Report: Israel demands removal of UN official who blamed Arab problems on Israel

Rima Khalaf

In late February I wrote about a report written by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), where Israel wa blamed for pretty much all the problems in the Arab world.

The head of ESCWA, Rima Khalaf, amplified the report's thesis when she effectively said Israel has no business existing:

Foreign interference comes in various forms, such as violations of Arab rights and dignity, but its worst manifestation is the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the Syrian Golan Heights and Lebanese territories, in flagrant breach of all international conventions and resolutions.

The authors of the report claim that the damage caused by Israeli policies is not limited to occupation activities, but they believe that aggressive Israeli policies, including its support for discord aimed at establishing Arab sectarian mini-States and its nuclear programme that is not subject to international monitoring, pose a continuous threat to the security of Arab citizens in the region as a whole.

The most dangerous of these policies is Israel's adamancy that it is a Jewish State, which violates the rights of both the Muslim and Christian indigenous populations and revives the concept of state ethnic and religious purity, which caused egregious human suffering during the twentieth century.

The report claims that Arab rights would not have been trampled; Jerusalem would not have suffered under Judaization policies, land confiscation and the expulsion of populations; and Muslim and Christian holy shrines would not have been desecrated if Arabs had stood united and coordinated their efforts, or at least met their existing commitments to joint defence.

According to Arabic media, Israel is demanding the the UN fire Rima Khalaf for these remarks. The story says that Ambassador Ron Prosor wrote a letter to Ban Ki-Moon requesting her removal from her position.