fact-Finding Missions on International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, 2015, pages 62-63. 6 President of the Council indicated that Ms Pillay would serve as Chair of the three-person Commission.8
ii. The Secretariat
Paragraph 1 of Resolution S-30/1 requests “the Secretary-General to allocate the resources necessary for the implementation of the present resolution and for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to provide the logistical and technical resources necessary to support the functioning of the commission of inquiry”. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has therefore put at the disposal of the Commission a secretariat with specialised skills as well as the administrative, technical and logistical assistance needed for the implementation of its mandate.

VI. COOPERATION BY CONCERNED STATES
In Paragraph 3 of Resolution S-30/1, the Human Rights Council called upon “all relevant parties to cooperate fully with the commission of inquiry and to facilitate its access”.

Given the territorial scope of the investigation listed in Paragraph 1 of Resolution S-30/1, in the exercise of its mandate, the Commission expects to benefit from the following:
a) Freedom of movement throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. If either the Governments of the State of Israel or the State of Palestine refuse or delay the Commission’s access to their territories, the Commission will seek to visit countries in the region and any other country it believes would be useful for the successful conduct of its investigations; b) Unhindered access to all places and establishments, and freedom to meet and interview representatives of national, local and military authorities, community leaders, nongovernmental organisations and other institutions, and any person whose testimony is considered necessary for the fulfilment of its mandate;
c) Unhindered access for individuals and organisations wishing to meet the Commission; d) Free access to all sources of information, including documentary material and physical evidence;
e) Appropriate security arrangements for the Commission's members, staff and documents; f) Protection of victims and witnesses and all those who come into contact with the Commission, and an undertaking that no such person shall, as a result of such contact, suffer harassment, threats, acts of intimidation, ill-treatment or other reprisals.

In its reports to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly, the Commission will report on the level of cooperation received from the Governments of the State of Israel and of the State of Palestine, along with any other State it approaches.
8 https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=27331&LangID=E 7 VII. REPORTING OBLIGATIONS
Paragraph 2 (h) of Resolution S-30/1 of the Human Rights Council provides for the Commission to “report on its main activities on an annual basis to the Human Rights Council under agenda item 2 as of its fiftieth session, and to the General Assembly as of its seventy-seventh session”.

In light of these provisions, the Commission will present two separate annual reports - one to the United Nations Human Rights Council at its June session, starting from its fiftieth session in 2022; and one to the United Nations General Assembly at its annual session- starting at its seventy-seventh session in 2022. The reports will include recommendations on measures to be taken by relevant parties to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and international human rights law, “with a view to avoiding and ending impunity and ensuring legal accountability, including individual criminal and command responsibility, for such violations and abuses, and justice for the victims”, in accordance with paragraphs 2 (f) and (g) of Resolution S-30/1.

The Commission will take into account the reporting obligations of the United Nations SecretaryGeneral, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967 and other relevant UN bodies. The Commission will ensure, as and when appropriate, that it does not duplicate, unless it deems it necessary to reinforce its own findings and recommendations, the findings and recommendations of such UN bodies and investigative mechanisms.

The Commission will also consider the possibility of presenting its reports to bodies other than the Human Rights Council and the United Nations General Assembly, including the United Nations Security Council, as appropriate. It will also consider issuing additional conference room papers, or oral statements as deemed necessary.

VIII. COOPERATION
In Paragraph 4 of Resolution S-30/1, the Human Rights Council calls upon all states, and encourages civil society, the media, and other relevant stakeholders, “to cooperate fully with the commission of inquiry to allow it to effectively fulfil its mandate and, in particular, to provide it with any information or documentation they may possess or come to possess, as well as any other form of assistance pertaining to their respective mandates”.

Paragraph 5 further “calls upon relevant organs, bodies and agencies of the United Nations system to cooperate fully with the commission of inquiry, and to respond promptly to any request made by it, including with regard to access to all relevant information and documentation”.

As an independent body, the Commission will conduct its own investigations independently and separately from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and other United Nations offices and agencies. However, in doing so, the Commission expects to receive the full cooperation of all United Nations Member States, departments and bodies, and of all other relevant national and international institutions and actors in the delivery of its mandate.

IX. METHODS OF WORK
Taking note of the above, the Commission will pursue its investigations and the collection and analysis of information and evidence placed before it guided by the principles of independence, impartiality, objectivity and integrity and the principle of “do no harm”, including in relation to guarantees of confidentiality and the protection of victims and witnesses. 8 The Commission will seek to receive information from as broad a range of stakeholders as possible. In addition to conducting first hand interviews with witnesses and victims, it will examine available secondary and open source materials. It will request information and documentation as appropriate from civil society; the media; member states of the United Nations; organs, bodies and agencies of the United Nations; and other relevant experts and stakeholders. For these purposes, the Commission will seek the cooperation of concerned authorities to conduct field visits to all the geographical areas that are included in its mandate. The Commission will also seek the cooperation of relevant authorities to conduct field visits to other countries or territories where it will meet victims, witnesses, experts and other stakeholders relevant to the implementation of its mandate. It may hold roundtables, consultations, and public hearings with victims, witnesses, experts and other relevant partners as it would find helpful in the implementation of its mandate. It will also invite all United Nations Member States and other relevant stakeholders, along with interested persons or organisations, to make written and oral submissions that could be of assistance to the Commission in the discharge of its mandate.

Information and evidence collected will be reviewed and analysed, and all information and evidence will be stored, protected and maintained safely and securely, in accordance with international practice standards in this area.

Given its mandate to ensure perpetrators of violations and abuses are held accountable, the Commission may develop protocols for the sharing of information with domestic, regional, or international accountability mechanisms subject to baseline requirements of fairness, due process, non-applicability of the death penalty and compliance with other applicable human rights standards.

With the handling of any information received, the informed consent of information providers to further external use(s) or sharing pursuant to the mandate will be fundamental. The Commission will be sensitive and alert to any protection concerns that victims and survivors may have as a result of its engagement with them, further to the cardinal principle of ‘do no harm’. Specific concerns will be considered and addressed as they arise, in conjunction as appropriate with affected persons.

Attachment 3
March 28, 2022
The Honorable Antony Blinken
Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Blinken,
With the return of the United States to the UN Human Rights Council, we think it is time for the American presence on the Council to be used to address major human rights problems around the world. An important step in this regard would be to redirect the wasteful use of funds and personnel on excessive devotion to disparaging Israel to allow the UN Human Rights Council to fairly promote human rights around the world.

We write to urge you to prioritize reversing the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) discriminatory and unwarranted treatment of Israel by leading a multinational effort in the Council and in the UN to end the permanent Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

In May 2021, just days after the conflict between the Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas and Israel, the UNHRC approved an unprecedented open-ended investigation of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, purported war crimes and human rights violations. This Commission will not only focus on the actions Israel took in Gaza as it sought to defend its citizens, it will also have a carte blanche mandate – in perpetuity – to examine any period in the IsraeliPalestinian conflict about violations not only in the West Bank and Gaza, but also within Israel’s pre-1967 borders. The mandate made no mention of the 4,300 lethal rockets fired by Hamas toward Israeli civilians in a matter of days and no mention of Israel’s right to defend itself.

This one-sided approach is consistent with UNHRC’s continuing bias against Israel and the disproportionate use of resources in an ongoing campaign to disparage, discredit and denounce Israel. Its Agenda Item VII is the only country-specific permanent item on the Council’s agenda.

The COI will now operate with an annual budget of over $4 million and a permanent staff of 18, which represents considerable resources devoted to maligning and ultimately prosecuting Israel.

Of the thirty-two UNHRC mandated investigative probes, nine have been against Israel. By comparison, the investigation of North Korea’s violations of the human rights of its people had half the staff and lasted for only a year. Additionally, egregious human rights violations such as the treatment of the Uyghurs in China are not addressed by the UNHRC at all.

We appreciate your commitment to put the Council’s “disproportionate focus on Israel” at the top of the Biden Administration’s agenda for reforming the Council when the U.S. announced it would seek to rejoin the UNHRC, as well as your commitment to “continue to uphold our strong commitment to Israel and its security, including by opposing actions that seek to target Israel unfairly.” Delegitimizing and ultimately eliminating this permanent commission is an opportunity for the administration to fulfill U.S. Ambassador Patrick Kennedy’s pledge to the Council that “the U.S. stands with Israel in rejecting the unprecedented open-ended mandate of this Commission of Inquiry, which perpetuates a practice of unfairly singling out Israel in the U.N.”
By unfairly singling out Israel, the UNHRC undermines its credibility to investigate human rights violations around the world.

The COI is the latest endeavor by UNHRC to discredit the only Jewish state and is likely to further fuel antisemitism worldwide. Therefore, we urge you to act upon the Administration’s commitment to defend Israel from discriminatory treatment at the Human Rights Council and throughout the UN system. We also urge the U.S. to firmly raise its voice and concerns during the current UNHRC session, the first meeting in several years in which the United States will be a member of the council.

We thank you in advance for your attention to this matter and look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Benjamin L. Cardin
United States Senator
Rob Portman
United States Senator
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
James E. Risch
United States Senator
Patrick Leahy
United States Senator
John Thune
United States Senator

Jacky Rosen
United States Senator
Jerry Moran
United States Senator
Christopher A. Coons
United States Senator
Charles E. Grassley
United States Senator
Cory A. Booker
United States Senator
Susan M. Collins
United States Senator
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator
John Boozman
United States Senator
Ben Sasse
United States Senator
Ron Wyden
United States Senator

Margaret Wood Hassan
United States Senator
Dan Sullivan
United States Senator
Richard Blumenthal
United States Senator
Kevin Cramer
United States Senator
Kyrsten Sinema
United States Senator
Marsha Blackburn
United States Senator
Alex Padilla
United States Senator
Lisa Murkowski
United States Senator
Tammy Duckworth
United States Senator
Bill Cassidy, M.D.

United States Senator

Gary C. Peters
United States Senator
Cindy Hyde-Smith
United States Senator
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
Shelley Moore Capito
United States Senator
Patty Murray
United States Senator
Joni K. Ernst
United States Senator
Catherine Cortez Masto
United States Senator
John Cornyn
United States Senator
Sheldon Whitehouse
United States Senator
Tim Scott
United States Senator

Joe Manchin III
United States Senator
Bill Hagerty
United States Senator
Michael F. Bennet
United States Senator
Marco Rubio
United States Senator
Tim Kaine
United States Senator
Mike Braun
United States Senator
Mark R. Warner
United States Senator
Rick Scott
United States Senator
John Hickenlooper
United States Senator
Mark Kelly
United States Senator

Deb Fischer
United States Senator
Maria Cantwell
United States Senator
M. Michael Rounds
United States Senator
Jeanne Shaheen
United States Senator
Roger W. Marshall
United States Senator
Robert P. Casey, Jr.

United States Senator
John Kennedy
United States Senator
Amy Klobuchar
United States Senator
Michael S. Lee
United States Senator
Raphael G. Warnock
United States Senator

Steve Daines
United States Senator
Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator
Lindsey Graham
United States Senator
Roger F. Wicker
United States Senator
Jon Tester
United States Senator
Todd Young
United States Senator
Roy Blunt
United States Senator
Pat Toomey
United States Senator
Josh Hawley
United States Senator
Tommy Tuberville
United States Senator

Michael D. Crapo
United States Senator

John Hoeven
United States Senator
Attachment 4
7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 1/21 (/) 
Miloon Kothari, member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Israel.

UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced
for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript
 July 29, 2022(https://unwatch.org/2022/07/29/)
Israel (https://unwatch.org/category/country/israel/), United Nations (https://unwatch.org/category/issue/united-nations/)
pinned (https://unwatch.org/tag/pinned/)
7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 2/21

39. The UN is investigating the root causes of violence between Israelis an… Following is the transcript of the interview with Miloon Kothari, member of the UNHRC commission of inquiry targeting Israel, from the Mondoweiss podcast, July 25, 2022.

Dave Reed: Welcome to the Mondoweiss Podcast, I am your host Dave Reed. At Mondoweiss, we cover the movements, activists, and policymakers that effect the struggle for freedom in Palestine. In May 2021, fighting broke out between Palestinian resistance groups in Gaza and the Israeli military. 300 Palestinian residents of Gaza were killed, including 66 children, and thousands were injured. The UN Human Rights Council set up a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the root causes of the violence. On June 7 of this year, they presented their first report to the Human Rights Council.

Unlike past UN commissions of inquiry on violence between Israelis and Palestinians, the mandate of this commission is not time limited, it is not subjected to annual renewal, and is not limited to investigating the 7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 3/21 immediate circumstances that led to its formation. Rather, it was told to take its time and examine the underlying root causes of recurrent tensions.

In further contrast with past commissions and special rapporteurs on the occupied Palestinian Territories, this commission has been tasked with examining the situation in both the occupied Palestinian Territories and in the words of the commissions June report, “Israel itself.” The commission is led by several highly leaders in international law, including Miloon Kothari, who served as the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing with the Human Rights Council. In the wake of the commissions first report, Mondoweiss contributor, David Kattenburg, spoke with Miloon. His views were both candid and cutting.

David Kattenburg: Miloon Kothari, thanks so much for joining me. Can you introduce yourself briefly and tell me who you are and a little about the commission and what it is?
Miloon Kothari: It is very good to be on this program. My name is Miloon Kothari and I am a scholar and activist from India. I have been working on human rights for the last 30 odd years. I have been primarily focusing on social, economic, and cultural rights, so issues of housing land, displacement, evictions.

I was formerly special rapporteur on adequate housing with the Human Rights Council from 2000 to 2008, and I also set up several civil society organizations in India. And lately I have been doing a lot of work on the Universal Periodic Review, which is a peer review mechanism at the Human Rights Council where a comprehensive human rights record of member states is assessed every 4 and a half years.

And quite a lot of training on the UN with governments and national human rights institutions and UN teams, with civil society, and I was appointed in July last year to an independent inquiry commission to investigate human rights issues in the occupied Palestinian territories but also inside the green line in Israel. And there are some very unique features about this COI I can speak about later.
7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 4/21 So, we are 3 commissioners. The chair of the COI is Navi Pillay, from South Africa, and formerly the High Commissioner for Human rights. The third member is Chris Sidoti, an expert on national human rights institutions and he is from Australia. The three of us comprise this COI and what I wanted to raise is the several unique features of this COI. The UN has had COI’s on this topic before, I think around 7 of them.

What distinguishes this COI, in a way that I would consider its redeeming feature, is our ongoing mandate. While previous commissions had to be renewed annually, we are an ongoing mandate which gives us the scope to pursue longer term thinking and planning and to look at historical issues.

So that temporal scope is very important and is what has caused concern among some countries.

A second aspect is that we have been asked to look at root causes of the conflict. So, we are not looking necessarily at specific instances of violations, but we are looking at root causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and retraction of the conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national ethnic, or religious identity.

That is a very important aspect of our mandate that allows us to take a historical perspective and allows us to look at the history of settler colonialism and to look at discrimination and to look at what the accumulated consequences of occupation are.

The third aspect which is very important is the geographical scope. Previous COI and work from SR were limited to the occupied territories, essentially West Bank and Gaza. But our mandate includes Israel and includes all areas inside the green line. So, essentially, we are looking at the human rights situation from the river to the sea, which is also very important because that is a critical aspect of what has gone wrong in a sense.

David Kattenburg; In your report, there is a phrase in there about Israel itself, some refer to quaintly as Israel proper, when in fact, when someone goes and travels there, as I have recently, knows that the green line is largely fictitious and has been erased. Israel is really, for all intents and purposes, a 7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 5/21 single state from the river to the sea. And in your report, you talk about the linkage between what goes on in the occupied territories and in Israel itself.

Thoughts on this?
Miloon Kothari: I think you are absolutely right, of course. In terms of the sort of governance issues, the functioning of the state, the national laws in terms of what Israel and the UN recognizes as the State of Israel, there is a distinction to be made.

You are absolutely right that when we look at the kinds of discrimination happening within the green line and when we look at the historical occupation issues, there are many similarities. But we have to read it differently. And the reason we are wanting to make these linkages is because of the point you made: what has transpired in the occupied territories since 1967 is something that has already been happening inside the green line since 1948—the levels of discrimination, the laws, the dispossessions of Palestinians and Israel.

I think it’s important to make the distinction but also to draw the parallels, because that is something that the UN has not successfully been able to do, because the earlier mandates only included the occupied territories, except for the work of the UN treaty parties. You mentioned the committee on human rights – but only limited to looking at inside the green line. So we have the opportunity to make that historical link as see how the entire area has to be treated in terms of addressing the violations there.

David Kattenburg: Now, in your interim report you presented to the HRC in June, this was essentially a review of past findings and determinations and recommendations from a whole host of UN bodies and mechanisms. This was not so much your analysis as was it a review of past findings. Could you comment on that methodologically. The bottom line is that none of the findings and recommendations made by past bodies have been implemented by Israel—Israel has ignored everything, and it has done so with complete impunity.
7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 6/21 Miloon Kothari: That’s correct. First of all, the resolution from the HRC that created our mandate explicitly asked us to draw the essence of all earlier work done from previous bodies. So, we did not just look at past COIs but also work done historically by the mandate of the SR, by the work done by treaty parties that are monitoring treaties Israel has ratified, but that was not the only part covered in the report. We had also done a mission to Oman and heard testimonies from 20 individuals that came from inside the Green line and Gaza. We had leaders from both Jewish and Palestinian civil society, we had ministers from the PA, academics from inside Israel and was partly based on that. We also did quite a few online interviews because we are not allowed to go into the areas.

David Kattenburg: Israel would not allow you into the country nor Egypt into Gaza.

Miloon Kothari: So far we haven’t but we will continue trying. Israel said from the beginning it would not cooperate with the mandate and even our attempts to meet with the Israeli ambassador in Geneva have received no respond. So, we must base our evidence on interviews with people from surrounding countries.

We will be visiting Egypt, Syria, hoping to do this work and hope that we will be allowed into Gaza at some point. And we are hoping that Israel will allow us in the green line and into the West Bank because our mandate also asks us to look for violations on the other side—to look at violations by the Gazan authorities and the Palestinian authorities and we can only look at this systematically and accurately if Israel lets us in and to see the rocket damage and where people have suffered.

And Israel says that our mandate is not accurate and that our perspective is not correct—so if they feel they have a story to tell they should let us in and tell us their perspective on the situation so we will keep trying. 7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 7/21 David Kattenburg: But Israel has never allowed any commission of inquiry or investigating group or UN body group or SR since Richard Faulk, into the country.

Miloon Kothari: There are some exceptions. I was part of a 4 SR mission in 2006 when there was a crisis with Lebanon, and we visited Lebanon and looked at the impact of Israel’s cluster bombs and they let us in. So, 4 SRs went. So, there is a precedence there. And Navi Pillay, when High Commissioner, did an official mission and went to the Occupied territories. If they want to, they can and it’s not unprecedented. We are hoping they will.

David Kattenburg: And they probably ignore all the recommendations, all the recommendations made by the HR committee and all the committees.

They just ignore them and do so with impunity.

Miloon Kothari: They have been overwhelmingly ignored. And in fact, one of our conclusions is that because these recommendations have been consistently ignored, it has been one of the causes fueling the conflict and for great despair for Palestinians. But what is also very interesting about the recommendations we found is that overwhelmingly they have been directed towards Israel – which also shows the asymmetrical nature of the conflict—and even calling it a conflict raises a lot of questions. So, that is what we are trying to show and the other conclusion we reached which is very important to stress is that Israel has no intention of ending the occupation and the persistent discrimination against Palestinians in the occupied territories, East Jerusalem, and Israel.

David Kattenburg: In your assessment you wrote that the commission notes the strength of prima facie credible evidence that Israel has no intention of ending the occupation and its complete control over the 7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 8/21 Palestinian territory and is acting to create a favourable environment to settlers by altering the region. So, you have cited Michael Link’s comments that this is an occupation in perpetuity. This is illegal is it not? Miloon Kothari: Yes, it has been illegal from the beginning. One of our roles is to look at human rights law, international law, criminal law, and on all three counts Israel is in systematic violation of all the legislation. I would go as far to raise the question of why they are even a member of the UN as the Israeli government does not respect its own obligations as a UN member state. They consistently, either directly or through the US try to undermine UN mechanisms.

You might know at this session when we presented our report, the US, a member of the council again, circulated a statement signed by 22 states objecting to our mandate. And that shows great disrespect for the body you are a member of because once you are a member of the body and the body adopts a mechanism you have to respect it and cannot then say you can’t agree with it now.

We are quite surprised, in a way even glad the COI has received so much notice, as you might know a few weeks ago there was a bill presented to the Senate called the ‘elimination of the COI Act’ in the US, and the SOS Anthony Blinken has to report back to congress on how they will eliminate the Commission, and thus far he has failed, despite their repeated attempts this year.

David Kattenburg: I was going to ask about that. Your Chairperson Ms.

Pillay has been specifically the target of attacks in Canada and the Canadian government has expressed its displeasure with her as chair.

Miloon Kothari: It is very unfortunate to attack individual members of the commission who have been appointed through a long and rigorous process and I think it is just a way to try and discredit the council and it is very counterproductive. First, it gives more attention to our work and also more support. This year we have received overwhelming support from UN 7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 9/21 member states – the US got 22 to sign but that is 22 out of a lot – not very much. It is not only governments, but we are very disheartened by the social media, whether controlled by The Jewish Lobby, or specific NGOs, a lot of money is being thrown to try and discredit us.

But you know, David, the important thing is that our mandate is based on international human rights and humanitarian standards, and we are all seeking the truth. And we feel that, you know, based on the evidence that we have overwhelming evidence, I think it’s one of the most well documented conflicts in the world. Historically, based on that evidence, based on the international law, if people feel that we are biased, then we are biased, but for us, that’s the job we’ve been given to do. And that’s what we’re doing.

David Kattenburg: The international law is not a term of reference in the context of what’s referred to as the peace process since the early 1990s.

International laws is completely off the table.

Miloon Kothari: Yeah, but that was a that was a serious flaw in The Oslo process and so on. But I think it’s not, it’s very much been on the table with all the UN human rights bodies. And it’s very much the standard by which the behavior of Israel is assessed all over the world. So it’s very, very relevant.

David Kattenburg: But it’s not a term of reference for the US government, nor for the Canadian government, nor for the European Union. The EU talks with greater conviction about the role of international law in this quote, unquote, conflict. But International law was completely off the table in Ottawa and in Washington.

Miloon Kothari: Yeah, but that’s, I would consider that a problem with Canada and the United States and is not a problem for the world. I mean, we have all come together in the UN and Israel itself has ratified these instruments. It’s not I mean, if there was, if it was not a terms of reference, why would Israel ratify? Why would they report to the UN treaty bodies? You know, why would they come to the Human Rights Council? So I think there’s a duplicity there, there are double standards.
7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 10/21 When it comes to Ukraine, David, international law becomes very, very important. In fact, it’s used as the standard even by the United States, but most certainly by the European Union, also by the International Criminal Court. And they are pushing ahead and pointing out all the violations done by Russia. But, the same violations of occupation and dispossession, done by Israel do not receive the same treatment. So there is a serious double standard here, which needs to be which needs to be exposed.

David Kattenburg: I’m wondering if, Professor Kothari, if the apartheid idea came up in the course of your deliberations leading to this this interim report, because the term apartheid doesn’t appear anywhere, although you do in a paragraph 45 is a quote from the Human Rights Committee, concluding observations on the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights is that Israel, quote, “Israeli domestic legal framework maintains a three tiered system of laws, affording different civil status rights and legal protections for Jewish Israeli citizens, Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem.” Is this apartheid?
Miloon Kothari; Yes, well, there’s a, there’s actually been a lot of pressure on us to, you know, give our opinion on that. And we deliberated on it, we felt that we were not ready because we need to reach our own conclusions after deep study and analysis, which we haven’t had time. We also feel and I think we’ve stated that that we do not think it’s, it’s a useful paradigm, it’s a useful framework. But we don’t think it’s sufficient to capture the enormity of what has happened in the area.

So it doesn’t look, for example, at the whole history of settler colonialism, it doesn’t look at the whole issue of occupation, it doesn’t look at many other dimensions, which I think that when we are asked to look at root causes, are very important to to draw the full picture, just saying apartheid, just ending apartheid is not going to end occupation, you know, so so there is a much, much deeper and a much more comprehensive review that has to be done.

And that’s what we’re doing, we will get to the apartheid question at some point in the future, because we will be looking at discrimination in general, you know, from the river to the sea. So, so I think we will but at this point, we 7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 11/21 felt we were we were not we were not neither ready, nor in our initial assessment, did we think it was a sufficient paradigm that we that we should only focus on that.

David Kattenburg: You talked in your in your interim report about developing a database or a repository of evidence that could be used in subsequent judicial processes. Without getting too specific, can you talk about that about this repository and what your thoughts are about building a case that can be taken to a judicial instance?
Miloon Kothari: Yes, we have been actually explicitly mandated to collect data or information forensic material. Because we are an accountability body, we have to seek accountability, but we don’t. And so we have to also work with other international bodies. So for example, we will be working closely with the International Criminal Court, which as you know, has opened a file on Palestine. We will also be looking at other methods of universal jurisdiction, perhaps a role for the International Court of Justice. So our work is to collect a repository of all the evidence that we gather.

And then at a particular time, hand it over to the judicial bodies that can take action. So our role is, you know, much beyond just reporting and so on.

We have we have a very explicit investigative role. And our staff, our Secretariat has, you know, very senior experts on the investigation on legal jurisprudence, and so on. Yes, we are beginning to collect that information.

David Kattenburg: And are members are have members of your staff been in touch with people in the International Criminal Court? Are there linkages now that have been established?
Miloon Kothari: Yes, yes, actually, we have ourselves visited there last month, and met with the deputy prosecutor. So the three commissioners have been to the Hague, and we are exploring exploring possibilities of working with them.
7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 12/21 David Kattenburg: You’ve spoken with Ms. Khan?
Miloon Kothari: That’s right. Yes and her team.

David Kattenburg: You also speak in your in your interim report about trying to convince state parties to the various legal instruments that they have a duty under, for example, Article One of the common to the Geneva Conventions that country state parties must respect and ensure respect for the convention in all circumstances, which they’ve not been doing. I mean, there’s no better example in Canada. Canada’s official position, is that Israel’s an occupying power in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights and Gaza, and that settlements are therefore illegal.

It knows that settlements are there for presumptive crime under the Rome Statute. But Canada extends aid and assistance to Israel settlement, enterprise, economic, fiscal and diplomatic. And, of course, the United States does as well, and so does the European Union. So how do you how does the commission see it’s it’s role in trying to get state parties to abide by their own obligations?
Miloon Kothari: Yeah, that’s a very good point. But first of all, our role is to identify the obligations of we have been, again, given explicitly the mandate to look at third party accountability, which means to look at, you know, the high contracting parties of the Geneva Conventions, I mean, all the human rights instruments, whether they’re complying with their obligations, including what are called extraterritorial obligations. And we will be doing that in one of our subsequent reports.

And we will also be examining and that we have been asked the whole question of arms transfer, you know, which is a very, very serious issue that countries, you name, some of them, there are others, who continue to supply arms to Israel, which are obviously also being used to suppress the, you know, and to damage the Palestinian population. So that’s something we will be looking at third party accountability. And I think that will be an it’s 7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 13/21 not only arms, and you know, this, it’s also the business interests. As you know, there’s a business database on companies that operate in the occupied territories.

So that’s also part of the third party accountability that states allowing businesses that are registered in their countries to, you know, to operate and to promote development in these areas, primarily, you know, benefiting the Jewish populations, including, you know, working in settlements. So, yes, we will be looking at that. That’s absolutely part of our, our remit.

David Kattenburg: And how do you go about doing that? How does the Commission of Inquiry go about procedurally getting state parties to abide by their obligations?
Miloon Kothari: But I think the first step is to identify what is the nature of that involvement and to identify the extent of, you know, the damage being done by that involvement, and that’s the first step we would take and then to obviously, to discuss with the committee is to raise the issue at the Human Rights Council and see see what their response is, as you know, you know, the the BDS movement is there, as you know, some countries have taken steps to label products from the occupied territories, other countries are considering that. So I think our role is to expose the extent of third party culpability in the occupied territories. And that’s that’s what we will do, including the arms issue, which I think which we think is very important.

David Kattenburg: And so your next step, Professor Kothari, i is to move forward into your own investigation and legal analysis with a view on identifying those bearing individual criminal responsibility. When will this work begin?
Miloon Kothari: Well, we’ve already started I mean, we’ve started collecting information. And as I was mentioning, we will be visiting areas taking testimony. And and, you know, slowly proceeding with that work, it’s not 7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 14/21 something that will suddenly appear in a report, it’s something we have to accumulate over some years and see when it is time to share that information with the relevant authorities. But our work has already begun.

David Kattenburg: And toward the very end of your report, you say that the Commission will seek to engage with the wider Palestinian diaspora. This is 50% of the Palestinian population residing outside of the occupied territories. This is interesting, you propose to speak to Palestinians in United States and Canada and throughout the Middle East and Australia and all those places?
Miloon Kothari: Yes, yes, very much. So we will be speaking to the Palestinian diaspora in, in Lebanon, in, in Jordan, in Egypt, in Syria, and also wherever we go, possibly in the US as well. And that’s one way for us to collect the information that we need, because there are refugees that have, of course, historically been dispossessed from the occupied territories, but there are even recent arrival too can give us a lot of information.

I mean, we are getting a lot of information already from with all the new technology available. We are using we are working with the UN satellite agency, we’re looking at other forms of getting information if we cannot travel there. There’s quite a lot of geospatial data that is available, which very clearly shows for example, which we hope to share in our report to the General Assembly, which shows the evolution the extent to which the occupation has been solidified in the West Bank and the damage being done by for example, the blockade on Gaza.

David Kattenburg: My last question, Milan Kothari and thank you so much for your time, there’s a yawning gulf, a huge chasm between the ideas that are conveyed in this interim report from the special commission of inquiry and from other reports that have been produced by UN human rights bodies and Special Rapporteurs is a huge gulf between what they say, talking about profound, systematic, comprehensive, chronic violations of 7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 15/21 international humanitarian and human rights law by state of Israel, on one hand, and on the other hand, statements that we hear from, while Joe Biden was asked just the other day, you know, what do you think about Israeli apartheid? And he said, he denies it, and he insists that Israel is a shining democracy, a light unto the world.

And of course, you know, Justin Trudeau in Canada says the same thing. You know, the governments of the European Union say the same thing. So on the one hand, you see the international human rights community, you know, say one thing, and it’s completely at odds with what the state parties are saying. So how does the commission wrap its head around? This is demoralizing? Is this disconcerting?
Miloon Kothari: No, no, it’s not demoralizing. David, it’s disconcerting. It’s an obstacle that we face. But you know, it’s the point I was making earlier, when you have truth, and, you know, universally accepted legal standards on your side, you have to keep pursuing. And we are hoping that the more evidence we collect, and we present, and as I was mentioning, we have a sort of a wider and a different mandate, and the ones that have passed before, we are hoping to convince these countries to go beyond ideology to go beyond just a blind sort of faith in whatever Israel does. We want to continue to expose that, you know, you cannot allow a country in the world to get away with this kind of, we’re also, you know, beginning to tackle this issue of how far you can take antisemitism, for example. So I think that the more work we do, the more we present.

And I don’t think it’s I mean, I can tell you that we have had meetings at very high levels with different European Union countries and we see a change.

We see a number of countries, I don’t want to name them all here. But we see a number of countries who are now very critical, very critical of Israel.

But what we would like to see is to go beyond just statements to actually take action and we are hoping that the evidence we produce, we are hoping that the issues that we raise, will and the dialogues that we have with not only these countries but with their Parliaments, which we will be doing, and their media and so on and academics. We are hoping that will change.
7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 16/21 And I can tell you that we see a perceptible change. It’s not something where you can be, you know, just immediately optimistic. You see, the changes in on the campuses in the United States as well. So we are going to try to reach across the aisle, we are hoping to also, you know, meet with people who don’t agree with us. We are having regular roundtables. As I mentioned you we had a roundtable just two weeks ago with 20 leading academics and journalists and former diplomats from Jewish that, from inside the green line who came to Geneva to speak to us, we asked them what they thought about our first report, we asked them, what do they think, are the issues we should cover? We will continue to do this, you know.

David Kattenburg: What are they saying?
Miloon Kothari: Well, they generally agreed with us, they generally agreed with us that generally encouraged us to continue, as you know, there are very strong voices inside Israel, including leading journalists, and academics, we’re writing and we’re speaking out on all these issues. And in fact, what is striking to us is that some of the you know, some of the articles and analysis that you read in some of the Israeli media is very forthright and very direct.

It’s things that you would never read anywhere in the United States, for example. So there is a voice emerging.

And that’s the voice we’re trying to reach out to. That’s the voice we’re trying to learn from. Now, the political process is a much more bigger obstacle inside Israel, as you know, but we are, you know, trying to cross the aisle we are even willing, and we’ve had some communication even with Congress, Congress, people and senators in the United States. So we are going to try to do as much work as we can, which is well beyond just our reports. Our mandate is much beyond that.

David Kattenburg: And so your next report will be issued in October.

Miloon Kothari: Yes, it will be available, should be available by the end of September, we will present it in October, October, it’s the third week of October, we’ll present it to the General Assembly, we’ll have you know, press conferences, we’re always going to have tried to have roundtables in the US. 7/29/22, 9:07 AM UN commissioner Miloon Kothari denounced for antisemitic remarks — Full Transcript - UN Watch https://unwatch.org/un-commissioner-miloon-kothari-denounced-for-antisemitic-remarks-full-transcript/ 17/21 We will be visiting some of the campuses to speak to students. And we’re hoping to do some other public meetings and work when we are in we’re going to be in the United States for about two weeks.

David Kattenburg:  Miloon Kothari, thank you so much for joining me today.
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