World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder has strongly condemned an article by the special rapporteur of the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council, Richard A. Falk, in which he blames the terrorist attacks at the Boston Marathon earlier this month on Israel and on American foreign policy.
In an article titled 'A Commentary on the Marathon Murders', Falk writes: "As long as Tel Aviv has the compliant ear of the American political establishment, those who wish for peace and justice in the world should not rest easy."
Falk, an American professor, also writes that US President Barack Obama had succumbed "to the Beltway ethos of Israel first, » durin his recent trip and predicts s "worse blowbacks" if the U.S.does not change its Middle East policy.
He adds that "the American global domination project bears responsibility for provoking all kinds of resistance in the post-colonial world and calls for "courage" to "connect some of these dots."
"Terrorism will target Americans until they reflect upon and change their action," says Falk.
Crystallizing his justification of the terrorist attacks, he writes: "Those to whom evil is done, do evil in return."
In a statement, Lauder declared: "The preposterous remarks to which Richard Falk periodically treats the world ought to disqualify him for any position at the United Nations. Yet he continues on the payroll of the UN Human Rights Council as a 'special rapporteur', and senior UN officials are refusing to even comment on his remarks.
"Someone who publicly justifies despicable acts of terrorism and the deliberate murder of civilians by arguing that somehow Israel and the United States are to blame for such acts is unhinged and therefore entirely unsuited to serve as an advisor to what ought to be the world's top human rights body. It is high time that Mr. Falk is removed from his post at the United Nations," he said.
In a letter to Canada's Foreign Minister John Baird, Lauder expressed appreciation over the Canadian government's clear condemnation of Falk. "It is important that Americans and others understand the strong friend that we have in Canada, in Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and particularly you, Canada's Foreign Minister," the WJC president wrote.
In his reaction, Minister Baird said: "Once again, United Nations official Richard Falk has spewed more mean-spirited, anti-Semitic rhetoric, this time blaming the attacks in Boston on President Obama and the State of Israel. The United Nations should be ashamed to even be associated with such an individual."
Lauder told the Canadian Foreign Minister that as "an American, I am deeply ashamed that such shocking statements would be held by a fellow citizen. I am even more horrified by the fact that Falk holds a place of prominence at the United Nations, an institution already sullied by its one-sided approach towards Israel."
In a letter sent earlier this week to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and US Ambassador Susan Rice, Geneva-based monitoring group UN Watch demanded the condemnation of Falk.
"We urge you to condemn Mr. Falk, the UNHRC's permanent investigator of Israel's violations of the bases and principles of international law, for his affront to the memory of those who were killed last week, to the injured, and to the people of Boston. His remarks are a violation of your own policy that UN experts live up to the highest standards, which you set forth two years ago when you admirably rebujed Mr. Falk for spreading 9/11 conspiracy theories on his blog," the letter reads.
Last year, Falk published on his website an anti-Ssemitic cartoon showing a dog wearing a Jewish head covering, and with "USA" written on its body, urinating on a depiction of justice and devouring a bloody skeleton.