UN Women logo on new Palestinian youth center named for terrorist who killed 12 children
UN Women said it is asking for its logo to be pulled from a Palestinian youth center named after a terrorist, but, unlike Norway’s government, the world body for gender equality failed to express condemnation.
A Palestinian NGO known as “Women’s Technical Affairs Committee” (WTAC) recently named a youth center for women after Dalal Mughrabi, who in 1978 led a group of terrorists that hijacked a bus and killed 37 Israelis, including 12 children. The incident was exposed by Palestinian Media Watch.
The “Martyr Dalal Mughrabi Center” is listed as a joint initiative of WTAC, the PA, UN Women, and the Norwegian government.
The center, reported Ma’an, in an article that has now been deleted, “will focus especially on the history of the struggle of Martyr Dalal Mughrabi and on presenting it to the youth groups.”
Norway issued a swift denunciation. “The glorification of terrorist attacks is completely unacceptable, and I deplore this decision in the strongest possible terms,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Børge Brende. “Norway will not allow itself to be associated with institutions that take the names of terrorists in this way. We will not accept the use of Norwegian aid funding for such purposes.”
By contrast, however, the UN issued a series of weak statements that fell far short of condemnation, and made no mention that its beneficiary glorified terrorism.
“The United Nations support for this center ended last year,” said Robert Piper, UN Assistant Secretary General for Development, in a statement from Jerusalem. “The inauguration of the center took place a few weeks ago, well after the UN association with it concluded. The name chosen by the community center is wrong and unacceptable. The UN Women logo should not be associated with it and it will be removed immediately.”
UN Women issued a statement on its website: “The UN Women logo in the recent inauguration event was used without any prior authorization from the UN. UN Women is asking the community Centre, with immediate effect, to withdraw the UN Women logo from all public material, and not to use its logo for any events or activities.”
“UN Women supported the rehabilitation of a community building in Burqa last year but has had no role in the naming or any other activity related to the Centre since the completion of the project was at the end of 2016.”
