Friday, May 5, 2017

It is the Occupation that makes no Sense

Doron Hindin of the law firm Covington & Burling made the fatal mistake of trying to defend the indefensible, and in the process, highlighted a flaw of logic that demonstrates why the Jewish haggle seems to win at first, but ends up losing in the long run.

Hindin wrote: “The United Nations' campaign against business in Israel makes no sense,” an article that was published on May 2, 2017 in The Washington Post. To make his point, the writer first mentions what the American Congress is doing to stand up to what he calls the “United Nations' campaign,” and then discusses the legal merits of the case. And this is where he commits the mistake that does him in.

The problem according to him is that the UN Human Rights Council is working on creating “a database designed to shame companies for doing business in the West bank.” The fatal mistake happens as a result of utterances he makes throughout the article, and the killer trap which he sets for himself.

First, he says this: “The reality is that any meaningful business in Israel entails business in disputed territories.” Second, he invokes this precedent: “A French Court has held that business in disputed or occupied territory is often essential to ensure the well-being of the local population...” Being a lawyer discussing the legality of the case, he should have immediately realized the need to explain why he says the West Bank is disputed territory and not occupied territory. And he should have attempted to show how the well being of the local population – as stipulated in the precedent he cited – is being served in the West Bank. He did neither.

Hindin also invokes another precedent without explaining how it strengthens his case. Here is how he describes this precedent: “A British tribunal determined that if a company's relationships with foreign governments technically run afoul of ethical norms, the company should work toward leveraging its commercial influence to bring about positive change.” And that's where Hindin traps himself.

Look how it is that instead of strengthening his case, this lawyer shoots himself – not in the foot – but in the head. Mull over the disgrace that follows and don't be embarrassed if you get sick. Here is the lawyer's recommendation: “Meanwhile, multinationals must mobilize in opposition, leveraging their considerable economic ties to prevent the United Nations from erecting harmful hurdles to international businesses”.

What Doron Hindin seeks are not the positive changes that can rectify the ethical norms the companies may have violated – as suggested in the precedent he cited – but those that would legitimize the Israeli violations. So here you have it, an officer of the court that has no compunction invoking what is noble about the human character to justify maintaining what is evil about his client.

How did this man get himself in a situation like this? Well, he started on the wrong foot and kept going without looking back. Here is how he started, and how he dug his own trap: “All 100 U.S. senators admonished the UN for anti-Israel bias, and Sen. Marco Rubio recently sponsored a bill to withhold UN funding because of anti-Israel, or anti-Semitic rhetoric or propaganda”.

If only someone had told him. The truth is that propaganda is done by the few to poison the mind of the many. Whereas the US senators are a few, the billions that the UN represents are the many. To say that the many are propagating their poisonous message among the few is to reveal a level of confused incompetence that should disqualify this man from continuing in this profession.

Had he known better, he would have tried to differentiate, at least in his mind, between “disputed territory” and “occupied territory.” He would have done that to avoid making the mistake of describing the situation in places like Northern Cyprus, Western Sahara, Crimea and Taiwan, as being no different from the situation in the West Bank.

The situation on the ground is this: whereas the indigenous people in those places remain in their homes while the powers “dispute” who should rule the territory, Israel is the undisputed ruler of the West Bank. Moreover, it is helping to chase the indigenous Palestinians out of their homes and territory, to make room for maniacs imported from all over the world, to come and settle in their places. This is how “occupation” is defined.

Like everything having to do with the Jews, this case is discussed by the lawyer that's handling it, in an upside down manner. Perhaps this is why when it comes to Israel; the UN shies away from using its coercive powers to force it to comply with its resolutions.

But to see an American senator sponsor the imposition of coercive measures to force the UN to comply with his wishes, is to create an irony that gives the US senate the look of a private Jewish toilet guarded at the door by a misfit they call Marco.