Media Contact:
Lilly Freemyer
hadassah@rational360.com
+1-202-669-0998
NEW YORK, NY – In response to the June 12, 2024, reports released by the UN Commission of Inquiry (COI), Carol Ann Schwartz, National President, Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, made the following statement:
"Hadassah, The Women’s Zionist Organization of America, is outraged by the June 12 reports by the biased UN Commission of Inquiry that ignore the overwhelming evidence and fail to hold Hamas responsible for its crimes against humanity, including the clear and systematic weaponization of sexual violence on October 7 and beyond.
"The COI's recent reports show the same bias and distortion as its previous ones, including blaming Israel for both Hamas' October 7 attack and its response in self-defense. The COI's dangerous efforts to downplay and justify Hamas' terrorism and disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians pave the way for violent extremists across the globe to rape and murder civilians with impunity.
"Hadassah has repeatedly called on the UN to disband the unprecedented, unending COI targeting Israel and comprising clearly biased commissioners who have repeatedly made antisemitic statements and excused Hamas' terrorism, in clear violation of UN standards of impartiality.
“We continue to call on Secretary General Guterres to condemn Hamas for its weaponization of sexual violence against Israeli women and girls on and since October 7 and to call these crimes what they are: crimes against humanity.”