Israel rejects recommendations including 'State of Palestine' phrase

Israel Friday refused seven recommendations of member states of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) because they included "State of Palestine" phrase. Israel also abstained from commenting on 231 recommendations proposed by 73 countries to the Jewish state regarding its human rights file. The recommendations called for improving human rights of Palestinians, implementing international agreements including the Fourth Geneva Convention regarding protection of civilians under occupation, as well as ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and implementing the UN Convention against Torture. Deputy head of Palestine Mission to the UN Emad Zuhairi, addressing the UNHRC, criticized Israel's rejection of the recommendations. Israel "does not have the right especially after the UN General Assembly recognized the State of Palestine with an observer status," he added. Mohammad Hamdan, Executive Director of the Palstinian Institute of Human Rights, said the recommendations were not legally binding but rather urging the country to improve human rights voluntarily. Therefore, he told KUNA, the UNHRC did not adopt any serious position against Israel despite submitting its report nine months late. "I think it is necessary to include the issue of non-compliance of countries with the regular review in order to determine the way the council deals with non-cooperative country in a clear manner," he said. Hamdan said this number of recommendations was an indication that the international community was against the Israeli practices coupled with the weak arguments of the Israeli delegation