An academy based in Geneva is offering a training course on human rights taught by Miloon Kothari, who made headlines earlier this year for saying social media was largely controlled by the “Jewish lobby”.
During the same interview, Mr Kothari, who is a member of the UN’s Commission of Inquiry investigating alleged human rights violations in Israel, also accused the state of apartheid, and questioned its right to UN membership.
Mr Kothari’s comments caused outcry in Israel, with Prime Minister Yair Lapid accusing the commission of anti-Israel bias and calling on the UN to disband the commission entirely.
His remarks were also condemned by more than 20 countries and by the president of the UN Human Rights Council, Federico Villegas.
The three-member Commission of Inquiry yesterday published a report accusing Israel of violating international law, practicing discriminatory policies against its Arab citizens, stealing natural resources, and of gender-based violence against Palestinian women. Nowhere in the 28-page report made mention of the words “Hamas”, “terrorism”, or “rockets”.
Mr Kothari is president of UPR Info, an NGO dedicated to strengthening the Universal Periodic Review, a process which involves periodic review of the human rights records of all 193 UN Member States.
The Geneva Academy have been approached for comment.
