The European Leadership Network (ELNET) and UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) have submitted a forceful, 40-page memorandum to the International Court of Justice, which is considering a case that targets Israel. At the end of last year the UN General Assembly asked the International Court “What are the legal consequences arising from the ongoing violation by Israel of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination?” To assist the Court to answer this loaded question, the UN Secretary-General has provided 29,000 pages of documents relating to Israel produced by the UN since 1967. ELNET and UKLFI’s memorandum says that this documentation is highly unreliable and the product of the UN’s longstanding anti-Israel bias. ELNET and UKLFI argue that the Court is not in a position to give a judicial opinion in the case because the information is too unreliable. They also say that to enable self-determination it is necessary to establish the will of the Palestinian people and to resolve critical issues (including the status of Jerusalem, security and borders) by negotiations in a political process under the Oslo Accords. They point out that the will of Palestinians has not been clearly established. The Palestinian Authority has not held a general election since 2006. According to an opinion poll carried out by the Palestinian news agency, SHFA, in December 2021, 93% of the Jerusalem’s Arabs prefer a continuation of Israeli rule over a united city. It would appear from this that the self-determination of Arabs in Jerusalem is promoted by Israel’s exercise of sovereignty over the whole of the city. The advisory opinion which the Court has been asked to give will not be binding. However, it will be treated by many as authoritative. If it adopts allegations defaming Israel made in the documents provided to it, these will be taken to be incontestably true, and this will promote antisemitism around the world. The memorandum by ELNET and UKLFI notes that since 2015, the UN General Assembly has adopted 140 resolutions condemning Israel and 64 resolutions condemning all other countries in the rest of the world combined; the UN Human Rights Council has adopted 104 resolutions condemning Israel and 97 condemning all other countries combined; and the World Health Organisations has adopted 9 resolutions condemning Israel and none condemning other countries. Moreover the resolutions condemning Israel are distinguished by their harsh and one-sided content. NGOs providing false information blaming Israel are facilitated and encouraged by the UN, while NGOs attempting to set the record straight are effectively censored at the UN by dirty tricks. The UN’s discrimination against Israel has been recognised by its former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as well as in a letter signed by all 100 members of the US Senate, including strong critics of some Israeli policies such as Bernie Sanders. ELNET and UKLFI draw attention to the fact that the International Court’s previous opinion regarding Israel’s West Bank security barrier was based on inaccurate and one-sided information provided by the UN Secretariat. This was clearly shown by an outstanding judgment of Aharon Barak, then President of Israel’s Supreme Court, in the Alfei Menashe case. Amongst other … Continue reading ELNET and UKLFI challenge false allegations against Israel in International Court