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March 27, 2012

Israel Ends Contacts with U.N. Human Rights Council 
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Israel has severed contacts with the United Nations Human Rights Council
after the body launched an international investigation into Jewish
settlements in the occupied West Bank. The decision means that the
fact-finding team the United Nations planned to send to the West Bank
will not be allowed to enter the territory or Israel. Yigal Palmor is a
spokesperson for the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

Yigal Palmor: "With its disproportionate obsession about Israel —
by passing totally unthinkable number of condemnations on Israel, and
Israel only, or almost only — the Human Rights Council have made
all cooperation completely useless. They have made the situation as it
is now and we have therefore decided to sever our working ties with this
body until further notice."
Ghassan Khatib, a spokesperson for the Palestinian government,
criticized Israel's decision.

Ghassan Khatib: "This is a new indicator and another piece of evidence
that Israel does not respect international law or organizations.
Therefore this position should form a challenge to the international
community and should drive them to hold Israel responsible not just
verbally but also in practical terms in a manner that will force Israel
to stop violating the rights of the Palestinian people."



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