(Israel Hayom via JNS) Israel’s ambassador to the United States and the United Nations was barred from bringing a photo into the General Assembly highlighting the antisemitic views of a school teacher in the Gaza Strip.
Erdan had meant to show the picture during a discussion on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in an effort to highlight the problem of incitement in UNRWA-operated schools in Gaza. However, a security team was instructed by UNRWA staff to prevent him from entering the General Assembly hall with the photo, which showed an online post by the UNRWA-employed teacher in which he spread antisemitic views and quoted Hitler as a source of inspiration.
The Israeli ambassador addressed the incident in his speech, saying: “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. Unfortunately, shockingly, I was prevented from bringing in this photo in order to share this proof with the other distinguished ambassadors here.”
This, said Erdan, was “a very dangerous precedent … preventing my freedom of expression, preventing my freedom of speech, and hiding the truth from the U.N.”
Speaking to reporters after his speech, Erdan called the incident a “disgrace.”
“The U.N. isn’t just biased, it also shuts mouths. The UNRWA commissioner-general said here that he was proud of his teachers. I didn’t allow his lies to go without a response. I will continue fighting for our truth,” he said.
On Friday, the president of the U.N. Human Rights Council, Nazhat Shameem Khan, cut off a video presentation by U.N. Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer highlighting anti-Semitic social media posts by UNRWA teachers. Khan claimed that quoting the posts constituted a “derogatory, insulting and inflammatory” attack on the teachers in question.