Israel Demands Withdrawal of Food Report

By NAOMI KOPPEL
.c The Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) - Israel on Thursday demanded the withdrawal of a United
Nations report on the food situation in the Palestinian territories,
claiming the author is politically biased.

Yaakov Levy, Israel's ambassador in Geneva, wrote to the chairwoman of
the U.N. Human Rights Commission demanding that Jean Ziegler's report
be ``deemed unfit for presentation'' to the commission when it meets
in the spring.

The move follows an interview with Ziegler on French television
channel LCI, in which he said he was a member of the board of
directors of the Tel Aviv-based Alternative Information Center, which
describes itself as ``a Palestinian-Israeli organization which
disseminates information, research and political analysis ... while
promoting cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis based on the
values of social justice, solidarity and community involvement.''

Levy wrote in his letter that ``Ziegler showed his true colors. He
openly admitted for the first time to membership in a politically
biased non-governmental organization.''

Ziegler, a Swiss sociology professor and former lawmaker, is the
U.N.'s independent expert on the right to food. He visited Israel and
the Palestinian territories in July and later said the Palestinians
had been ``reduced to begging'' by Israeli security measures.

``There is a permanent, grave violation of the right to food by the
occupying forces. There is a catastrophic humanitarian situation, and
really it is absurd,'' he said at the time.

``Markets don't function, peasants don't go to the field, and they are
humiliated in a very, very shocking way.''

Israel had earlier complained because Ziegler had presented his
findings to the media before he had given them to the Israeli
government.

``Mr. Ziegler abused the credentials he possesses ... in order to
embark on a media campaign to blast the state of Israel,'' Levy
said. He added that he believes U.N. authorities should ``consider
Mr. Ziegler unfit for future assignments.''

Ziegler told The Associated Press that he had been involved with the
Alternative Information Center for at least 15 years, as are many
other academics - Israeli, Palestinian and international.

``The aim of the information center is an aim of which I totally
approve - to maintain dialogue.''

He said U.N. independent experts have the right to belong to
organizations that are based in democratic countries and pointed out
that some are appointed directly because of their involvement with
organizations such as Amnesty International.

``This in no way hinders my objectivity or independence,'' he said.

Unusually, the Israeli government had welcomed Ziegler's visit and
allowed him to go where he wanted and ask questions of Israeli
officials. In the past, the government has refused to cooperate with
visits by U.N. human rights experts, insisting that their mandates are
biased.

Its cooperation with Ziegler may have stemmed from his earlier
high-profile criticism of Swiss banks for their handling of Nazi
assets during World War II.