Lack of Basic Research

If I decided to write a blog about all of the issues I have with the United Nations, I would be here forever. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has posted a report from the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) on the status of Christians in Israel "Israel: Situation of Christians; anti-missionary legislation and its use in practice; activities of Yad L'Achim in relation to Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses and Messianic Jews." First off, let me point out that Christians are not refugees in Israel, unless they escaped from another country. This begs the question, "Why is this even on the UNHCR website?" I cannot think of a single valid reason.

As for the report itself, it is a poorly researched and poorly organized report. The first section is titled "Legislation." In this section, the IRB tried to figure out what Israeli law is regarding Christians and missionaries. The IRB appears entirely confused, quoting various sources such as Courrier international, the Associated Press and Israel Faxx. For some reason, it did not occur to anyone at the IRB or the UN to check out the law with the Israeli government.

The law is quite simple. All Israeli citizens have equal rights, no matter what their religion. As for missionaries, it is illegal to try to convert minors without their parent's consent. Further, it is illegal to offer monetary or similar enticements to convert. Had the IRB or UN actually bothered to care about good, solid research they would have never published the report. They actually created confusion in a legal realm that is clearly defined.