Graham: U.N. move 'anti-Semitic'

Graham: U.N. move ‘anti-Semitic’

Graham calls the U.N. Human Rights report “a joke” | AP Photo

By JONATHAN TOPAZ |

7/27/14 10:27 AM EDT

Sen. Lindsey Graham on Sunday accused the United Nations of being “anti-Semitic.”

During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the South Carolina Republican slammed the U.N. Human Rights Council for its vote last week to launch an investigation into potential human rights abuses in Gaza. The U.N. top human rights official, Navi Pillay, suggested both Hamas and Israel had committed war crimes in their attacks that have killed civilians in Gaza.

Twenty-nine countries voted in favor of the resolution that would launch an inquiry into violations in Gaza and 17 states abstained. The U.S. was the only country that voted against the resolution.

Graham, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pushed back on the vote with harsh words.

“[I would] condemn the U.N. human rights report that holds Israel responsible for the activity here,” he said. “The U.N. Human Rights report is a joke. The U.N. is becoming anti-Israeli, anti-Semitic. I would push back. Congress will do this.”

The senator added that he would coordinate efforts with Democratic Sens. Chuck Schumer of New York and Robert Menendez of New Jersey, though he offered no specifics on what that would mean.

The Associated Press reported Saturday night that 1,047 Palestinians had died since the conflict began, with more than 6,000 wounded, compared with fewer than 50 Israelis. The United Nations estimated last week that 75 percent of those Palestinians who had been killed were civilians. The Israeli government has accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields in Gaza to restrict Israel’s ability to use air power against militants and their air supply.

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