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The awkwardly named position of United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, has always been controversial.

The past one, Makaram Wibisono, an Indonesian former diplomat, quit earlier this year, saying he failed in his mandate because Israel declined to give him access to the Palestinian territories. His predecessor was Richard Falk, who was widely criticized for anti-Israel extremism.

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Now, the office is beset with a curiously Canadian scandal, thanks to the swift condemnation of Michael Lynk, the new Canadian appointee, by Stéphane Dion, Canada’s Foreign Minister, arguably on spurious grounds.

Lynk, a professor of law at Western University in London, Ont., defended himself on Monday, saying he has been unfairly attacked with “snippets” of his writings and speeches taken deliberately out of context.