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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) is openly flouting demands from UN Secretary General António Guterres to remove a report accusing Israel of being an “apartheid regime” by posting similar statements on social media.

The NGO UNWatch is urging Guterres to take action against these posts.

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The ESCWA, which is comprised of representatives of 18 Arab states and has consistently excluded Israel from membership, published a report in March on its website claiming that Israel is an apartheid state with the main goal of dominating Palestinians. The report was not authorized by Guterres and was co-authored by Richard Falk, a former U.N. official who earned harsh criticism from former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for publicizing 9-11 conspiracy theories. A number of these “truther” theories allege that the Israeli Mossad was behind the 9-11 attacks.

Pressure to remove the report came from U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who told Guterres that he should go beyond simply condemning the report, but demand that it be removed altogether.

UN Under Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf resigned when Guterres ordered her to remove the unauthorized report from the ESCWA website. Haley welcomed the resignation of Kahalf, and stated, according to UNWatch, “When someone issues a false and defamatory report in the name of the U.N., it is appropriate that the person resign. U.N. agencies must do a better job at eliminating false and biased work.”

Although ESCWA removed the report and Khalaf resigned, the organization still has material on the website as well as social media posts that continue to accuse Israel of apartheid tactics. On International Women’s Day, Khalaf used Guterres photo message to draw attention to her own remarks about “the Israeli apartheid regime.” These remarks remain on the website. In addition, there are numerous posts from 2014 to 2017 that claim that Israel is practicing apartheid and call to overthrow the “Israeli apartheid regime.”

UNWatch identified over 20 posts that accuse Israel of practicing apartheid.

UNWatch director Hillel Neuer said, “Former secretary-general Kofi Annan rightly described the General Assembly’s 1975 “Zionism is Racism” resolution as the low point of the UN’s experience with antisemitism. ESCWA’s “Israel apartheid” slurs are but the latest reincarnation of the same libel—and we urge Mr. Guterres to order them removed immediately.”

UNWatch sent the following letter to: UN Secretary General António Guterres:

Letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
Regarding ESCWA’s Israel Apartheid Slurs

Dear Secretary-General Guterres,

As you have just sworn in a new head of ESCWA, we urge your intervention on a serious matter. In March, you rightly took action to remove ESCWA’s unauthorized publication of a false report that obscenely demonized Israel as an “Apartheid” state.

As you noted, the Executive Secretary of ESCWA is a representative of the Secretary-General, and as such you are obliged to uphold UN discipline.
We are therefore alarmed to discover that, despite your clear and unequivocal stand, numerous ESCWA webpages, Facebook posts, and tweets continue to display this same “Israel Apartheid” slur.

For example, on 6 March, your then-representative Rima Khalaf abused the occasion of International Women’s Day at UN House in Beirut—with your photo on display, and right after your message was read—to attack “the Israeli apartheid regime.”

A room full of UN officials heard it, yet failed to object. Ms. Khalaf is gone, yet her obscene remarks are still online on the UN site.
Likewise, ESCWA’s Facebook page includes the following posts, dating from 2014 to 2017:
• “Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state”;
• Israeli practices “amount to apartheid”;
• the Palestinian people are being “subjected to an apartheid system.”

In one post from March that is still online, your former representative called for the “overthrow” of “the Israeli apartheid regime.”

In this new UN Watch report, we document at least 20 different UN publications or posts that demonize Israel as an “apartheid” state.

Former secretary-general Kofi Annan rightly described the General Assembly’s 1975 “Zionism is Racism” resolution as the low point of the UN’s experience with antisemitism. ESCWA’s “Israel apartheid” slurs are but the latest reincarnation of the same libel—and we respectfully urge you to order them removed immediately.

Sincerely,
Hillel Neuer
Executive Director
UN Watch

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