In a letter sent today by UN Watch, an independent Swiss non-governmental watchdog group that holds special consultative status with the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is being asked to take action to remove Francesca Albanese from her post as the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur tasked with investigating “Israel’s violations.”

The full text of the letter follows below.

_________

22 November 2023

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
The United Nations
New York, NY 10027
United States

Dear Secretary-General Guterres,

We are deeply concerned over gross violations of UN rules and basic professional ethics by Ms. Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. Her recent trip to Australia as Special Rapporteur was sponsored by known Palestinian lobby groups in that country: The Australian Friends of Palestine Association and Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, as well as the Free Palestine Melbourne and Palestinian Christians in Australia. As part of this trip, Ms. Albanese delivered the annual Edward Said Memorial Lecture in Adelaide and made media appearances, including an address to the National Press Club, in which she repeatedly echoed the Hamas narrative, claiming Israel’s right to self-defence was “non-existent.”

As you know, independence and impartiality are basic requirements for UNHRC Special Procedures under Article 3 of the Code of Conduct, which requires them to be “free from any kind of extraneous influence…either direct or indirect.” In addition, they may not “seek nor accept instructions” from any “non-governmental organization or pressure group whatsoever,” or accept any “favour, gift or remuneration” from any ”non-governmental source for activities carried out in pursuit of his/her mandate.”

The lobbyists’ sponsorship of Ms. Albanese’s trip constitutes a blatantly prohibited form of favour, gift or remuneration under Article 3. The financial favour further subjects Albanese to prohibited direct or indirect influence. Indeed, these groups have urged her to sue an organization that called out­­­ her pro-Hamas remarks. All of this is on top of Ms. Albanese’s disgraceful antisemitism and support for terrorism.

She has said that “America is subjugated by the Jewish Lobby.”

Last year, she told a Hamas conference, “You have a right to resist.”

Since October 7^th, she has whitewashed Hamas’ atrocities. She routinely portrays Israelis as Nazis.

In light of the above gross violations of UN rules and basic ethics, we urge you to take action to remove Ms. Albanese immediately from her position as Special Rapporteur.

­­­

Sincerely,

Hillel C. Neuer
Executive Director

BREAKING: Expensive Australian trip by pro-Hamas UN official was funded by Palestinian lobby groups in breach of UN's own Code of Conduct that bars experts from taking any gift, favor or remuneration. We filed papers with @antonioguterres calling for Francesca Albanese's removal. pic.twitter.com/vdQpKlc81K

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 22, 2023

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Review of Palestinian compliance with the Child Rights Convention 

The UN reviews are supposed to be an exercise in holding states accountable for violations of the treaty. However, the Palestinian Authority used this review process as one more platform to demonize and delegitimize Israel, just like it did in August 2019 in its review by the UN anti-racism committee.

Here, again, the Palestinian Authority repeatedly sought to evade its treaty commitments. The Head of Delegation, Dr. Ahmed A. H. Majdalani began his remarks pleading with the Committee to “not exempt Israel for its violations of human rights” and then proceeding to accuse Israel of a range of violations including racist laws, home demolitions, denial of access to health care, settlements and war crimes, all completely irrelevant to whether the Palestinians adhere to their own child rights obligations.

Responding to the few questions directed at incitement and terrorism, the Palestinian delegation issued blanket denials, such as “our textbooks contain no incitement.”

Unfortunately, Committee Member Benyam Dawit Mezmur of Ethiopia played into the Palestinian delegation’s deflection tactics when he indicated that the concluding observations will “not disregard the peculiar environment that you face,” a thinly-disguised reference to the “occupation,” adding that it would “pay close attention to this reality.”

In one of his questions to the Palestinian delegation, about the higher rates of girl enrollment in secondary schools compared to boy enrollment, Mezmur asked point blank “to what extent is that linked to the occupation?”

While some Committee members did challenge the Palestinian delegation on incitement of Palestinian children to violence, these questions invariably still found ways to implicate Israel. For example, Ms. Hynd Ayoubi Idrissi of Morocco asked what measures have been taken to address “the use of children by non-state armed groups encouraging children to take part in demonstrations…and the glorification of deaths, considered as martyrs.” However, she preceded the question by noting the high rates of Palestinian child deaths due to “the occupation forces,” “the settlers” and “the Israeli Security Forces,” never mentioning Hamas by name.

Likewise, Mr. Bragi Gudbrandsson of Iceland, apparently referring to our report, commented that “it has been argued that the Palestinian authorities have engaged in rampant incitement to engage children in hostilities against Israelis,” but then immediately discounted the argument by adding that he was not “assessing the credibility of this argument” or attributing to it even “a grain of truth.” He then asked whether the Palestinian delegation was confident that “measures have been taken with the aim of protecting children from participating in the ongoing conflict.”

Throughout the two-day session, the issue of “occupation” was considered an accepted criteria of the review, normalizing the anti-Israel narrative and distracting from the primary purpose of the review.

Notwithstanding the above, we note that Committee members did also convey that the review would focus on Palestinian compliance with the treaty. For example, although Committee-member Idrissi began her remarks acknowledging the reality of “occupation,” she added that “the goal of this dialogue is to see how the State of Palestine can be assisted in fulfilling obligations to children by using the means available.” Thus, in line with their mandate, committee members also asked many legitimate questions about how the delegation can take practical measures to improve the social, economic, health, and education experiences of Palestinian children.

Concluding Observations

Following the review, on February 13, 2020, the committee published its concluding observations. Regrettably, the concluding observations adopted much of the anti-Israel narrative from the review itself, including by acknowledging that “the Israeli occupation” constitutes “a serious obstacle to “the Palestinians’ “implementation of the rights enshrined in the Convention.” At the same time, to the Committee’s credit, the concluding observations focused on the Palestinians’ own obligations under the Convention and also addressed several issues that were raised by UN Watch in its submission, including participation of Palestinian children in anti-Israel violence, incitement in the Palestinian curriculum and detention and torture of Palestinian children by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. 

Disappointingly, one area completely ignored by the committee was Palestinian violations against Israeli children, including indiscriminate rocket attacks from Gaza and stabbings and other terror attacks targeting Israeli children. UN Watch had provided numerous examples of such attacks in its report.

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GENEVA, February 25, 2020 – As foreign ministers gathered in Geneva today for the 2020 opening of the UN Human Rights Council, the non-governmental organization UN Watch filed a complaint with UN chief Antonio Guterres over the world body’s refusal to publish its written submissions documenting Palestinian violations of child rights.
Contrary to standard practice, alleges UN Watch, the UN human rights office led by High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet has refused to publish written submissions that document antisemitic incitement in the Palestinian education system, PA policies encouraging Palestinian children to pursue terrorism against Israelis, and Palestinian terror attacks targeting Israeli children.
Censored Written Statements to Human Rights Council
Two submissions (click here and here) were submitted to the UN in June for the 41st session of the UNHRC but were never published. The UN human rights office refused to identify any specific problems with the submissions, saying only that written statements must be “relevant to the work of the Human Rights Council.”
UN Watch has again sent two similar submissions for the current 43rd session of the UNHRC, and these too remain unpublished.
Censored Legal Brief to Child Rights Committee
Moreover, ahead of the review of the Palestinian Authority by the 18-member Committee on the Rights of Child, which just concluded on February 13th, UN Watch submitted a 25-page legal brief documenting Palestinian abuses of children’s rights, and requested to be invited to the pre-sessional NGO meeting with the UN experts. (See article on UN Watch’s brief.)
Yet, UN Watch was excluded from the meeting and its legal brief was never published. The UN human rights office refused to explain its actions, and ignored repeated email requests.
When approached later during a UN session, an official said the decision to exclude UN Watch from the meeting was made “by the committee members themselves,” based on “the relevance of the report”, and “the rules”—but the office neither indicated what rules nor where any such rules could be found.
Asked why UN Watch’s brief (which relies solely on publicly available material found on the internet) was not being published on the UN website, the secretariat said it was because the document contained names and images of children, an ostensible violation of child privacy rights.
However, UN Watch’s letter to Guterres notes that “this objection was not made known to UN Watch until the day of the review—January 28, 2020—although the committee had the report since March 2019; and despite repeated inquiries from UN Watch about why the report was not on the website. Moreover, even after UN Watch provided the Committee with a redacted version of the report, the Committee refused to publish it.”
Indeed, the only NGO submissions published on the child rights committee’s website were those submitted by pro-Palestinian NGOs which did not address issues of incitement of children in the Palestinian curriculum and education system or Palestinian terrorism against Israeli children.
Comment by UN Watch
“In its repeated policy and practice of censoring UN Watch, the world body breaches its own bedrock principles of freedom of speech,” said UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer. “We refuse to be silenced.” 
“The same UN human rights system that obsessively targets Israel in one-sided resolutions is now trying to grant impunity to Palestinian abuses of children’s rights, which suggests that the UN’s commitment to universal human rights may not be universal after all.”

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• March 30, 2019 – Rioters throw stones and explosives at Israeli troops.
• May 12, 2019 – Gazan armed with knife arrested after crossing into Israel.
• June 29, 2019 – Four Palestinians armed with knives detained near Gaza border.
• July 27, 2019 – Rioters hurl explosives and grenades toward border fence during riots.
• August 1, 2019 – Hamas militant killed after crossing border fence armed with AK-47 and grenades; two Palestinians armed with knives, aged 11 and 15, arrested after crossing Gaza border.
• August 11, 2019 – Palestinian killed after shooting at Israeli soldiers at Gaza border fence.
• August 23, 2019 – Palestinian at Gaza border shot after attacking Israeli soldiers with grenades.
• August 30, 2019 – Four Palestinians armed with a grenade and knife caught crossing into Israel.

Ignores crucial evidence and context and applies incorrect legal standard – Bachelet’s statement continues to exclusively apply the domestic policing law enforcement standard, and fails to consider the authority to use force under the Laws of Armed Conflict. Thus, Bachelet claims that demonstrators did not pose “an imminent threat of death or risk of serious injury.” In applying this policing standard, Bachelet ignores evidence that Hamas has used the March of Return as a cover for militant activities intended to harm Israeli soldiers and civilians. Bachelet’s statement also disregards evidence of weapons found among rioters. Furthermore, it ignores that the clashes are occurring at a hostile border between two entities engaged in an armed conflict, and not in the middle of a city like Tel Aviv, Paris or New York where the governing authority has full control and a greater ability to implement preventive measures.
This is a fundamentally flawed approach. As Lt. Col. Geoffrey Korn explained at our March 2019 side event, “In an ongoing armed conflict, if I make a determination that you are a member of the enemy organized armed group, I am not required to wait for you to present an imminent threat to me. The fact that you are a member of that group in that conflict alone provides international legal authority to engage in hostility against you…The suggestion that as matter of law, because there is a law enforcement component to the security operations, it somehow nullifies the conduct of hostilities component is fundamentally flawed.”
Fails to consider risks to Israeli civilian population – Bachelet’s statement contains no discussion or analysis of the risks of death or injury to Israeli civilian communities in close proximity to the Gaza border resulting from the March of Return. This risk can come from infiltration of armed militants across the fence, explosives and shooting attacks, or even from incendiary devices flown over the border.
Bases conclusions on incomplete data – Bachelet claims that “Initial monitoring suggests that [13 Palestinians killed at fence from March 22 to August 2019] were killed in circumstances where there was no threat to life or serious injury, and thus the use of lethal force may have been excessive.” However, the statement provides no basis for this conclusion. Moreover, the extent of the threat can only be ascertained based on the many surrounding circumstances going on at the time, including visibility conditions, the victim’s activity in the moments leading up to being shot, crowd dynamics, proximity to Israeli communities, etc. However, Bachelet does not have access to all of this data, particularly since much of it is classified military data. Likewise, Bachelet’s expression of doubt about reported changes to Israel’s open-fire rules to fire primarily at the ankles, based solely on the number of injuries to the torso and head, fails to take into account the complexity of the situation. Certainly, this ignores the possibility that a rioter engaged in violence could have change position from standing to crouching or lying down just before being shot.
Ignores participation of children in militant activities at the border – Bachelet’s statement treats all children killed or injured at the Gaza border as if they are innocent victims, completely disregarding whether they were actually involved in terrorism at the fence. As Middle East analyst Joe Truzman demonstrated in his presentation at our UN side event on March 18, 2019, many of the children killed at the border were members of terrorist groups and engaged in militant activity at the fence. Since March 22, children have continued to participate in the militant activities and to be exploited by terrorist groups as human shields.

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Below are remarks presented to the UN’s anti-racism committee, prior to its review of the “State of Palestine” for the first time today, by UN Watch Legal Adviser Dina Rovner. She twice addressed the committee to present UN Watch’s 32-page shadow report on Palestinian violations of the anti-racism convention. The first remarks presented below were delivered at a meeting between the panel members and non-governmental organizations. Below that are the prepared remarks of Rovner’s in-depth speech on the UN Watch submission, element of which were conveyed in an informal briefing to committee members.
Prepared remarks of UN Watch Legal Adviser Dina Rovner at UN anti-racism committee’s meeting with non-governmental organizations, August 14, 2019.
We meet today to review the State of Palestine’s compliance with the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Yet one would not know that from reading the Palestinian Authority’s 62-page report to this Committee, which repeatedly blames the “Israeli occupation” for countless alleged violations of Palestinian rights, while seeking to evade responsibility for its own racism and discrimination. We remind all stakeholders that Israel will be reviewed for its actions in November, whereas the proper focus of today’s review is Palestinian compliance with the Convention, or lack thereof.
United Nations Watch submitted a shadow report, which is available at www.unwatch.org/PA-racism. We were disappointed that NGOs like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International which lobbied for the Palestinians to join international treaties saying it would hold them to account did not submit reports for today’s review.
Ironically, the PA report acknowledges that there are almost no minorities in Palestine. According to the statistics provided by the PA, the various minority groups comprise no more than 1% of the population.
The Committee may wish to ask the PA why, by its own admission, it has virtually no minorities. By any objective standard, these figures suggest high levels of racism and discrimination. For example, if 1.9 million Arab citizens live in neighboring Israel, comprising 21% of the population, why is it that there are no Jews at all living under Palestinian jurisdiction?
The reasons seem clear. As documented in our written submission, both the PA and Hamas routinely vilify Jews, and forbid them to reside in areas under their jurisdiction. Palestinians who sell land to Israeli Jews are deemed traitors, subject to criminal prosecution under Palestinian law, and face a sentence of life in prison with hard labor, or even death.
United Nations Watch wishes to highlight two glaring deficiencies in the PA’s report, which we hope the Committee will address:
The first is that the report ignores violations by the PA and Hamas against minority groups in their own territories.
For example, the PA’s report makes no mention of violent physical attacks against Christians, desecration of churches, pressure to convert to Islam, theft of Christians’ land, or discrimination and violent physical attacks against converts to Christianity. The report also does not mention discrimination and violence against Samaritans.
The second deficiency is that while the report is quick to blame Israel, it ignores rampant antisemitic incitement against, and violations of, the rights of Israelis and Jews.
For example, in Paragraphs 55-59, when discussing compliance with Article 4 of the Convention on eliminating incitement to racial hatred the PA accuses Israel of inciting racial discrimination and violence against Palestinians, but does not say one word about the poisonous antisemitic incitement routinely disseminated by Palestinian officials.
Why does the PA report fail to mention that this year, on May 15th, senior Hamas official Fathi Hamad promised to “slaughter, exterminate, and annihilate” Israel?
Why does the PA report fail to mention that a few weeks later, on  June 26th, Abbas advisor Nabil Shaath repeated the PA’s antisemitic narrative that Jews came to Palestine as part of a European plot to get rid of unwanted Jews?
Why does the PA report fail to mention that on July 4th, Mahmoud al-Habbash, the Religious Affairs advisor of President Abbas, praised Nazi collaborator Haj Amin Al-Husseini as a “role model”?
Likewise, in paragraphs 69-74, when discussing compliance with Article 5 on the right to life, the PA accuses Israel of numerous violations. Yet why does the PA report completely ignore its own violations against Israeli Jews — including incitement to kill, financial rewards to terrorists who commit or attempt to commit murder, and failure to hold accountable those who incite against and attack Israeli Jews?
Similarly, in Paragraph 113, when discussing compliance with Article 5 on freedom of religion, the PA accuses Israel of preventing Palestinians from exercising “their religious rights.” But the PA disregards its own infringements on the freedom of religion of Jews, particularly with respect to the severe restrictions on Jewish rights to worship at the many Jewish holy sites located in the Palestinian-controlled territories, including the Tombs of Joseph and Joshua.
Finally, in Paragraph 159, when discussing compliance with Article 7 on promoting understanding through the media, the PA’s report falsely claims that Palestinian media “have taken measures to promote understanding and tolerance.” In fact, the Palestinian media does the opposite. It perpetuates antisemitic stereotypes such as that Jews are greedy, that they are part of a conspiracy to control the world, that they are baby killers, and that they poison Palestinians and steal their organs. The Palestinian media also glorifies and encourages martyrdom in the fight to liberate Palestine from the River to Sea – meaning to eliminate Israel – and broadcasts songs and videos advocating to Kill Jews and Israelis.
All of these racist and discriminatory Palestinian actions and policies are documented in our submission.
We trust that the Committee will focus on the State of Palestine’s own obligations to eliminate racism and discrimination, which is the proper subject of today’s review, and not allow it to evade responsibility by pointing the finger at others.

_________

Full prepared remarks from UN Watch’s informal briefing to UN’s anti-racism committee.
My name is Dina Rovner, and I am the Legal Advisor of United Nations Watch. I am here to address Palestinian compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. When I say Palestine, I am referring to both the Palestinian Authority or PA and Hamas which are the entities that effectively govern Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza.
We submitted an alternative report which documents in detail serious Palestinian violations of Articles 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the Convention. It is available at www.unwatch.org/PA-racism.
What is striking about the PA’s report is the utter lack of self-reflection and self-criticism when it comes to the issue of racism generally, and antisemitic incitement and terrorism specifically.
Palestine repeatedly avoids its own responsibility for eliminating racism within Palestinian society and instead blames Israel for allegedly racist policies against the Palestinians.
For example, Paragraph 55 mentions “incitement to racial discrimination and violence” by “the Israeli colonial settlement occupation.” However, the report completely ignores the widespread incitement to racial discrimination and violence by Palestinian officials.
Similarly, in Paragraph 59, the report criticizes Israel for the July 2014 murder of Palestinian teen Muhammad Abu Khdeir, giving this as an example of violence that has “affected not only the right of Palestinians to physical integrity, but also their right to life.” However, the report does not mention the right to physical integrity or the right to life of Israelis. It ignores the three Israeli teens kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists a few weeks before Abu Khdeir was killed. It also ignores the many other Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorists incited to hatred and murder by Palestinian officials, the Palestinian media and the Palestinian education system.
In one of the most outrageous statements in the report, in paragraph 52, the PA represents that it has not “detected any racist discourse within Palestinian society.” This is far from the reality we observed in our research, which found near daily examples of antisemitic and terrorist incitement against Israelis and Jews.
Here, I note that Israel has been reviewed by the Committee numerous times and is set to be reviewed again by the Committee later this year. Any complaints about Israel should be raised and addressed in the context of that review.
But while Israel has been reviewed many times, this is the first time the Committee is reviewing Palestine. The Palestinians lobbied vigorously for Palestine to be accepted to the UN as a non-member observer state and to be able to accede in its own right to various international human rights treaties such as this one. By gaining admission to these treaties, Palestine committed itself to comply with them and to participate in good faith in the review process. This review of Palestine should focus on what Palestine, meaning the PA and Hamas, is doing to comply with the Convention, how it is violating the Convention, and what it needs to change in order to remedy those violations.
Our alternative report focused on the pervasive antisemitic and terrorist incitement promulgated and encouraged by the Palestinian government at the highest levels, including by PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
This incitement is part of the basic Palestinian narrative which dehumanizes Jews and Israelis calling them “apes and pigs” and accusing them of all manner of evils from drinking the blood of Palestinian children to poisoning Palestinian wells and ruling the world, likens Israeli officials to Nazis, and rejects the rights of Jews to their own state in any part of the territory.
Sadly, this antisemitic narrative even made its way into the PA’s report to this Committee – an indication of how entrenched racism is in Palestinian society. For example, as part of its review of the region’s history, the PA claims, in Paragraph 8, that in 1917 the British mandate divided the population of Palestine into two groups – non-Jewish (meaning “the Palestinian people, both Muslims and Christians”) and Jewish (meaning “European Jewish immigrants”).
By describing the Jewish residents of mandate Palestine as European immigrants, the PA denies the historical reality that Jews are indigenous to the region, as they had lived in their ancestral homeland for thousands of years. This characterization is meant to support the Palestinians’ false and antisemitic claim, repeated numerous times throughout the report, that the Jews are European colonialists who, from the beginning, stole the land from the Palestinians.
Bizarrely, the PA suggests that if the British in 1917 had granted the Palestinian people the right to self-determination and independence, Palestine would have become “a multicultural, multi-faith and multi-confessional nation.” But it is Israel, not Palestine, that has developed into a multicultural and multi-faith country with a highly diverse ethnic and religious population, including an active and thriving Arab minority comprising 21% of the population, Ethiopian immigrants, Jews from all over the world, migrants and foreign workers, and people of many faiths, including Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Druze, and Baha’i.
By contrast, the population in Palestine is remarkably homogenous. I would like to come back to that statement in Paragraph 52 of the PA’s report suggesting that Palestinian society is not racist. By any objective standard, this lack of racial diversity itself indicates a high level of racism.
In its report, the PA lists seven minority groups, which together—just going by the PA’s numbers—consist of some 32,000 people, less than 1% of the total population. There are no Jews. There is no significant black-African population. All of the minorities are indigenous to the area dating back at least several hundred years, and most are concentrated in the Jerusalem area. And they are all experiencing population declines, another sign that Palestinian society suffers from high levels of racism.
According to a recent study from 2016, Palestine ranked among the top 25 most racist countries in the world. Palestine was second, just behind Libya, in the percentage of people who do not want neighbors of another race. This is clearly confirmed by the statistics cited in the PA’s report showing that there are almost no minorities in the Palestinian-controlled territories.
One of the main questions that must be addressed in this review is what steps are the PA and Hamas taking to eliminate racist attitudes, end racist incitement and violence, and to foster an atmosphere of peace and tolerance.
Some of the minorities mentioned by the PA are part of the diminishing Palestinian Christian population. Statistics found online indicate that in the traditionally Christian cities of Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala, the Christian population dropped from 86% in 1950 (meaning majority Christian) to 12% in 2016 (meaning these cities are now majority Muslim). While Palestinians, including the PA in its report, typically blame the “Israeli occupation,” the reality is that Christians suffer from routine discrimination and violence perpetrated by their Muslim neighbors. As we noted in our report, Muslim persecution of Christians is taking place across the Middle East. Therefore, it is not surprising that it is also happening in the Palestinian-controlled territories.
Palestinian law does not guarantee freedom of thought, conscience or religion, as required by ICERD Article 5. Article 18 of the Palestinian Basic Law provides that freedom of religion is guaranteed only if “public order and morals are not violated.” This limitation breaches the Convention.
Moreover, in practice, the rights of Christians are not protected. Our report detailed three grave attacks on Christian communities in the West Bank in the first half of 2019 alone.
At the very least this reflects a violation of Articles 2 and 5 of the Convention.
A large part of our report focused on Palestinian antisemitic incitement which leads to terrorism and endangers the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians. At a minimum, such incitement violates Articles 4 and 7 of the Convention.
I wish to conclude with just one example of how this all plays out with deadly results.
On July 22, 2017, a Palestinian terrorist stabbed and killed three members of the Salomon family celebrating the birth of a new baby boy at a festive Shabbat dinner. He also injured a fourth family member.
This brutal murder did not emerge from a vacuum. As evidenced by his own words, which I will soon quote, the terrorist acted in reaction to a week of violence and incitement stoked by Palestinian officials, including the following:

• On Friday, July 14, three terrorists opened fire at Israeli police officers on the Temple Mount killing two of them. Israel closed the Temple Mount complex.
• Later that day, a preacher at Al-Aqsa Mosque glorified the terrorists as martyrs and accused the Jews of “using their tricks,” meaning using the terrorist attack, as an excuse to take over al-Aqsa Mosque.
• Also that day, Fatah Official Abbas Zaki accused Israel of terrorism against the Palestinians and called for “popular resistance that is capable of incorporating the masses.”
• On July 15, Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmad defended the terrorist attack against the Israeli police officers saying “it is the right of the Palestinian people to carry out all types of resistance” – meaning armed resistance.
• On Sunday, July 16, Israel reopened one of the Temple Mount entrances to Muslim residents of Jerusalem after installing metal detectors as a security measure.
• Muslim Waqf officials who oversee the site refused to enter and instigated a protest outside the entrance.
• On July 16, PA Security Forces spokesman Adnan al-Damiri denied the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount calling it a “myth.”
• On July 17, Fatah called for a “day of rage” in response to metal detectors.
• The same day, PA Minister of religious affairs Sheikh Yusuf Ida’is denied Jewish rights at the Western Wall and accused Israel of planning a religious war on Muslims.
• On July 18, protesters at the site took up the microphone and railed against “Jewish” measures at al-Aqsa.
• On July 19, Fatah official Tawfiq Tirawi rallied Palestinians, saying the uprising against Israel over Jerusalem is the “campaign of every Arab and Muslim.”
• On July 20, PA TV broadcasted a statement by a university lecturer on Islam calling for jihad and accusing the Jews of plotting to kill Muslim prophets.
• On July 21 and 22 the incitement continued along the same lines.
• After spending the day watching the violent demonstrations outside the Al Aqsa compound, on Friday night, July 22, 2017, the Palestinian terrorist Omar al-Abed posted this on his Facebook page: “I am a young man, not even 20 years old. I have many dreams and ambitions. I know that with Allah’s help, they will all come true. I have loved life, and making people smile, but what kind of life is this? They kill our women and our young, they befoul our al-Aqsa and we slumber. Take your weapon and resist. They have declared a war on Allah. They have shut down al-Aqsa, and what’s your weapon? Mine is a knife, and my knife will answer the cry of al-Aqsa.”
• An hour and a half later he knocked on the door of the Salamon family house and stabbed to death three of its family members, injuring a fourth.
• Al-Abed was sentenced to four life sentences and is in jail. He now receives a salary and benefits from the PA – a government reward for his racially motivated crime.

In other words, the murderer who came to kill Jews acted in response to the incitement of numerous Fatah officials, who are part of the PLO; to incitement by Palestinian Waqf officials; to incitement by Palestinian Authority Security Forces; to incitement by the PA Minister of religious affairs; and to incitement by PA TV.
In other words, when this murderer, motivated by hatred of Jews, stabbed to death the 70-year-old grandfather, Yossi, his 46-year-old daughter Chaya, and 36-year-old son Elad, and when he stabbed and injured the 68-year-old grandmother, Tova, he did so, in his own words, out of rage from false information and incitement systematically stoked by the Palestinian Authority, through its numerous institutions and officials.
Unless this Committee holds the PA to account, such incitement and murder will only continue.

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Testimony delivered before the UN Human Rights Council by Col. Richard Kemp
on behalf of United Nations Watch, Geneva, Switzerland, March 18, 2019.

Mr. President,
I was a British commander in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan and have extensive experience dealing with rioting crowds whipped up by armed terrorists.
I have observed the violent demonstrations on the Gaza border many times, from the front lines — unlike you Mr. Chairman, and your commission, who have never been there. These are organized efforts to break through the fence and slaughter Jewish civilians. Hamas also set out to induce the IDF to kill Gaza civilians, to instigate global condemnation of Israel.
The IDF took every-possible step to avoid Palestinian casualties. But using live ammunition as a last resort was the only way they could defend their own people.
The commission grotesquely perverts this reality.
I accuse this council of handing a deliberately biased mandate to the commission, intended to defame Israel.
I accuse this commission of misrepresenting Hamas’s actions, twisting organized violence into “peaceful protest.”
I accuse this commission of acting as an instrument of Hamas terrorism by falsely accusing Israel of crimes against humanity, by validating terror tactics and by inciting killing and violence.
I accuse this commission of betraying the Palestinian people by failing to condemn their Hamas oppressors — who as we meet today are firing on genuine peaceful protesters in Gaza.
I accuse this commission of wicked prejudice against the Jewish State and its army in a manner calculated to undermine its ability to defend itself.
Greater violence is planned by Hamas in a few days. Violence this council could restrain by condemning Hamas for its murderous actions and rejecting this outrageous report. I appeal to every member state to repudiate it. If you do not, you will have the blood of Palestinians and Israelis on your hands.

_______

Twitter version:

.@COLRICHARDKEMP, UN Watch: "Everything we just heard here is a complete distortion of the truth. The truth is that Hamas, a terrorist organization that seeks the destruction of Israel and murder of Jews everywhere, deliberately caused over 60 of its own people to get killed." pic.twitter.com/bW6aEBBLoK

— UN Watch (@UNWatch) March 29, 2019

YouTube version:

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