Anti-Israel Resolutions at the HRC

Below is the updated list of one-sided resolutions against Israel adopted by the UN Human Rights Council since its creation in June 2006. The council was designed as an improvement over the discredited Commission on Human Rights, but has tragically repeated and even intensified the same biases.

The council has criticized Israel on 19 separate occasions, in resolutions that grant effective impunity to Hamas, Hezbollah and their state sponsors. Obsessed with condemning Israel, the Council in its first year failed to condemn human rights violations occurring in any of the world’s 191 other countries. In its second year, the Council finally criticized one other country when it “deplored” the situation in Burma, but only after it censored out initial language containing the word “condemn.”

The Council’s fixation with Israel is not limited to resolutions. Israel is the only country listed on the Council’s permanent agenda (Item 7). Moreover, Israel is the only country subjected to an investigatory mandate that examines the actions of only one side, presumes those actions to be violations, and which is not subject to regular review.

To see the Council's resolutions during its first year (2006-2007), click here
To see the Council's resolutions during its second year (2007-2008), click here

1^st Council Year (2006-2007)

	Resolution	Sponsors	Summary	Analysis	Status
1	A/HRC/1/106 Human rights situation in Palestine and other Occupied Arab Territories	11 members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (“Islamic Group countries”), and Cuba	“Requests the relevant special rapporteurs to report…on the Israeli human rights violations in occupied Palestine...” “Decides to undertake substantive consideration of the human rights violations…of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories...”	Condemns Israel but ignores Palestinian violations. Calls for expert reports with Israel prejudged as guilty. Forces focus on Israel’s conduct at every future Council meeting.	• Adopted, 6/30/06 Vote: 29 Yes, 12 No, 5 Abstain
2	A/HRC/S-1/1 Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory	14 Islamic Group countries, Cuba	“Express[es] deep concern at the breaches by Israel…of international humanitarian law and human rights law...” “Expresses grave concern at the violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people caused by the Israeli occupation...Decides to dispatch an urgent fact-finding mission...”	Condemns Israel for military actions in Gaza but ignores Hamas attack precipitating crisis. Ignores ongoing Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians. Demands fact-finding mission to examine only Israeli conduct.	• Adopted, 7/6/06 Vote: 29 Yes, 11 No, 5 Abstain
3	A/HRC/S-2/1 The grave situation of human rights in Lebanon caused by Israeli military operations	12 Islamic Group countries, Cuba	“Condemn[s] Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which constitute gross and systematic human rights violations of the Lebanese people...” “Appalled at the massive violations of the human rights of the people of Lebanon by Israel resulting in the massacre of thousands of civilians...Outraged at the continuing senseless killings by Israel, with impunity, of children, women, the elderly and other civilians...”	Condemns only Israeli conduct; ignores Hezbollah’s incursion into Israel, firing of rockets at Israeli civilians, and use of Lebanese civilians as human shields. Creates inquiry commission to investigate only Israeli conduct. Complicates Security Council peace effort.	• Adopted, 8/11/06 Vote: 27 Yes, 11 No, 8 Abstain
4	A/HRC/S-3/1 Human rights violations emanating from Israeli military incursions in the Occupied Territory, including the recent one in Northern Gaza and the assault on Beit Hanoun	13 Islamic Group countries, South Africa, Cuba	“Israeli military incursions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the recent incursion in northern Gaza and the assault on Beit Hanoun, constitute a collective punishment...Israeli willful killing of Palestinian civilians, including women and children, constitutes a gross violation of human rights law and international humanitarian law...Decides to dispatch urgently a high-level fact-finding mission…to travel to Beit Hanoun...to protect Palestinian civilians against any further Israeli assaults...”	Neglects to mention that Hamas was the aggressor by launching Kassam rockets against Israeli civilian centers, using its fellow citizens as human shields by attacking from urban areas. Omits to mention Israel had fully withdrawn from Gaza only to be attacked from the territory it left. Dispatches fact-finding mission to investigate Israel only; makes no distinction between intentional killings and accidents of war.	• Adopted, 11/15/06 Vote: 32 Yes, 8 No, 6 Abstain
5	A/HRC/2/3 Human rights in the Occupied Syrian Golan	8 Islamic Group countries, Cuba	Expresses “deep concern at the suffering of the Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan...” “Calls upon Israel to desist from its repressive measures against them...”	One-sided, ignores Syrian rejectionism and sponsorship of terrorism. Redundant to 2 resolutions adopted this year by the General Assembly.	• Adopted, 11/27/06 Vote: 32 Yes, 1 No, 14 Abstain
6	A/HRC/2/4 Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and in the Occupied Golan	11 Islamic Group countries, Cuba	“Express[es] grave concern about the continuing construction, contrary to international law, by Israel of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory...”	Unbalanced text ignores Palestinian terrorism and other violations. Redundant to resolutions adopted this year by the General Assembly.	• Adopted, 11/27/06 Vote: 45 Yes, 1 No, 1 Abstain
7	A/HRC/3/1 Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: Follow-up on Res. S-1/1	11 Islamic Group countries, Cuba	“Calls for the speedy implementation of its resolution S-1/1...” (see A/HRC/S-1/1 above)	Requires Israel to comply with one-sided factfinding mission.	• Adopted, 12/8/06 Vote: 34 Yes, 1 No, 12 Abstain
8	A/HRC/3/3 Report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon	Pakistan on behalf of the Islamic Group	“Recall[s] resolution S-2/1…on ‘The grave situation of human rights in Lebanon caused by Israeli military operations...’” (see A/HRC/S-2/1 above)	Adopts and requires follow-up action on one-sided report.	• Adopted without vote, 12/8/06
9	A/HRC/4/2 Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: follow-up to the Human Rights Council Res. S-1/1 and S-3/1	Algeria for the Arab Group and Pakistan for the Islamic Group	“Regret that Israel, the occupying Power, has not implemented to date these two resolutions and hindered the dispatching of the urgent fact-finding missions...”	Criticizes Israel for refusing to cooperate with fact-finding missions that were deemed one-sided by major democracies and human rights groups.	• Adopted without vote, 3/27/07
10	A/HRC/5/1 Institution-building of the UN Human Rights Council Purportedly adopted by consensus on 6/18/07 (Note: Canada requested to vote against the resolution, on the basis of its selective treatment of Israel and other grounds, but was denied the right to vote. See “Timeline: How the UN Human Rights Council Was Born"	Human Rights Council President Luis Alfonso de Alba, following consultations with Council members	“[Agenda] Item 7: Human Rights Situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories. Human rights violations and implications of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and other occupied Arab territories. Right to self determination of the Palestinian people.” “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. (The duration of this mandate has been established until the end of the occupation.)”	Singles out Israel for permanent indictment as the only country subjected to a standing agenda item, at every Council session. Adoption of this item was criticized by S-G Ban Ki-moon on 6/20/07. Extends indefinitely the one-sided mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Palestine, which investigates only Israeli actions, all of which are presumed in advance to be violations. The only geographic mandate of the Council not subjected to regular review.	• Purportedly adopted by consensus, 6/18/07

2nd Council Year (2007-2008)

	Resolution	Sponsors	Summary	Analysis	Status
11	OM/1/1 Report of the UN High Commissioner on the follow-up to the report of the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon	Pakistan for the Islamic Group countries, Sudan for the Arab League	"Recalling its resolution S-2/1 of 11 August 2006 on “The grave situation of human rights in Lebanon caused by Israeli military operations..."	Seeks to implement one-sided resolution S-2/1 (see above A/HRC/S-2/1).	• Adopted without a vote, 6/20/07
12	OM/1/2 Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolutions S-1/1 and S-3/1	Pakistan for the Islamic Group countries, Sudan for the Arab League	"Noting with regret that Israel, the occupying Power, has not to date implemented these two resolutions and hindered the dispatching of the urgent fact-finding missions specified therein..."	Seeks to implement one-sided resolutions S-1/1 and S-3/1 (see above A/HRC/S-1/1, A/HRC/S-3/1).	• Adopted without a vote, 6/20/07
13	A/HRC/6/18 Human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: follow-up to Human Rights Council resolutions S-1/1 and S-3/1	Iraq for the Arab Group, Pakistan for the Islamic Group	“Noting with regret that Israel, the occupying Power, has not implemented to date these two resolutions and hindered the dispatching of the urgent fact-finding missions specified therein…”	Seeks implementation of biased Council resolutions (see above A/HRC/S-1/1 and A/HRC/S-3/1).	• Adopted without a vote, 9/28/07
14	A/HRC/6/19 Religious and cultural rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem	Iraq for the Arab Group, Pakistan for the Islamic Group, Venezuela	“Deeply concerned at the Israeli actions undermining the sanctity and inviolability of religious sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including East Jerusalem...” “Deeply concerned also at the Israeli policy of closures and the severe restrictions, including curfews and the permit regime, that continue to be imposed on the movement of Palestinians and their free access to their holy sites, including Al Aqsa Mosque...”	Dismisses Israel’s attempts to safeguard religious sites. Criticizes Israel for implementing security measures without mentioning terrorism and Israel’s legitimate security needs.	• Adopted, 9/28/07 Vote: 31 Yes, 1 No, 15 Abstain
15	A/HRC/S-6/1 Human rights violations emanating from Israeli military attacks and incursions, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip	Pakistan for the Islamic Group countries, Syria for the Arab League	"Expresses grave concern at the repeated Israeli military attacks carried out in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, which have resulted in loss of life and injuries among Palestinian civilians, including women and children..." "Calls for urgent international action to put an immediate end to the grave violations committed by the occupying Power, Israel, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the series of incessant and repeated Israeli military attacks and incursions therein and the siege of the occupied Gaza Strip..."	One-sided, condemns only Israeli conduct; ignores Hamas’ actions and the firing rockets at Israeli civilian centers. Omits to mention Israel had fully withdrawn from Gaza only to be attacked from the territory it left.	• Adopted 1/24/08 Vote: 30 Yes, 1 No, 15 Abstain
16	A/HRC/7/1 Human rights violations emanating from Israeli military attacks and incursions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly the recent ones in the occupied Gaza Strip	Pakistan for the Islamic Group countries, Palestine for the Arab League	"Expresses its shock at the Israeli bombardment of Palestinian homes and the killing of civilians therein and at the Israeli policy of inflicting collective punishment against the civilian population..." "...Calls for urgent international action to put an immediate end to the grave violations committed by the occupying Power, Israel..." "Calls for the immediate cessation of all Israeli military attacks throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the firing of crude rockets..."	One-sided text selectively and disproportionately condemns Israel, fails to mention Hamas. In cynical gesture, expressly downplays nature of rocket attacks (“crude”) and suffering (“some”) of Israeli civilians.	• Adopted 3/6/08 Vote: 33 Yes, 1 No, 13 Abstain
17	A/HRC/7/30 Human Rights in the Occupied Syrian Golan	Palestine for the Arab Group, Pakistan for the Islamic Group countries, Belarus, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Zimbabwe	"Deeply concerned at the suffering of the Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan due to the systematic and continued violation of their fundamental and human rights by Israel since the Israeli military occupation of 1967..." "Taking note with deep concern of the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories (A/62/360) in which the Committee refers to the grave deterioration in the human rights situation in...the occupied Syrian Golan..."	Addresses territorial dispute unrelated to individual rights. Redundant to resolutions adopted this year on the same topic by the General Assembly, e.g., A/RES/62/110. Fails to address Syrian support for enemies of the peace process and sponsorship of terrorism. Accuses only Israel of acting against the peace process.	• Adopted, 3/28/08 Vote: 32 Yes, 1 No, 14 Abstain
18	A/HRC/7/17 Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination	Pakistan for the Islamic Group, Palestine for the Arab League	"...The construction of the wall by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, along with measures previously taken, severely impedes the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination..." "Stresses the need for respect for and preservation of the territorial unity, contiguity and integrity of all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem..." "Urges all Member States and relevant bodies of the United Nations system to support and assist the Palestinian people in the early realization of their right to self-determination..."	Prejudges negotiations on core issues of peace process. Redundantly asserts Palestinian claim that Israel already recognized. Fails to mention role of Hamas terrorism and that of other extremist groups in severely impeding right to self-determination of both Palestinians and Israelis. Breaches non-selectivity principle by enacting self-determination resolution concerning claim against only one member state.	• Adopted without a vote, 3/27/08
19	A/HRC/7/18 Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan	Pakistan for the Islamic Group, Palestine for the Arab League	"Expressing grave concern at the continuing construction...by Israel of the wall inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem..."	One-sided text fails to mention or criticize Hamas terrorism, contravenes balanced approach of Road Map peace process. Redundant to GA resolutions already adopted this year on same issue, e.g., A/RES/62/108.	• Adopted 3/27/08 Vote: 46 Yes, 1 No, 0 Abstain