Great news; yesterday the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva adopted the Goldstone report. Is it any wonder that human rights rhetoric isn’t taken serious by Arabs? Here’s France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in action, defending Israel against Goldstone:
France called on Friday to delay the UN Human Rights Council vote in Geneva regarding the adoption of the Goldstone Gaza Report by half an hour in a last-minute attempt to lobby allies to reject the report’s findings.
But a few days back, here is Kouchner arguing for human rights when Israel isn’t in the neighbourhood. He wants an investigation of the Guinean massacre of 150 demonstrators last month.
By the way, Kouchner and Bernard-Henri Levy considered Tariq Ramadan to be a craven anti-semite because Ramadan argued years ago that French Jewish intellectuals like Kouchner and Bernard-Henri Levy pretended to be secular in outlook but supported Israel. Kouchner and BHL were outraged and accused tariq of anti-semitism. Outraged. Look here.
In the article he criticizes a number of French Jewish intellectuals and figures such as Alexandre Adler, Alain Finkielkraut, Bernard-Henri Lévy, André Glucksmann and Bernard Kouchner, for allegedly abandoning universal human rights, and giving special status to the defence of Israel. Per Wikipedia, he also criticized Paul Wolfowitz whom he called "a notable Zionist." Ramadan was accused, in return, of anti-semitism and having used inflammatory language.
The backlash was instant and it was intense. Bernard Kouchner and Bernard-Henri Levy were ruthless in their attack on Tariq for this embarrassing charge upon their integrity and a public vilification followed. Kouchner, otherwise a humanitarian, called Tariq “the most dangerous man in Europe.”
