Palestinian Authority blasts UN over removal of report from affiliated website
Powerful UN member states, including the US, had demanded that the commission withdraw its report.
By ADAM RASGONThe United Nations headquarters(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Palestinian Authority blasted the United Nations on Sunday after the international organization instructed the UN Economic and Social Commission in Western Asia to remove a report critical of Israeli policies from its website.Removing the report from its website “encourages Israel to continue its policies of occupation, killing, persecution, settlements and racial division,” PA government spokesman Tariq Rishmawi said in a statement to Wafa, the official PA news agency.UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked commission chairwoman Rima Khalaf to remove the report, which accused of Israel of carrying out an “apartheid regime,” from the website last week.Khalaf resigned on Friday in protest.Powerful UN member states, including the US, had demanded that the commission withdraw its report.“The United States stands with our ally Israel and will continue to oppose biased and anti-Israel actions across the UN system and around the world,” US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said on Wednesday.Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon likened the report on Wednesday to Der Sturmer – a Nazi propaganda publication.The report is no longer available on the commission’s website.PA President Mahmoud Abbas praised Khalaf for resigning in protest and awarded her the Palestine Medal of the Highest Honor. In a phone call to the former chairwoman, Abbas expressed his appreciation for her bravery and for “standing with our people and its just cause.”