Ashrawi: Nominating Israel to Chair UN Committee is ‘Asking the Wolf to Guard the Sheep’

Bethlehem, 04 Ramadan 1437/09 June 2016 (MINA) – Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi slammed on Wednesday a decision to nominate Israel to chair a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) legal committee as “asking the wolf to guard the sheep.”

The Western European and Others Group (WEOG) regional bloc, of which Israel is a part, nominated the country for the chairmanship of the UNGA Sixth Committee, which the UN describes as the “primary forum for the consideration of legal questions in the General Assembly.”

“It is ironic that Israel, a state that continues to breach international law and conventions, international humanitarian law and countless UN resolutions, is being nominated to head a legal committee that aims to promote international law and protect basic human rights and freedoms,” Ashrawi was quoted by Ma’an as saying in a statement.

By nominating Israel, Ashrawi added, the WEOG bloc was “making a mockery of the international legal system and rewarding Israel for its flagrant violations of international law and acts of collective punishment and violence.”

The Palestinian official further called on the regional bloc to withdraw its nomination of Israel, and to “hold it accountable for its persistent violations of international law and human rights.” (T/R07/R01)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)