9/11 Denial at the UN Human Rights Council

In March of this year, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR) appointed Dr. Richard Falk to be its "Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967". Those familiar with the UNHCR's record will not be surprised to learn that Falk is a radical leftist who is pathologically hostile to Israel and the United States. In an article written last July, he described Israel's policy as leading to "a Palestinian holocaust in the making". His mandate from the UNHCR is to investigate alleged Israeli violations of international law while ignoring Palestinian actions.

Sadly, Falk's interests go well beyond slandering Israel and apologizing for Hamas. As Fox News reports, he has taken the final step into the fevered swamp by embracing 9/11 "trutherism":

But the former Princeton professor would also like to investigate whether "some sort of controlled explosion from within" destroyed the Twin Towers, he told FOXNews.com.

"I do think there are questions that haven't been answered, questions about the way the buildings collapsed and the failure to heed a variety of signals that there was danger coming," Falk said.

"I think [his beliefs are] fruitcake city, but among many delegations to the U.N. it's probably the conventional wisdom," said John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. known for his straight talk on U.N. hypocrisy.

But Hillel Neuer, executive director of U.N. Watch, a non-governmental organization that monitors the U.N., wants Falk removed from his job.

(Emphasis added-DD)


Neuer and others are absolutely correct to demand that Falk be fired. Unfortunately, the UNHCR's willingness to employ a fanatically anti-Israel 9/11 denier as a "human rights" representative is merely symptomatic of a broader problem with that body.

Among the council's list of member countries are flagrant human rights abusers such as Azerbaijan, China, Cuba, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Islamic countries have been increasingly successful in using the UNHCR as a forum for the idea that criticism of Islam should be censored on a global scale. As long as regimes hostile to intellectual and other forms of freedom comprise a majority of the council's members, the UNHCR will continue to make a mockery of its mandate to promote "universal
respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all".