Twas the night before Christmas, with all across The Strip
Not a Qasam Rocket crackled, under Israel’s tight grip.
Collaborators twitched as they hung in the air
On the lamp posts that glistened in Palestine Square

Why is a former top UN official glorifying murder?
This latest rant by Gunness is hardly his first:

Chris Gunness, longtime @UNRWA spox till now, goes on crazy rant about 'Judeo-Nazis'.

When we sent him 130-page report on UNRWA teachers who glorify Hitler, he lashed out at us. https://t.co/D197La4zRr

A reminder how some use the veneer of 'pro-Palestinian' to mask their hate. pic.twitter.com/u6qAebtrkJ

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 7, 2019

Gunness has previously justified the stabbing of Jews, even as he pretended that he didn’t:

Why do the EU, Germany, Britain and Canada give tens of millions of dollars annually to UNRWA, even though its leading officials glorify murder?

UNRWA CEO Pierre Krahenbuhl abused power, had affair with employee, flew her worldwide in Business Class.

Who funds this?
🇪🇺 EU $179 Million
🇩🇪 Germany $177M
🇬🇧 UK $93M
🇸🇪 Sweden $65M
🇳🇴 Norway $36M
🇨🇭 Swiss $28M
🇨🇦 Canada $27M
🇳🇱 Netherlands $23M
🇪🇸 Spain $19M
🇦🇺 Australia $16M pic.twitter.com/6YRpwkFKEZ

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) July 30, 2019

The post DELETED: UNRWA's ex-spokesman Chris Gunness glorifies Hamas hanging “collaborators” appeared first on UN Watch.

 
Above: Chris Gunness of UNRWA issued a demand that BBC use the words “Israeli occupation” in its news coverage of Christmas in Bethlehem.

December 25, 2015 — Geneva-based watchdog UN Watch, which monitors the United Nations, on Friday called for disciplinary action against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and its spokesperson after the latter demanded the BBC use the words “Israeli Occupation” in its news coverage of Christmas in Bethlehem.

The group called on U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power to “take remedial measures against UNRWA and its spokesman Chris Gunness for engaging in partisan advocacy— breaching its neutrality promise under the 2015 UNRWA-U.S. Framework for Cooperation.”
The watchdog said Ambassador Power should also condemn UNRWA for violating UN resolutions that require the agency to provide humanitarian services in line with the principles of “neutrality and impartiality.”
UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness made the demand on Thursday on Twitter, claiming an “amazing lack of context” in the BBC report, and alleging that it “needs correction.”
UN Watch blasted spokesman Gunness, saying he “notably did not ask BBC to mention murder, persecution and ethnic cleansing of Christians in Palestinian areas and throughout the Middle East, as documented before the UN in compelling testimony by Father Gabriel Naddaf, who noted that ‘Israel is the only Mideast country not persecuting Christians.’”
The watchdog said its statement was part of a sustained effort to hold UNRWA accountable for its anti-Israel advocacy.
In October, the group released a report documenting at least 10 different UN staffers who used social media to incite racial hatred, antisemitism, and Palestinian stabbing and shooting attacks against Israeli Jews.
That same month UNRWA admitted that “in a number of cases” its employees were subjected to disciplinary action, and several were suspended.
 

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UN Watch’s Campaign to Hold UNRWA to Account
Below: Facebook post by a teacher at an UNRWA school in Gaza.  

UN Admits: UNRWA Employees Suspended

In October, in an unprecedented acknowledgment of wrongdoing, UNRWA—after first urging journalists to ignore UN Watch reports of incitement—was forced to suspend several employees.

This followed a sustained UN Watch campaign that included three reports published from September to November documenting how UNRWA teachers and principals incited to racial hatred, anti-Semitism and terrorism on social media. In total, UN Watch identified more than 30 separate perpetrators, and launched petitions online to key governments.

UNRWA’s Chris Gunness Attacks UN Watch

The first reaction by UNRWA was for spokesman Chris Gunness to attack UN Watch. On Twitter, he issued an “appeal to journalists”:

 
Pressure Mounts: UNRWA Is Forced to Take Disciplinary Action
After media agencies picked up the story and governments raised UN Watch findings with UNRWA leadership, the UN in October admitted that UNRWA employees “in a number of cases” were subjected to disciplinary action, including suspension and loss of pay, following an internal investigation.

UN Watch welcomed the news, yet demanded to know which of the UNRWA teachers identified in our reports were suspended, what were the findings, and whether the UN investigations found any additional incitement to anti-Semitic violence.

Floor of the U.S. Congress: UNRWA Condemned, UN Watch Thanked

Click here for video

On October 28, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, took the floor in the U.S. Congress:


“Just last week, the U.N. quietly suspended several individuals after allegations of incitement were brought forth from the NGO U.N. Watch. And we thank U.N. Watch for carefully looking over this organization… These allegations, Mr. Speaker, are just the tip of the iceberg. We must not continue to send taxpayer dollars to UNRWA [and] to individuals tied to the terror group Hamas in violation of our laws.”

“UN Staff Celebrate Deaths of Israelis” — Sunday Times Headline

Quoting UN Watch, the Sunday Times of London, one of the world’s leading newspapers, reported in October that “Facebook posts by UN staff have included photographs showing blood-drenched knives held by Palestinian men and women in keffiyeh scarves, throwing stones at Israel’s defence forces.”

“UN Relief Agency Fosters Hate” — Boston Herald Headline

A December op-ed in the Boston Herald, by prominent attorney Jeffrey S. Robbins, a former U.S. delegate to the UN, was equally strong: “UN Watch documented how school principals, teachers and other staffers on the payroll of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, use social media to incite deadly attacks against ‘Jewish apes and pigs,’ urging Palestinians to murder Israelis. Its institutions have become schools for genocide, where students and the broader community are urged to kill.”

The post Issue 564: Watchdog Calls for Disciplinary Action Against UNRWA After Spokesman Demands BBC Use Words ‘Israeli Occupation’ in Report on Christmas appeared first on UN Watch.

UN Admits: UNRWA Employees Suspended

In October, in an unprecedented acknowledgment of wrongdoing, UNRWA—after first urging journalists to ignore UN Watch reports of incitement—was forced to suspend several employees.

This followed a sustained UN Watch campaign that included three reports published from September to November documenting how UNRWA teachers and principals incited to racial hatred, anti-Semitism and terrorism on social media. In total, UN Watch identified more than 30 separate perpetrators, and launched petitions online to key governments.
UNRWA’s Chris Gunness Attacks UN Watch
The first reaction by UNRWA was for spokesman Chris Gunness to attack UN Watch. On Twitter, he issued an “appeal to journalists”:

Pressure Mounts: UNRWA Is Forced to Take Disciplinary Action

After media agencies picked up the story and governments raised UN Watch findings with UNRWA leadership, the UN in October admitted that UNRWA employees “in a number of cases” were subjected to disciplinary action, including suspension and loss of pay, following an internal investigation.

UN Watch welcomed the news, yet demanded to know which of the UNRWA teachers identified in our reports were suspended, what were the findings, and whether the UN investigations found any additional incitement to anti-Semitic violence.
Floor of the U.S. Congress: UNRWA Condemned, UN Watch Thanked

On October 28, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, took the floor in the U.S. Congress:

“Just last week, the U.N. quietly suspended several individuals after allegations of incitement were brought forth from the NGO U.N. Watch. And we thank U.N. Watch for carefully looking over this organization… These allegations, Mr. Speaker, are just the tip of the iceberg. We must not continue to send taxpayer dollars to UNRWA [and] to individuals tied to the terror group Hamas in violation of our laws.”

“UN Staff Celebrate Deaths of Israelis” — Sunday Times Headline

Quoting UN Watch, the Sunday Times of London, one of the world’s leading newspapers,reported in October that “Facebook posts by UN staff have included photographs showing blood-drenched knives held by Palestinian men and women in keffiyeh scarves, throwing stones at Israel’s defence forces.”
“UN Relief Agency Fosters Hate” — Boston Herald Headline

A December op-ed in the Boston Herald, by prominent attorney Jeffrey S. Robbins, a former U.S. delegate to the UN, was equally strong: “UN Watch documented how school principals, teachers and other staffers on the payroll of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, use social media to incite deadly attacks against ‘Jewish apes and pigs,’ urging Palestinians to murder Israelis. Its institutions have become schools for genocide, where students and the broader community are urged to kill.”

The post UN Watch's Campaign to Hold UNRWA to Account appeared first on UN Watch.

Father Naddaf at the UN:

The post UNRWA to BBC: "Use the Words 'Israeli Occupation' in Coverage of Christmas appeared first on UN Watch.

Today: UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness demanded BBC use the words “Israeli occupation” in its new coverage of Christmas in Bethlehem.
GENEVA, Dec. 24, 2015 — UN Watch called on U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power to take remedial measures against UNRWA and its spokesman Chris Gunness for engaging in partisan advocacy—breaching its neutrality promise under the 2015 UNRWA-U.S. Framework for Cooperation—after Gunness today published a “demand” that the BBC “use the words ‘Israeli occupation’ in its coverage of Christmas in Bethlehem.”

Gunness notably did not ask BBC to mention murder, persecution and ethnic cleansing of Christians in Palestinian areas and throughout the Middle East, as documented before the UN in compelling testimony by Father Gabriel Naddaf, who noted that “Israel is the only Mideast country not persecuting Christians.”

Ambassador Power should also condemn UNRWA for violating UN resolution 46/182 (1991), by which UNRWA is obliged to provide humanitarian services in accordance with the principles of “neutrality and impartiality.”

_______________

UN Watch’s Campaign to Hold UNRWA to Account

UN Admits: UNRWA Employees Suspended

In October, in an unprecedented acknowledgment of wrongdoing, UNRWA—after first urging journalists to ignore UN Watch reports of incitement—was forced to suspend several employees.

This followed a sustained UN Watch campaign that included three reports published from September to November documenting how UNRWA teachers and principals incited to racial hatred, anti-Semitism and terrorism on social media. In total, UN Watch identified more than 30 separate perpetrators, and launched petitions online to key governments.

UNRWA’s Chris Gunness Attacks UN Watch

The first reaction by UNRWA was for spokesman Chris Gunness to attack UN Watch. On Twitter, he issued an “appeal to journalists”:

Pressure Mounts: UNRWA Is Forced to Take Disciplinary Action

After media agencies picked up the story and governments raised UN Watch findings with UNRWA leadership, the UN in October admitted that UNRWA employees “in a number of cases” were subjected to disciplinary action, including suspension and loss of pay, following an internal investigation.

UN Watch welcomed the news, yet demanded to know which of the UNRWA teachers identified in our reports were suspended, what were the findings, and whether the UN investigations found any additional incitement to anti-Semitic violence.

Floor of the U.S. Congress: UNRWA Condemned, UN Watch Thanked

Click here for video

On October 28, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, took the floor in the U.S. Congress:
“Just last week, the U.N. quietly suspended several individuals after allegations of incitement were brought forth from the NGO U.N. Watch. And we thank U.N. Watch for carefully looking over this organization… These allegations, Mr. Speaker, are just the tip of the iceberg. We must not continue to send taxpayer dollars to UNRWA [and] to individuals tied to the terror group Hamas in violation of our laws.”

“UN Staff Celebrate Deaths of Israelis” — Sunday Times Headline

Quoting UN Watch, the Sunday Times of London, one of the world’s leading newspapers, reported in October that “Facebook posts by UN staff have included photographs showing blood-drenched knives held by Palestinian men and women in keffiyeh scarves, throwing stones at Israel’s defence forces.”

“UN Relief Agency Fosters Hate” — Boston Herald Headline

A December op-ed in the Boston Herald, by prominent attorney Jeffrey S. Robbins, a former U.S. delegate to the UN, was equally strong: “UN Watch documented how school principals, teachers and other staffers on the payroll of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, or UNRWA, use social media to incite deadly attacks against ‘Jewish apes and pigs,’ urging Palestinians to murder Israelis. Its institutions have become schools for genocide, where students and the broader community are urged to kill.”

The post Issue 563: UNRWA to BBC: "Use the Words 'Israeli Occupation' in Coverage of Christmas" appeared first on UN Watch.

A UN agency that runs schools and social services for Palestinians is facing calls to sack employees using social media to celebrate attacks on Israelis.

Facebook posts by UN staff have included photographs showing blood- drenched knives held by Palestinian men and women in keffiyeh scarves, throwing stones at Israel’s defence forces.

Almost two dozen UN employees have been exposed for publishing their support for a recent bout of stabbing attacks by Palestinians that targeted Israelis.

In today’s Sunday Times, UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness tries to explain away his embarrassing and unprofessional tweets above. Gunness’ attempts to bury the incitement story and to intimidate UN Watch have both failed.
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70th ANNIVERSARY OF UN: DEUTSCHE WELLE INTERVIEWS
UN WATCH EXECUTIVE  DIRECTOR HILLEL NEUER

United Nations

Skepticism in Israel as world celebrates 70 years of UN

The UN matters

…Despite all the criticism, one cannot overstate the UN’s importance. Resolutions are circulated around the globe and can be found on bookshelves of foreign ministries, law libraries, academics, human rights groups and journalists.

“Whether we like it or not, the UN shapes the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of people,” says Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a human rights NGO and pro-Israel lobby based in Geneva.

Hillel Neuer, Executive director of UN Watch

“What is said and done in the UN eventually matters,” Neuer says, “so we need to care for victims of regimes that are elected and that are glorified by UN bodies that give strength to these regimes.”

This is exactly why many Israelis see the United Nations as incompetent at the very least. A Security Council veto held by the United States has saved Israel’s government a lot of hassle. However, vetos held by Russia and China have given the regime in Syria a free pass to wage war on its own people – and even allowed Russia to join the fight.

The conflict in Syria is just one example, though. “Saudi Arabia has killed in the past few months more than 2,300 civilians in Yemen,” Neuer says. “There is not a single resolution of the human rights council, no emergency session, no inquiry, no investigation.”

Many other moves over the decades have contributed to the formation of doubts regarding the UN’s actual capability to solve major disputes. One of these moves is the creation of UNRWA in 1949 – the UN agency for Palestine refugees.

Who will guard the guards?

Some critics see the United Nations as obsolete. Like the UN aims to watch over governments, they say, someone needs to watch over the UN.

“The more removed you are from the citizens, the less accountable you are going to be,” UN Watch’s Neuer says. “Sadly, the UN is already so remote from the citizens and there are no meaningful institutions that hold its decisions to account.”

Preet Bharara, the US attorney in charge of the case, said in a statement that the investigation was still in its early stages. “We will be asking: Is bribery business as usual at the UN?” Bharara said.

“It’s a constant challenge,” Neuer says. “Over the past 70 years, there have been major accomplishments, too, but one cannot ignore the problems and the corruption. Too many people and governments are silent about it.”

As far as Israel is concerned, the United Nations has given its citizens plenty of reasons to be suspicious – and not so many to be optimistic.

The post Issue 553: UN Watch in Today's Sunday Times: “UN Staff Celebrate Deaths of Israelis” appeared first on UN Watch.

The post Sunday Times: "UN staff celebrate deaths of Israelis" appeared first on UN Watch.

• “Appeal to journalists: please don’t turn UN Watch baseless allegations about anti-semitism into a ‘he said she said’ story. It is a non-story.”
• “UN Watch makes a fool of itself … Credibility dead in water. Will anyone believe them again”?
• “Interested to find out more about UN Watch’s political and financial affiliations since it establishment. Can anyone advise?”

The post UN "very regrettably" admits employees suspended after UN Watch report exposing incitement to anti-Semitic violence appeared first on UN Watch.

UNRWA takes all allegations of violations of UN principles as well as its neutrality and established social media policies very seriously.  UNRWA condemns and will not tolerate anti-Semitism or racism in any form. Every allegation brought to our attention has either been or is being assessed, and where there are prima facie facts to support the allegation, in accordance with due process.  Some allegations have been found to be authentic, others not.
Already, working closely with Facebook’s legal team, UNRWA has brought about the removal of more than 90 imposter or unauthorized Facebook pages.  In some cases, it has determined the alleged ‘UNRWA staff’ are not in fact UNRWA employees or are no longer UNRWA employees.
However, and very regrettably, in a number of cases so far, the Agency has found staff Facebook postings to be in violation of its social media rules.  These postings have been removed and the staff have been subject to both remedial and disciplinary action, including suspension and loss of pay.  The remaining allegations are under assessment.

In light of the above, UN Watch is now demanding a full apology from UNRWA spokseman Chris Gunness for his McCarthyite tirade against what he called UN Watch’s “baseless allegations about antisemitism.”
Gunness launched into a frenzied attack on UN Watch, issuing an “appeal to journalists” to ignore what he insisted was a “non-story”:

• “Appeal to journalists: please don’t turn UN Watch baseless allegations about anti-semitism into a ‘he said she said’ story. It is a non-story.”
• “UN Watch makes a fool of itself … Credibility dead in water. Will anyone believe them again”?
• “Interested to find out more about UN Watch’s political and financial affiliations since it establishment. Can anyone advise?”

The post UNRWA suspends employees after UN Watch exposed incitement to anti-Semitic violence appeared first on UN Watch.

UNWRA “very regrettably” finds violations, “condemns anti-Semitism in any form”

GENEVA, October 22, 2015 -The spokesman for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon quietly disclosed on the UN website that UNRWA employees have “in a number of cases” been subjected to disciplinary action, including “suspension and loss of pay,” following an investigation that verified evidence published by UN Watch — in one report last week, and another in September — of incitement to anti-Semitic violence committed by at least 22 UNRWA employees. UNRWA added that it “condemns and will not tolerate anti-Semitism or racism in any form.”

The admission in New York followed two separate press briefings where UN spokesman Farhan Haq was grilled and grilled again over UN Watch’s reports documenting UNRWA incitement.

Curiously, UNRWA’s unprecedented admission, following strenuous denials by spokesman Chris Gunness, came in the form a bracketed addition buried deep in a UN transcript, instead of being sent out to journalists or published as a stand-alone UN statement. Nor does the admission appear anywhere on the UNRWA website.

UN Watch remains deeply concerned that the endless postings by UNRWA teachers of racist incitement signifies a systematic breach of the agency’s neutrality obligation and of its humanitarian mission. The U.S. provided $400 million to UNRWA last year, making it the largest donor, but has carefully refrained from voicing any criticism.

 Above: one of the many instances of anti-Semitic incitement
by UNRWA employees that was exposed by UN Watch

News of the suspensions is welcome, but the UN’s statement conceals far more than it reveals.

Taxpayers have a right to know, first, which of the UNRWA teachers identified in UN Watch’s reports were suspended, what were the actual findings of UNRWA’s investigations, and whether UNRWA found — or is even making the slightest effort to look for — any additional racist incitement by its employees.

Second, in light of the above, UN Watch is demanding a full apology from UNRWA spokseman Chris Gunness for his McCarthyite tirade against what he called UN Watch’s ‘baseless allegations about antisemitism’.”

Gunness famously launched into a frenzied attack on UN Watch, issuing an “appeal to journalists” to ignore what he insisted was a “non-story”:

•   “Appeal to journalists: please don’t turn UN Watch baseless allegations about anti-semitism into a ‘he said she said’ story. It is a non-story.”

•   “UN Watch makes a fool of itself … Credibility dead in water. Will anyone believe them again”?
•   “Interested to find out more about UN Watch’s political and financial affiliations since it establishment. Can anyone advise?” 

The post Issue 552: BREAKING: UNRWA suspends employees after UN Watch report exposed incitement to anti-Semitic violence appeared first on UN Watch.