Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, strongly condemned an article by the special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Richard A. Falk, in which he blames the terrorist attacks at the Boston Marathon earlier this month on Israel and on American foreign policy. In an article titled ‘A Commentary on the Marathon Murders’, Falk wrote: “As long as Tel Aviv has the compliant ear of the American political establishment, those who wish for peace and justice in the world should not rest easy.” Falk also wrote that US President Barack Obama had succumbed “to the Beltway ethos of Israel first.”
Lauder declared: “The preposterous remarks to which Richard Falk periodically treats the world ought to disqualify him for any position at the United Nations. Yet he continues on the payroll of the UN Human Rights Council as a ‘special rapporteur’, and senior UN officials are refusing to even comment on his remarks. Someone who publicly justifies despicable acts of terrorism and the deliberate murder of civilians by arguing that somehow Israel and the United States are to blame for such acts is unhinged and therefore entirely unsuited to serve as an advisor to what ought to be the world’s top human rights body. It is high time that Mr. Falk is removed from his post at the United Nations."
Falk, 82, included America’s foreign policy since the September 2001 terror attacks as well as “a series of disappointing reactions by Obama” and “Islamophobic falsehoods” as explanations for the recent Boston terror attack in which three people were killed. Falk, who is a Jewish American, also claims that the reason for the lack of progress in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and strained relations between the US and Arab nations was the “strong pushback by Israel and its belligerent leader, Bibi Netanyahu,” which had led to Obama succumbing to the “ethos of Israel.”
Falk described Obama’s recent speech in Jerusalem during his visit to the Middle East as a “love letter to the Israeli public” rather than a demonstration of his belief in peace.
The UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on Palestinian issues predicted further violence in the future. He wrote: “The United States has been fortunate not to experience worse blowbacks, and these may yet happen, especially if there is no disposition to rethink US relations to others in the world, starting with the Middle East.”
Jewish organizations called on the United Nations to condemn Falk's remarks, but a spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that Ban would not condemn Falk for his essay, since he was “not responsible” for the author’s “independent views."
Lauder praises Canadian reaction to Falk remarks
In a letter to Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird, Ronald S. Lauder expressed appreciation over the Canadian government’s clear condemnation of Falk. “It is important that Americans and others understand the strong friend that we have in Canada, in Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and particularly you, Canada’s Foreign Minister,” the WJC president wrote. Baird had said in reaction: “Once again, United Nations official Richard Falk has spewed more mean-spirited, anti-Semitic rhetoric, this time blaming the attacks in Boston on President Obama and the State of Israel. The United Nations should be ashamed to even be associated with such an individual.”
Lauder told the Canadian foreign minister that as “an American, I am deeply ashamed that such shocking statements would be held by a fellow citizen. I am even more horrified by the fact that Falk holds a place of prominence at the United Nations, an institution already sullied by its one-sided approach towards Israel.”
In the past, Falk said that the Bush administration had been complicit in the September 2001 attacks.
