By Tim Franks
BBC Middle East correspondent
The next UN investigator into Israeli conduct in the occupied
territories has stood by comments comparing Israeli actions in
Gaza to those of the Nazis.
Speaking to the BBC, Professor Richard Falk said he believed
that up to now Israel had been successful in avoiding the
criticism that it was due.
Professor Falk is scheduled to take up his post for the UN Human
Rights Council later in the year.
But Israel wants his mandate changed to probe Palestinian
actions as well.
Professor Falk said he drew the comparison between the treatment
of Palestinians with the Nazi record of collective atrocity,
because of what he described as the massive Israeli punishment
directed at the entire population of Gaza.
He said he understood that it was a provocative thing to say,
but at the time, last summer, he had wanted to shake the
American public from its tor****.
"If this kind of situation had existed for instance in the
manner in which China was dealing with Tibet or the Sudanese
government was dealing with Darfur, I think there would be no
reluctance to make that comparison," he said.
That reluctance was, he argued, based on the particular
historical sensitivity of the Jewish people, and Israel's
ability to avoid having their policies held up to international
law and morality.
These and other comments from Professor Falk comments are, if
anything, even harsher than the current UN investigator, John
Dugard, who himself has been withering about Israel's actions.
A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that Israel
wanted the UN investigator's mandate changed, so that he could
look into human rights violations by the Palestinians as well as Israel.
If that were not to happen, the Israeli government may consider
barring entry to the new UN investigator.
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