UN prevented Erdan from displaying pro-Hitler posts by UNRWA teacher
UN security personnel stopped Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan from bringing a display poster into the General Assembly on Monday showing a social-media post by a UNRWA teacher that glorified Hitler.43 countries pledge to combat antisemitism at UNHRC session
“I see it as a very dangerous precedent here, preventing my freedom of expression, preventing my freedom of speech and hiding the truth from the UN,” Erdan said during his public speech to the UNGA.
He had meant to display the post during a discussion on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees so that he could illustrate his concern about the problem of incitement in UNRWA schools.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan decrying the UN's prevention of his display of pro-Hitler posts by an UNRWA teacher, October 4, 2021.
“I am shocked because I brought here with me a photo of a UNRWA teacher’s post glorifying the most horrific mass murderer in history, Adolf Hitler,” Erdan said. “Unfortunately, shockingly, I was prevented from bringing in this photo in order to share this proof with the other distinguished ambassadors here.”
UN protocol prevents ambassadors from using props when delivering speeches, a UN representative told The Jerusalem Post.
However, heads of state who speak during the high-level opening sessions that take place every September can do so, the representative added.
Statement led by Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia in coordination with World Jewish Congress
At least 43 countries signed a statement pledging to combat antisemitism that was issued at the 48th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva on Monday.
The statement was led by Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with the coordination of the World Jewish Congress.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg warned of the dangers of antisemitism in a video statement, saying that "we will remain steadfast in our pledge, never again."
"Even 75 years after the end of World War II it is a tragic reality that antisemitism is not a thing of the past," Schallenberg said. "This venom still exists, right in the midst of our societies. This is why today we declare our unequivocal solidarity in the face of hatred."
The statement was read at the start of a debate on racism, antisemitism and the growing threat from hate speech and the glorification of Nazism.
Countries that signed the declaration include: Israel, Germany, the United States, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Honduras, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Australia, the United Kingdom, Greece, Belgium, Cyprus, Ukraine, Cameroon, Japan, Slovenia, Argentina, Armenia, Croatia, Finland, New Zealand, Guatemala, Colombia, Chile, Poland, Moldova, the Netherlands, Latvia, Romania, Seychelles, Lithuania, Estonia, Uruguay, Norway and Sweden.
Also at the UNHRC special session on Monday, the World Jewish Congress and the Muslim World League issued a joint a statement calling for the protection of human rights for all in what is the first joint declaration between Jewish and Muslim organizations at a UN body.
The fall season of ?@JIPodcast? kicks off with ?@mikepompeo?. Topics: Iran, Afghanistan, Abraham Accords, Israel & the possible reopening of a consulate in Jerusalem. Plus: ?@jarrodbernstein? & I discuss Iron Dome funding & @Unilever. https://t.co/AS4mtMIBIu
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