UN panel to hear Palestinian race case against Israel

A UN committee will hear a Palestinian complaint accusing Israel of racial discrimination, in a decision criticized by Washington on Monday.

The committee of independent experts, which has the power to name and shame members of the UN convention on racial discrimination who break the rules, decides it could handle a complaint filed by the Palestinians in 2018 — details of which have not been released.

But the United States expresses “profound disappointment,” arguing that Israel did not recognize Palestine as a state or as a party to the convention — as a result, the committee had no jurisdiction.

The Palestinians signed the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in 2014 as the State of Palestine.

“The Committee’s disregard for treaty law raises serious questions about the legitimacy of this process,” says Andrew Bremberg, US envoy to international organizations.

“The United States will continue to advocate for fair treatment for Israel in this and other international fora.”

Five of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s 18 experts made the unusual move of publicly disagreeing with the committee’s decision.

They published a statement arguing that Israel’s objection to entering treaty relations with the State of Palestine meant the committee had no jurisdiction.

The committee had engaged in a drawn-out debate over jurisdiction before deciding last month that it could hear the case — a decision not made public at the time.

Their conclusions, sent to AFP on Monday, shows that 10 experts voted in favor, three opposed and the others abstained or were absent.

— AFP