Israeli Crimes in Gaza Compelling Evidence of Western Human Rights Failure

IQNA – An Iranian official described the crimes being committed by the Israeli regime in Gaza as the most compelling evidence of the Western human rights failure.

Vice President for Strategic and Parliamentary Affairs Mohsen Esmaeili made the remark in an address to the first international conference on “Human Rights in the Eastern Perspective”, which kicked off at ICRO’s headquarters in Tehran on Monday, April 28, 2025.

“When we look at the crisis in Gaza and the crimes that are taking place there, we see the ineffectiveness of Western human rights,” he said.

He noted that human rights institutions were officially born after two world wars and the huge loss of life and property, in the hope of creating a common dialogue between different countries and preventing further bloodshed.

“That is why they were welcomed by the public and adopted at a pace that is not typical of the international calendar.”

He said these institutions were useful in some cases but failed to achieve their main objectives.

Emaeili said more than 50,000 people, half of them children and women, were attacked by the Zionists, leaving anyone interested in international peace wondering what to do with the ineffective human rights institutions today.

This silence from the so-called human rights institutions on the crimes in Gaza and elsewhere in the world makes all thinkers realize that we need to re-think and come up with new ideas about protecting human rights, he went on to say.

“The cultural East can do this in terms of time and depth of thought and discourse. It has been said by Western historians and the world’s earliest historians that human rights began in the East, and the high view of man began in the East.”

He also invited those attending the conference and those studying the vast expanse of Eastern culture, to study the fact that Islam has the most beautiful and the most complete message on human rights.

“As you study the cultures of the region, study the Quran and Islam’s view of human rights. The Quran says that the value of each human being, regardless of any distinction, is equal to the value of the entire history.”

The first international conference on “Human Rights in the Eastern Perspective” has been organized by the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization in cooperation with the Baqir al-Olum University.

The three-day event is aimed at reevaluating contemporary human rights discourse by drawing from the philosophical, cultural, and civilizational traditions of the East.

With participation of 40 international scholars representing 22 countries, the event seeks to foster critical dialogue and scholarly exchange on how non-Western civilizations and religious traditions can contribute to redefining the foundations of human rights. Organizers hope to establish a network of Eastern scholars and practitioners, laying the groundwork for drafting a human rights framework rooted in cultural diversity, spiritual traditions, and collective identity.

Among the key conceptual pillars of the conference is a critique of the dominant Western-centric model of human rights.

The Eastern perspective emphasizes a communitarian view of human dignity, cultural rights, social responsibility, and moral agency.

Topics of discussion will include solidarity rights, the need to de-centralize human rights institutions from the Global North, and redefining the role of civil society actors beyond state-centric models. Organizers stress that a genuine and pluralistic discourse on human rights must recognize the legitimacy of different moral and epistemological systems and resist efforts to universalize Western liberal norms.

The conference is positioned as part of a broader initiative to establish a sustainable intellectual framework that integrates religious, cultural, and philosophical insights from the East into the global human rights conversation.

4278923