Isn Israels human rights record among the best, especially among its other Middle Eastern counterparts?
There is no denying of the fact that the Middle East is mostly ruled by autocratic, oppressive, and undemocratic regimes and Israel is quite progressive with respect to movements such as women’s rights and gay rights, but it is absurd for a nation to claim to be a champion of human rights unless it defends the rights of all people. Israel discriminates quite openly on the basis of religion and ethnicity, which makes it difficult to advance the claim that Israel as a champion of human rights. Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories has failed to protect the human rights of residents there and has not complied with its obligations under international law. Incidentally, until September 1999, Israel was the only country in the world to effectively allow the use of torture, and continues to use practices, such as collective punishment, house demolition, curfews, deportation, restrictions on movement of ambulances, human shields and fails to ensure the safety of the civilian population, a
