The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. August 13, 2014 Israel: U.N. War Crimes Probe a "Kangaroo Court" ------------------------------------------------- The Israeli government is rejecting a three-member United Nations panel convened to investigate possible war crimes committed by both Hamas and Israel. Canadian professor of international law William Schabas will head the panel along with Doudou Diène of Senegal, a veteran U.N. human rights expert. British-Lebanese lawyer Amal Alamuddin was initially named to the panel but pulled out shortly after her appointment was announced. She recently made headlines after it was announced she was engaged to marry Hollywood actor George Clooney. On Tuesday, Israeli government spokesperson Mark Regev dismissed the panel as a "kangaroo court." Mark Regev: "This so-called commission of inquiry established by the U.N. Human Rights Council is a travesty. It has about as much credibility as a kangaroo court. And its chairman, well, he has such a documented record of anti-Israel bias, I think any fair-minded person would demand that he recuse himself." Speaking to The Daily Beast, panel Chair William Schabas dismissed claims of an anti-Israel bias as "a slur" and "slander." .