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LAWSUIT AGAINST THE UNHRC

In August 2020, Shurat HaDin filed a defamation lawsuit against the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) on behalf of Rami Levy, an Israeli telecom and supermarket magnate. The UNHRC, claimed that Rami Levy’s establishments in the West Bank violated international law by operating in Judea and Samaria. The UNHRC blacklists 112 companies—virtually all of them in Israel—for their commercial activities inside the West Bank. The lawsuit, filed in a Jerusalem Magistrate Court, has become a landmark case because the United Nations is usually immune from legal action. However, as a result of the specifically racist antisemitic and anti-Israel nature of the UNHRC blacklist and its unmistakable targeting of Israeli and Jewish businesses, the United Nations is in clear violation of its founding charter by practicing overt racism based on nationality and religion. The UNHRC list is deemed as nothing more as a politicized extension of the antisemitic and anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction) movement that routinely employs blood libel in its efforts to ostracize and dehumanize Israeli and Jewish interests. All the companies on the United Nations list, even those outside of Israel, are Jewish-owned. The objective of the UN blacklist is to initiate an international boycott of Rami Levy’s supermarket chains and his communications company. Levy and Shurat HaDin are suing the UNHRC because the mere insinuation that he is violating international law or that he is practicing any form of racism or discrimination is libelous and contrary to reality. According to the PA’s own Central Bureau of Statistics, Palestinians employed by Rami Levy’s companies earn three times what the average Palestinian worker takes home in salary. Additionally, Rami Levy was outraged by the accusation that his company was doing anything that infringed on the rights of anyone. “All of the workers in our market chains are employed regardless of differences in religion, race, or nationality, and [they] are equally entitled,” Levy commented.

https://www.israelhayom.com/2020/08/18/israeli-retailer-sues-unhrc-for-defamation-over-disputed-territories-blacklist/

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/rami-levy-sues-un-for-defamation-after-placement-on-settlement-blacklist-638938

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/society/1597655491-rami-levy-files-unhrc-lawsuit-for-defamation-over-disputed-territories-blacklist

https://www.business-humanrights.org/it/ultime-notizie/israel-rami-levy-files-defamation-suit-against-unhcr-for-publication-of-black-list/

https://www.jewishpress.com/news/global/un/rami-levy-sues-un-for-defamation-over-publishing-of-black-list/2020/08/17/

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/285392

https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/jns/israeli-retailer-sues-unhrc-for-defamation-over-un-blacklist/article_f1479978-1523-5cb6-97e5-7784d15e408a.html