Closing the barn door after Goldstone escaped

President Obama decided to get involved in the UN Human Rights Council – an organization that was shunned by President Bush – in order to transform it. Barry Rubin reminded us in the wake of the release of the Goldstone report:

The second reason why this development is so important is what it tells about U.S. policy. Remember that the Obama Administration joined the UNHRC based on the explicit argument that it could moderate the radical-dominated group. This strategy has failed.

But so, on a larger-scale, is the concept that President Barack Obama’s “popularity offensive” in which he distanced himself from Israel, lavished devotion on the Palestinian cause, extolled the glories of Islam, and apologized for past U.S. policies would have some beneficial effect.

The policy has done worse than failing it has, predictably, backfired. The question is whether this will be recognized, much less reversed, by the Obama Administration.

Belatedly, the administration appears to be making an effort to change the UNHRC. Here are the statements of the administration’s nominee, Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, to represent the US at the council during her Congressional testimony yesterday:

I intend to promote transparency and objectivity in all of the Council’s endeavors, and will work to ensure that greater focus is given to the most serious human rights violators. With strong U.S. leadership, the Human Rights Council can be encouraged to set priorities based on a more objective assessment of the most pressing human rights abuses and gain enhanced credibility as the lead entity for addressing global human rights concerns.

I am well aware that, if confirmed, my work as U.S. representative to the Human Rights Council will be difficult, and at times may be highly contentious. Much work needs to be done to spread a deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, human rights in all regions of our world. If confirmed, I will specifically endeavor to bring balance to the Council’s unconstructive focus on Israel, and to hold all states accountable for human rights abuses occurring in their countries.

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As a starter I would say that the Obama Administration intended to signal its desire to engage in multilateral organizations by choosing to run for membership of this organization, and, more importantly, to signal the importance of human rights to the United States of America and the focus of human rights in the administration’s foreign policy.

So that was the overarching goal. Without a doubt, this entity has been fixated on Israel. And I would make it a very important goal of mine if confirmed to convey that the Human Rights Council is not the venue for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. You sounded like you were a bit concerned about the way I worded the phrase about bias against Israel. Israel is the only country that has a standing item on the agenda at the council. That’s a problem. We will work to get rid of that.

Since the council was created in 2006, there have been more than 20 resolutions passed on Israel alone. And that’s more than the total number of resolutions on the 191 other member nations in the United Nations combined.

Hillel Neuer is encouraged:

UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer said he “welcomed the firm U.S. commitment to combat the selectivity and politicization at the council, and the impunity it grants to the worst abusers. The council’s perversion of its founding principles continues to cast a shadow upon the reputation of the United Nations as a whole,” said Neuer.

“We trust that the European Union and other democracies will rally behind the new priority of the U.S. government to eliminate Agenda Item 7 – the permanent singling-out Israel for discriminatory treatment at every council session — and thereby achieve real change in Geneva, allowing victims of violations around the world to finally be heard.”

I hope this isn’t just wishful thinking. After all the EU is implicated in promoting the most damaging anti-Israel NGOs. Few EU countries voted against the Goldstone report. In other words, the UNHRC really seems to be consistent with the EU’s warped values. I hope that Dr. Donohoe does what she says she will, but I don’t know that anyone can change the corrupted culture of the council.

FOX News offers a background of Amb. Donohoe.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.