Photo: The Canadian Press Bob Rae speaks at a news conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Monday, July 6, 2020. Canada’s UN ambassador condemns as anti-Semitic comments by a UN Human Rights Commissioner that social media is controlled by “the Jewish lobby. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations in New York is condemning “blatantly biased, anti-Semitic comments” by a human rights researcher at the international body. Bob Rae says in a tweet that the comments by Miloon Kothari, who sits on a UN commission of inquiry set up in response to last year’s 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, are “an embarrassment to the institutions that are supposed to are dedicated to the canon. law’s.” Kothari drew attention for remarks he made during a Monday podcast interview for Mondoweiss, a news and analysis website that says it provides an underrepresented perspective on Palestinian rights in its coverage of the region and related U.S. foreign policy. . In the interview, Kothari questioned why Israel is a member of the UN and said he was frustrated by social media that he claimed was controlled by “the Jewish lobby” and “certain” non-governmental organizations. The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, an advocacy group, urged the Canadian government to condemn what it called the appointment of biased members to the commission of inquiry, saying Kothari was in flagrant violation of UN rules on impartiality. Kothari, who was the first UN special rapporteur on adequate housing, is one of three members of the commission of inquiry supported by the UN Human Rights Council. Ambassador Michèle Taylor, who is the US permanent representative to the UN Human Rights Council, also condemned Kothari’s “outrageous, anti-Semitic comments” and called on Michelle Bachelet, the UN human rights chief, to denounce them as well .
