Quarterly Updates for (16 Feb 2013 — 15 May 2013)

On 3/18, a UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission formally presented its high-profile report on Israel’s West Bank settlements, released in 1/2013 (see Doc. A5 in JPS 167), at the UNHRC’s 22nd session in Geneva. The report— which describes the settlements as a ‘‘creeping form of annexation’’ and calls on Israel to immediately cease construction and ‘‘initiate a process of withdrawal’’—triggered heated debate; Nobel Peace Laureate David Trimble, among the interested outside parties (individuals and organizations) that participated, harshly criticized the conclusion. The U.S. refused to take part in the debate. Mission leader Christine Chanet, who presented the report, urged the international community to take action to cut economic links with the settlements, while Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the HRC that Israeli settler violence ‘‘continues to be perpetrated with impunity.’’

There were no significant developments this quarter concerning the peace process that involved the UN. In 4/2013, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry sounded (4/15) a warning on the occasion of Fayyad’s resignation that the former PM’s state-building agenda was now ‘‘at serious risk.’’