Aayesha J. Soni, a rabid hater of Israel, wrote an opinion piece in South Africa’s The Mail and Guardian, comparing Israel to Hitler.
Why now?
For the first time in history, an Israeli ambassador was recently appointed to chair a permanent UN committee: Danny Danon, who now heads the UN’s Law Committee. Soni’s ramblings against Israel are disguised as a criticism of Ambassador Danon’s appointment.
What are the specific criticisms?
Soni accuses Israel of breaking “more UN resolutions than any other country in UN history,” and of “crimes against humanity,” claiming that this makes Israel “guilty of the same crimes as Hitler.”
Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis specifically fits the international definition of anti-Semitism, as backed by many governments (though not South Africa’s). The comparison is not only untrue, but it is offensive to Israelis, Holocaust survivors, and all people of good conscience.
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What did the author cover up?
Most of the UN resolutions in question are merely advisory and have no legal or binding effect, which means Israel is not required to follow them under UN rules or international law. In addition Soni covered up critical information from Mail & Guardian readers:
1. The United Nations has a well established bias against Israel. This is not merely an opinion:
- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated that there is “a biased attitude towards the Israeli people and Israeli government” and that it is “an unfortunate situation.”
- Former Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed that he is “worried by [the UN Human Rights Council’s] disproportionate focus on violations by Israel.“
- United States Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Powers, said that “Israel is just not treated like other countries,” and that “Bias has extended well beyond Israel as a country, [but to] Israel as an idea.”
2. The resolutions Soni refers to were passed with the help of some of the world’s most anti-Semitic countries and heinous human rights abusers, such as:
- Saudi Arabia, whose UN delegate Marouf al-Dawalibi said “The Talmud says that if a Jew does not drink every year the blood of a non-Jewish man, he will be damned for eternity.” (The Talmud does not say that.)
- Libya, whose UN representative Ali Treiki said, “Is it not the Jews who are exploiting the American people and trying to debase them?” (Jews are not.)
- Syria, who’s UN Ambassador insisted that Jews killed Christian children in order to use their blood to make matzos. (Jews do not. However, such “Blood Libel” claims have been used as excuses to murder Jews since at least the twelfth century).
3. The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has an unhealthy obsession with Israel, which we discussed in this HonestReporting video.
Among other shortcomings, the UNHRC has passed more resolutions against Israel than the rest of the world combined.
To put this in perspective: there are currently 40 armed conflicts in the world, including: genocides, torture and sex slavery by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the Syrian civil war which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, the disastrous war in Yemen, massive executions in Iran and Saudi Arabia, the list goes on and on.
And yet all of those disastrous situations combined garner less attention at the UNHRC than Israel: the only democracy in the Middle East. In fact, the average death toll per year in Syria is greater than the total number of people who have died in conflicts with Israel ever, on both sides, since 1948. But the UNHRC doesn’t seem to care.
4. Aayesha J. Soni is particularly hateful toward Israel on a personal level, and she has little regard for reality or truth. Just a few examples from Soni’s Titter account:
https://twitter.com/AayeshaJ/status/5641795748757505?lang=en
- She falsely calls Israel a “world leader in international terrorism.”
- She repeated the story that Israel had cut off water to Palestinians even though it had already been proven false (as we discuss in this detailed HonestReporting article).
- She incorrectly says that America sends Israel tens of trillions of dollars to “continue the occupation.”
- She incorrectly refers to Israeli self-defense as “murder” or “indiscriminate attacks” with no mention of the thousands of Palestinian terror attacks targeting Israeli civilians against which Israel is defending, nor Israel’s tremendous measures to prevent civilian casualties.
This HonestReporting video gives additional detail on the lie about cutting off water to Palestinians:
It is clear from history and from statements by key UN members and Secretaries General that UN resolutions are not a reliable way to judge the nature of Israel as a country. Nonetheless, Israel stays engaged with the UN and the international community, including by serving on UN committees.
Ambassador Danon’s appointment to chair the Legal Committee is a significant accomplishment for the young Jewish state, and a sign of Israel’s commitment to positive international engagement.
Rather than recognize Israel’s positive contribution, Aayesha J. Soni spews a collection of half truths, outright lies and virulent anti-Semitism. In fact, the only similarity between this story and Hitler is Soni’s prodigious use of lies and propaganda, and of course her deep-seated hatred.
The Mail and Guardian should know better than to publish Soni’s works of hateful fiction completely unchallenged.
Please share your considered comments with the The Mail and Guardian at [email protected].
