UN ESCWA Chief Resigns over Report on ‘Apartheid’ Israel

UN Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf resigned under pressure from officials after an ESCWA report named Israel an 'apartheid' state (Photo: Muhammed Ali Akman, Anadolu, via MEMO)

The head of the United Nation’s West Asia commission resigned today after what she described as pressure from the secretary-general to withdraw a report accusing Israel of imposing an “apartheid regime” on Palestinians.

The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), which comprises 18 Arab states, published the report on Wednesday and said it was the first time a UN body had clearly made the charge.

UN Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf announced her resignation at a news conference in Beirut.

UN chief Antonio Guterres accepted the resignation, a UN spokesman said.

“This is not about content, this is about process,” said Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

“The secretary-general cannot accept that an under-secretary-general or any other senior UN official that reports to him would authorize the publication under the UN name, under the UN logo, without consulting the competent departments and even himself,” he told reporters.

(MEMO, PC, Social Media)

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1 Comment

  1. You can imagine who was behind this. The Sec Gen did not act on his own. The power that be pushed him to act. Next step will be to withdraw the report. Shame on him for accepting order from the empire.
    Kudos to Rima Khalaf

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