UN Secretary General Prioritizes Hamas And PLO Over Israelis

On December 21, 2020, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed Tor Wennesland to be the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. The appointment was headlined over and over again in the official UN announcement. However, Wennesland was also appointed as Guterres’s Personal Representative to The Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, which was not highlighted.

Wennesland’s appointment as the UNSG’s representative to the PLO and PA has made his involvement in the “Middle East Peace Process” a sham. He has shown favoritism to the Palestinian Arab point of view repeatedly, and made his official coordinator for the peace process completely biased and unworkable.

Wennesland’s horrific bias was most glaring in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’s brutal slaughter of 1,200 people in Israel and abduction of over 250 hostages. On the day after the savage massacre, Wennesland said the “priority now is to avoid further loss of civilian life & deliver much needed humanitarian aid to the Strip.” His “priority” was not on Israeli hostages. His “priority” was not on wounded Israelis. His “priority” was not on securing the safety of Israelis. His “priority” was not no bringing Hamas terrorists to justice. The UN Secretary General’s priority was on Gazans.

Wennesland repeated his priorities for Gazans a few days later on October 11, not on the Israeli victims.

When the Hamas mastermind of the October 7, 2023 massacre was finally killed a year later, Wennesland would simply “take note of the killing” and not call it a “watershed moment in our common global fight against terrorism,” the way Ban Ki Moon stated about the killing of Osama Bin Laden. That’s because Guterres thinks that Hamas speaks for the Palestinian people, as UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said specifically “Hamas is not a terrorist group for us, of course, as you know. It’s a political movement.”

On October 2, 2024, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz decided to bar Guterres from the country because of Guterres’s anti-Israel statements and actions, the last being Guterres refusal to condemn Iran’s launching of 180 missiles at Israel. Guterres later condemned the attack and the UN Security Council said it continued to back Guterres.

Yet the fact remains that Guterres has surrounded himself with people who support Hamas and the PLO more than Israeli civilians. His gross bias and ineptitude has led to the worst loss of life in the region in centuries.

As well as a horrible spike in antisemitism around the world.

Another Guterres antisemitic/anti-Zionist ally is Francesca Albanese, the UN’s “Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967.” She has repeatedly been condemned for antisemitic remarks, including that Jews have no history in the holy land and are “colonizers.” UN Watch has tracked her comments supporting Hamas and their “resistance” against Israelis and the ADL has monitored her repeated antisemitism and Holocaust distortions.

The United Nations – spearheaded by its Secretary General – is endorsing a war against a member state and normalizing a violent jihad against Jews everywhere. The United States should call for the immediate removal of Guterres as well as his henchmen and women, or announce that it is defunding the global body and closing the headquarters in New York City.

ACTION ITEM

Contact the White House to push to fire UNSG Antonio Guterres

Watch Holocaust denier and Hamas promoter Francesca Albanese talk at the September 2024 webinar at Brown University below. She will be speaking throughout the US in the coming weeks.

Related articles:

United Nations Still Will Not Call For Hamas To Face Justice (October 2024)

Fire United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres (January 2024)

The Normalization Deformity: No To Zionism and Peace; Yes To Massacres and Terrorism In a Global Intifada (January 2024)

The Only Way The Conflict Can End (November 2023)

UN “Peace Coordinator” Before And During Hamas Massacre (October 2023)

Terrifying Trifecta Of Anti-Zionism (April 2023)

The False Palestinian Refugee, Self-Determination Narrative (May 2021)

UN Secretary General Guterres is Losing the Confidence of Decent People (September 2017)

UN’s Confusion on the Legality of Israel’s Blockade of Gaza (July 2015)

Sinwar’s 2021 Message To Israel And The United Nations

May 2021 saw a relatively short war between Hamas in Gaza and Israel. As the battle was coming to a close, Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas’s military, met with Tor Wennesland, the UN Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

It did not go well.

Yahya Sinwar, leader of the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza, gestures during a rally in Beit Lahiya on May 30, 2021. (Atia Mohammed/ Flash90)

“It was a bad meeting. It was not positive at all, and we clarified to the [United Nations] delegation that we would hold a meeting of Islamic and national factions in Gaza to decide our next steps,” Sinwar told reporters following the meeting. “It seems that the occupation [Israel] did not get our people’s message,” essentially threatening the Jewish State again.

Hamas demanded that Israel lift tightened restrictions on the Gaza Strip in exchange for continued calm, as well as permit Gaza to rebuild after the 11-day battle between Israel and the terror group. But Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Israel would not permit a full reconstruction of Gaza — with the resulting influx of materials — without the return of two Israeli civilian captives and the bodies of two Israeli soldiers held by Hamas.

Sinwar rejected the proposal and said Israel is “trying to extort us, the Palestinian people, the Palestinian resistance, when it comes to lifting [the restrictions] on our people.”

A spokesperson for the UN Secretary General was interviewed in June 2021 after Wennesland’s meeting with Sinwar, especially on the topic of Hamas’s use of children in armed conflict. The UN offered generic messaging and would not specifically condemn Hamas.

Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar sits and smiles in his bombed Gaza office when it was above ground, May 27, 2021 (Courtesy)

Two years later, Sinwar launched a massive war against Israel, killing roughly 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages. It seemed that Hamas wanted both the UN and Israel to get the “message” that they will be unbowed by any rules of war, and magnify his violence by a hundred times.

Israel learned Sinwar’s 2021 and 2023 messages and is replying to sender: the Jewish State will defend itself aggressively when attacked in such barbaric fashion, and it will always insist on reclaiming its citizens. Any reconstruction of Gaza will depend on Sinwar’s death or capture this time, in addition to the release of the Israeli hostages whether dead or alive.

For its part, the UN continues to pretend that it does not understand anyone’s messages, offering worthless bobbleheads with microphones attached. If it weren’t so horribly tragic, it would be comical.

Related articles:

Note To Kamala: Vast Majority Of West Bank Arabs Are Terrorist Supporters (July 2024)

When Founding Fathers Are Psychopaths And Cowards (January 2024)

Chumming For Antisemites (December 2023)

Hamas Should Face ‘Maximum Justice’ (October 2023)

Nexus of Terrorism Hypocrisy: UN, Qatar and Hamas (June 2021)

Fun With Cause-and-Effect: Gaza Border Protests (April 2018)

The Deep Flaws In The UN’s “Peace” Coordinator

The United Nations’ role in the Middle East is a dangerous farce. It pretends to be an impartial party attempting to bring peace to the volatile region, when in fact it takes only sides with Palestinian Arabs.

The UN has a person appointed to be the “Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process,” Tor Wennesland. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Wennesland to that role in December 2020 and simultaneously to act as Guterres’ “Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority.” How could Israel possibly take the position of such a biased representative seriously? Guterres shot the messenger by cementing him with Palestinian cement shoes from the outset.

Not surprisingly, the “peace process” floundered under Guterres and Wennesland, with the Palestinian Arabs together with backers in Lebanon, Syria, Iran and Yemen all coming for the Jewish State in a regional assault.

The biased and tarnished Wennesland continues to address the UN Security Council and the world via social media. Various biases can be found throughout his comments.

On August 16, 2024, Wennesland tweeted that he condemned settler violence and wanted “to ensure full accountability for all involved,” and further called “on the Israeli government to stop settler violence.”

August 16, 2024 tweet calling out Israelis for violence and demanding full accountability

But Wennesland did the opposite regarding Hamas and other terrorist groups attacking Israel, where he did not call out “Hezbollah” and demanded that Israel use “maximum restraint” in responding to terror.

July 27, 2024 tweet not naming Hezbollah terrorists and urging Israel respond with “maximum restraint”

The hypocrisy is a designed feature of the UN. When Wennesland addressed the UN Security Council on May 29, 2024, he acknowledged the “breakdown of law and order” in Gaza as well as the “well-organized looting of the UNRWA Rafah log base,” but deliberately omitted saying that the looting was done by Hamas. In fact, he implied the opposite, that because Hamas was no longer in charge, there was a breakdown of order.

Comments to UNSC on May 29, 2024

Wennesland treats Hamas as a trusted partner and uses the political-terrorist group’s talking points. On August 10, 2024, Wennesland condemned on the “devastating strike on a school sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinian, with dozens of fatalities.” The UN itself admitted that those “dozens of fatalities” were terrorists, yet the UN’s “Coordinator for Peace” parroted jihadi terrorist propaganda.

Official statement condemning the killing of terrorists on August 10, 2024

Wennesland views his role as protecting and promoting Palestinian Arabs, not securing peace. It means advancing their narrative, excusing their terrorism, and preventing Israel from eliminating jihadi terrorists.

Wennesland knows that there are numerous allies of Palestinians all attacking Israel; he names Hizbullah, Iran and the Houthis, even while treading gingerly around Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It’s because he sees his goal as supporting the creation of a Palestinian state first and foremost, and that means calling for international support for a Palestinian government, even knowing it to be deeply corrupt and antisemitic.

The UN’s idea of a “peace process” is deeply and fundamentally flawed. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Coordinator for Middle East Peace Tor Wennesland should both be fired for abetting terrorism, and all UN agencies in the region should be shuttered.

Related articles:

UN Secretary General Says Hamas Speaks For “The Palestinian People” (October 2023)

The United Nations Fails Own Resolution To Combat Terrorism (October 2023)

Say Its Name: ‘Hamas’ (October 2023)

UN “Peace Coordinator” Before And During Hamas Massacre (October 2023)

Hamas Should Face ‘Maximum Justice’ (October 2023)

UN Secretary General To Interfere With Israel’s Hostage Rescue To Help Arab Civilians (October 2023)

UN Coordinator For Middle East Does Not Condemn Use Of Children As Terrorists (July 2023)

UN Ignores Horrific Spike In Palestinians Killing Israelis (April 2023)

A New Low: UN Saddened By Deaths of Terrorists (February 2023)

UN Lies About Palestinians Favoring Two States (December 2022)

UN Doesn’t Like ‘Proportionate’ Israeli Reaction To Arab Terror Either (November 2022)

Despite Palestinians Committing More Acts of Terror, UN Lambasts ‘Settlers’ (May 2022)

Amid The Terror, The United Nations Elevates Hamas (April 2022)

The UN Coordinator For Palestinian Appeals (November 2021)

The UN Has No Interest in Mid-East Peace, Just a Palestinian State (October 2021)

Shut UNRWA in Gaza Immediately (August 2018)

The UN Does Not Want Palestinian Terrorists to be Held Accountable (July 2017)

The United Nations’ Adoption of Palestinians, Enables It to Only Find Fault With Israel (March 2016)

The Israeli Peace Process versus the Palestinian Divorce Proceedings (June 2015)

Help Refugees: Shut the UNRWA, Fund the UNHCR (September 2014)

‘The Day After’ Is Moving From a Military Solution To A Religious One, Not a Political One

Tor Wennesland is the Norwegian-born United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. His obvious inability to coordinate peace among the warring parties or even to separate them has certainly frustrated him since he took the position in 2021.

Wennesland has seemingly resorted to converting simultaneously to both Judaism and Islam, declaring himself both a rabbi and imam, and issued religious rulings and fatwas against both the Palestinian Muslims and Israeli Jews.

On March 12, 2024, Wennesland produced a curious declaration that flies in the face of facts, reality and dignity.

His opening salvo was against Jews around the world saying “I call for the status quo at the holy sites in Jerusalem to be upheld and respected.” That ‘status quo’ is the current ban on Jews praying at their holiest site of the Temple Mount, a complete trampling on the basic rights of Jews around the world. His language of “I call” was an interesting phrase, seemingly not offering his personal preference but taking the role of a rabbi to inform Jews that praying on the Temple Mount is forbidden.

He then turned to the Palestinian Islamists and said “Any attempt by extremists to turn the conflict into a religious one must be staunchly rejected.”

But that is the very core of the conflict and current Hamas war. Hamas’ foundational charter is a religious war against the Jews and the Jewish State with phrases such as:

  • Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.” (Opening)
  • “Our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious.” (Preamble)
  • Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews)… there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him” (Article 7)
  • Nothing in nationalism is more significant or deeper than in the case when an enemy should tread Moslem land” (Article 12)
  • In face of the Jews’ usurpation of Palestine, it is compulsory that the banner of Jihad be raised…. the Palestinian problem is a religious problem, and should be dealt with on this basis.” (Article 15)
  • Israel, Judaism and Jews challenge Islam and the Moslem people.” (Article 28)
  • fight with the warmongering Jews.” (Article 32)
  • everywhere in the Islamic world will come forward in response to the call of duty while loudly proclaiming: Hail to Jihad.” (Article 33)
  • Moslems were able to retrieve the land only when they stood under the wing of their religious banner… This is the only way to liberate Palestine… confront the Zionist invasion and defeat it… rid themselves of the effects of ideological invasion.” (Article 34)

Wennesland is obviously familiar with Hamas, its charter and philosophy. He knows that Palestinian Arabs support the group and the savage attack on Israelis on October 7. He therefore opted to don an Islamic tunic, promote himself and declare a fatwa that “The sanctity of Ramadan cannot and should not be used for political gains and calculations.” A curious declaration from a Christian to tell Muslims what to do with their holy month of Ramadan.

Beyond my obvious mocking and teasing of the absurdity of Wennesland’s dual conversions to both Judaism and Islam, perhaps there is a kernel of an idea in what he said.

For all these years, the global community specifically tried to frame the conflict as one solely about land and pretended that religion played no part. The foundation for that approach was that religion operates in absolutes and offers no compromises, and therefore no solutions to two people fighting over the same holy sites.

Unless, as Wennesland attempted to do, a single person – or perhaps a committee – represents both Muslims and Jews. A new council which would meet and find a way to respect the other’s faiths and traditions and map a pathway towards coexistence.

People have argued that there is no military solution to the middle east but history has shown that there is no political solution either. Now may be the time to find a religious path to peace in the holy land.

Related articles:

The United States Is “Morally, Historically, and Politically Wrong” About Jewish Prayer on Temple Mount (October 2023)

Dividing The Temple Mount Into Jewish And Muslim Sections (June 2023)

On Defenses: Provocative and Legal / Unprovocative and Illegal (January 2023)

Judaism’s Particularism Protects Al Aqsa (August 2022)

Time for Jordan To Live Up To Its Peace Treaty With Israel And Support Jewish Prayer On The Temple Mount (April 2022)

Pros And Cons Of Muslims Considering Jewish Holy Sites As Sacred Also (April 2022)

Humble Faith (October 2021)

Heritage, Property and Sovereignty in the Holy Land (February 2017)

It is Time to Insert “Jewish” into the Names of the Holy Sites (October 2016)

The UN’s Disinterest in Jewish Rights at Jewish Holy Places (September 2015)

The United Nations and Holy Sites in the Holy Land (November 2014)

The UN Continues To Grossly Minimize Palestinian Terror

Tor Wennesland, the Arab puppet who works under the title United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, gave his highly biased remarks to the UN Security Council on September 27. It showcased his protection of the increasingly dangerous Palestinian terrorist society.

During the reporting period June 15 to September 19, Palestinian Arabs in the “West Bank” killed ten Israelis, while Israeli “settlers” in the region killed two Palestinians. The whopping FIVE TIMES more murders by Arabs did not seem to register, as Wennesland voiced “I am disturbed by the high levels of settler-related violence,” but never specifically called out the more frequent and lethal Arab violence.

As alarming, for the seventh time this year, Palestinians in the West Bank launched rockets at Israelis, with the latest one towards the Israeli town of Ram On located near the 1949 Armistice Lines. Wennesland grossly minimized the attack saying Palestinians “attempted and failed to launch an improvised rocket”, making the grotesque attempt at mass murder sound like a harmless childish prank.

The rocket attacks were launched by yet another new Palestinian terror group called al-Ayyash, joining the Lion’s Den and Jenin Battalion which formed over the past two years. The number of guns and advanced weaponry now being deployed by the various terrorist groups is making 2023 the most deadly year for Israelis in several years.

Still, the UN did not condemn Palestinian actions nor call for a crack down on incitement and terror. Instead, it asked countries for donations to send to these same Palestinians, and urged for evictions of all Jewish civilians from their homes in the West Bank.

It’s working.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, said “the sharp rise in violence by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians is also deeply alarming,” but didn’t similarly call out the greater number of Palestinian Arab murderers. She then added that the United States supports the antisemitic policies and desires of the Palestinian Authority to ban Jews from living in the “West Bank” and from praying at their holiest location on the Jewish Temple Mount. For good measure, she added that the U.S. is “pleased to announce nearly $73 million in additional contributions to UNRWA.”

If the UN’s vision of a peace process absolves Arabs of crimes against humanity while endorsing the ethnic cleansing of half a million Jews from their biblical homeland, the entire global body is clearly morally defective. It should be stripped of all funding and shuttered outright, not just its specialized projects for Palestinians.

Related articles:

UN Coordinator For Middle East Does Not Condemn Use Of Children As Terrorists

UNRWA’s West Bank Terrorists

Terrifying Trifecta Of Anti-Zionism

Letter To Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY16) About Palestinian Support For Attacks

Using Terrorism For Fundraising, And Fundraising For Terrorism

UN Lies About Palestinians Favoring Two States

UN Coordinator For Middle East Does Not Condemn Use Of Children As Terrorists

On June 27, 2023, Tor Wennesland, the United Nations Special Coordinator For Middle East Peace (actually the Coordinator for Palestinian Appeals), addressed the United Nations Security Council. He gave a long list of Israeli actions against Palestinians while giving barely any details of SAP (Stateless Arabs from Palestine) attacks against Israelis.

In one review of the back-and-forth violence, Wennesland recounted that on June 21 “armed Palestinians fired towards al-Jalamah checkpoint, north of Jenin. An Israeli drone subsequently launched a missile at their vehicle, killing three Palestinians, one a child. The IDF said that the three were responsible for a number of shooting attacks in the West Bank. Two were later claimed as members by Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the third by Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.”

Wennesland clearly knew that Arabs were recruiting and arming children to engage in terrorist attacks but said absolutely nothing about this horrific activity during his entire report.

Both he and the UN know that this is a red line.

According to the Paris Principles on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, 2007, “A child associated with an armed force or armed group” refers to any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys and girls, used as fighters, cooks, porters, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities.

The UN’s own website states that “Human rights law declares 18 as the minimum legal age for recruitment and use of children in hostilities.” It has drafted various papers about the use of children in armed conflict.

But the global farcical organization does not utter a word about Arab children committing terrorism as part of organized groups. Instead, Wennesland stated that “Children in particular must never be the target of violence, used or put in harm’s way,” condemning Israel for killing young terrorists, rather than the Arab groups who recruit child fighters.

The Arab American Institute’s James Zogby was given the floor at the UN as well and said “there is an extremist political culture in Israel today. Polling data shows that a majority of Israelis do not view Palestinians as equal human beings. And given the traumatic nightmare visited upon millions of Palestinians for the past 56 years, is it any wonder that a recent poll shows a majority of Palestinians rejecting moderate leadership and favoring armed struggle. This tragic deformity in Palestinian political culture is the result of the continued brutality of the occupation.”

The countries on the Security Council picked up on the twisted theme. Russia, Ghana, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France and Malta all berated Israel for the death of Arab children, missing the critical element that the Arab children are fighting alongside adult terrorists. The Israeli representative called it out, “that cancerous [Palestinian] hatred, which has poisoned the minds of children and adults, is the root of the conflict and must be addressed and condemned by the Council.”

No one seemed to hear or care.

Has there ever been a more disgusting inversion of blaming the victim? The majority of SAPs favor killing Jewish civilians inside of Israel, not “armed struggle” against extremist Israelis. The SAPs recruit and arm children to murder as many Jews as possible.

And the United Nations not only ignores the horrible spectacle but gives an audience to people to whitewash the crimes.

The UN is tacitly supporting Palestinians recruiting children to kill Jews, and the US and world say nothing.

ACTION ITEM

The UN ignores and absolves Palestinian Arabs recruitment, training, and arming of children to kill Jewish Israelis. This must be condemned clearly and forcefully, as all bright lines have been erased in the global body’s onslaught against the Jewish State

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The United Nations continues to ignore and absolve Palestinian Arabs recruitment, training, and arming of children to kill Jewish Israelis. It must be condemned clearly and forcefully, as all bright lines have been erased in the global body’s onslaught against the Jewish State.

Related articles:

Israelis Targeting Terrorists, Palestinians Targeting Civilians

Palestinians Want Their Young Girls To Become Terrorists

UN Ignores Horrific Spike In Palestinians Killing Israelis

A New Low: UN Saddened By Deaths of Terrorists

UN Doesn’t Like ‘Proportionate’ Israeli Reaction To Arab Terror Either

UN Lies About Palestinians Favoring Two States

Despite Palestinians Committing More Acts of Terror, UN Lambasts ‘Settlers’

The UN Has No Interest in Mid-East Peace, Just a Palestinian State

Using Terrorism For Fundraising, And Fundraising For Terrorism

Mother’s Day And Ahlam Al-Tamimi

The UN Continues To Absolve Palestinian Attacks Against Israelis In The “West Bank”

Throughout 2022, Palestinian Arabs committed more attacks against Israelis than the reverse. A fact obfuscated constantly by the United Nations.

Tor Wennesland, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, gave his monthly update to the UN Security Council on October 28, 2022. Despite Palestinian Arabs attacking Israeli Jews with increasing frequency – by Wennesland’s own accounting – he chose to minimize Arab violence and focus on the attacks by Israeli Jews.

The nature of whitewashing Palestinian attacks takes many forms.

Portraying the Palestinian Authority as peaceful and Israeli politicians as violent. The PA incites violence with both words and actions, paying rewards to terrorists and calling the entirety of Israel an illegal settlement. Despite the PA being an integral part of the problem, Wennesland called for “Efforts are also urgently needed to empower and strengthen the Palestinian Authority and build towards a return to a political process.” Rather than call out widespread systematic PA incitement, Wennesland pointed to a single Israeli politician, a “right-wing Israeli Member of the Knesset led a group through Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, at one point brandishing a weapon and making violent threats.

Stating Palestinians are mostly peaceful. The Palestinians launched a new terrorist group called the Lion’s Den in August 2022, causing Jews in the West Bank to seek to protect themselves from ongoing shootings and bomb threats. Settler attacks jumped immediately after the new terrorist group’s arrival and actions.

But the UN led its reporting of the monthly death toll by leading with Arab “demonstrations” instead of Arab violence: “In total, 32 Palestinians, including six children, were killed by Israeli security forces during demonstrations, clashes, search-and-arrest operations, attacks and alleged attacks against Israelis, and other incidents.” It was absolution via inversion, led by omitting a key part of the narrative.

Relaying that Palestinian demonstrations are reactive and Israeli protests are provocative. The report’s bias can be seen clearly also in the way protests are described. Wennesland said that Palestinian “Demonstrations and protests spread from Shu’fat to East Jerusalem and led to clashes between Palestinians and ISF,” after Israel’s military imposed movement restrictions as it searched for Arab militants. It continued that Israel’s military “shot and killed five Palestinians” (never using the word terrorists), which then led to “Thousands of Palestinians subsequently demonstrated in Nablus, with protests spreading across the occupied West Bank. Amid the heightened tensions, Palestinians conducted general strikes and five days of civil disobedience campaigns across the West Bank, with further clashes between Palestinians and ISF.” All Arab actions are described as reactionary.

However, for Jews, the report states the opposite. “Settler-related violence and provocations has also increased during the reporting period, contributing to the dynamic of escalating violence in the occupied West Bank. Throughout the reporting period, settlers held numerous demonstrations across the West Bank, with protesters on multiple occasions blocking main roads, throwing stones and impeding movement for Palestinian residents. Tensions were particularly high around Nablus, where settlers impeded main routes for Palestinian residents and, on several occasions, groups of Israeli settlers entered the Palestinian town of Huwwara, south of Nablus, damaging Palestinian property and prompting clashes with residents, in some cases in the presence of Israeli Security Forces.”

Detailing Israeli Jews’ attacks but not those of Palestinian Arabs. Wennesland then relayed two specific incidents about “Israeli settlers”. It included no specific incidents about Arab violence. In his opening summary remarks, Wennesland had details on the number of injuries incurred by Palestinians (63) but had no such figure for Jews. Instead, he belittled the Palestinian attacks by noting that 100 of the 115 incidents “were stone-throwing incidents.” This is not surprising as “OCHA [United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs] began systematically tracking Palestinian fatalities in 2005,” but no organization tracks Palestinian attacks nor Jewish fatalities.

In September’s report, while Wennesland gave the figure of “128 attacks against Palestinians,” it gave no total for Palestinian Arab attacks. Presumably it was much higher, as it was in every month.

Normalizing and legitimizing the political-terrorist group Hamas. Capping off the report, Wennesland mentioned that Fatah and Hamas signed the Algiers Declaration, which amounted to reconciliation between the parties and an agreement to hold elections in which all parties could participate. He said “I echo the Secretary-General in welcoming the agreement and underscore the importance of Palestinian reconciliation for a viable, independent Palestinian State.” For the UN, a terrorist Palestinian state alongside Israel is still better than no Palestinian State.

Supporting a single party in the conflict – Palestinian Arabs. Wennesland summed up his report with empathy for the Arabs but not the Jews. He called for the world to join him in his rallying cry for Palestinian Arabs: “I see clearly the mounting frustration and anger of Palestinians in the face of decades of Israeli occupation. The Palestinian Authority urgently needs the economic support and political space to fully exercise its authority, including security, in areas under its control.

The United Nations is a rabidly anti-Zionist organization which minimizes and excuses Palestinian Arab violence and embraces the political-terrorist group Hamas. Meanwhile, Israeli Jews living in Judea and Samaria are cast as terrorists for simply seeking to live freely. Doing so consistently and repeatedly, the UN invalidates itself as a potential force for good to resolve the long-running dispute in the holy land.

Despite Palestinians Committing More Acts of Terror, UN Lambasts ‘Settlers’

The United Nations has a particular narrative about the Arab-Israeli Conflict which plays out in various fora.

The anti-Zionist organization has elevated the discussion of ‘settler attacks’ in an effort to paint the Zionists as not only illegal but dangerous, thereby clear obstacles to peace.

A UN press release by the poorly-named Human Rights Council noted the following in November 2021:

Settler violence has always been an extremely disturbing feature of the Israeli occupation, but in 2021, we are witnessing the highest recorded levels of violence in recent years and more severe incidents…. This precipitous rise in settler violence is not simply the result of a few ‘bad apples’ among the settler population. The deep state support provided by Israel to the illegal settlement enterprise, including to the more than 140 settlement outposts established throughout the West Bank in defiance of even Israel’s own laws, has fueled this coercive environment and encouraged violence.

Tor Wennesland, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, has adopted this line of reasoning. Wennesland gives a monthly report to the UN Security Council where he reports on his perception of Israel’s violations and treatment of Palestinians rather than on Middle East Peace.

Consider Wennesland’s comments in his March 22, 2022 report to the UN Security Council when he went detailed specific events of Israeli settler violence but glossed over Arab terrorism. Wennesland essentially blamed all attacks on the Israeli government, parroting the UN Human Rights Group talking points:

The announcement of Tel Aviv’s [*note the dis of stating Israel’s government being in Tel Aviv and not Jerusalem*] plans to expand settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is deeply disturbing. The continuation of settlement construction and the intention to double the number of Israelis living in the Jordan Valley and the Syrian Golan Heights by 2026 can be seen as the de facto annexation of most of the occupied Palestinian territory. Against that background, there has been a sharp increase in settler attacks, as well as the disproportionate use of force by the Israeli military against Palestinians resulting in civilian deaths and injuries.” The statement suggests that the Israeli government’s actions promoting further development in Area C and the Golan Heights encouraged “settler attacks.” All he offered about Hamas, the political-terrorist group that runs Gaza was that “Hamas also called for increased clashes with the Israeli forces throughout the occupied West Bank,” when in fact, Hamas calls for attacks against all Israeli Jews, including civilians.

After even more Arab attacks against Israelis over the following weeks, Wennesland continued to emphasize attacks by Israelis. In his April 25 report, he mentioned “settlers” five time to only twice for Hamas. He again reiterated that settler violence was principally because the Israeli government supports Jews living throughout Israel and its territories, but at least added a caveat about Arab terrorism: “Against the backdrop of continued settlement activities and ongoing pressure on Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank, as well as heightened tensions, settler-related violence remained high, particularly following the terrorist attacks in Israel.

To be clear – according to Wennesland’s own reports – the number of Arab attacks dwarves attacks by Israelis. The monthly total for Palestinian Arabs attacking Jews ranged from 80 to 108 for the first four months of 2022, but only between 28 and 66 for “settler” attacks. Overall, there were 381 attacks by Palestinians to 210 by Israelis, or 81% more.

Israeli attacks were roughly half the number of Palestinian Arab attacks in the first four months of 2022. Israeli attacks were less than one-third the number of Arab attacks at the beginning of the year, before a wave of lethal Arab attacks prompted a response from Jews.

Wennesland remains blind to Arab incitement including naming schools and squares after murderers, governmental stipends to Palestinians who attack Jews, as well as straight out calls for violence. His jaundiced reports are fed to the waiting biased audience at the UN, with recommendation of more monies for Palestinians and fewer homes for Jews:

Reducing violence and halting settlement activity, while shoring up the Palestinian Authority’s fiscal stability and strengthening Palestinian institutions are crucial. Steps to improve economic conditions must be implemented in a way that lays the foundations for a return to a meaningful political process.

On one side, there is ongoing incitement to violence by Palestinian leadership which encouraged nearly 100 attacks against Jews every month. On the other, is an Israeli government which encourages Jews to coexist among Arabs, where Israelis commit roughly half the number of attacks a month, mostly in response to waves of Arab terrorism. Yet while those facts are admitted (in passing) by the United Nations, it directs blame solely on Israel, as it pushes another fund-raising appeal for the Arab government supporting terrorism.

Fortunately, the work of groups like IMPACT-SE which showcase the incitement against Israel at UN agencies, has led the European Union to dramatically cut its funding to UNRWA. However, the US has not curtailed its funding despite being fully aware of the incitement (see USAID Samantha Power testimony to Appropriations Committee mark 1.05), despite comments to cut funding to bad governments.

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The UN Coordinator For Palestinian Appeals

Amid The Terror, The United Nations Elevates Hamas

Israelis are facing a wave of terrorism from Muslim Arabs, in which 14 people were killed in just the last few weeks. The political-terrorist group Hamas celebrated the murders in what it called a “heroic operation.” Gazans handed out sweets on the streets to celebrate the killings.

Such sentiments brought out the United Nations to call the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.

Tor Wennesland, the UN Secretary General’s special envoy to the Middle East, reached out to Haniyeh in early April. Haniyeh broadcast the action on Hamas media with “Hamas Chief Receives Call From UN Mideast Envoy.” Haniyeh got to tell Palestinian Arabs that he commands respect on the world stage and is considered a leader, fighting for his people. The article stated that Haniyeh “discussed the latest political and field developments related to the Palestinian cause,” and described at length how Haniyeh told the UN leader that the global body had to do more to clamp down on Israel.

The article concluded with The UN envoy hailed the relationship with Hamas as ‘constructive and strategic.

Just a few days later, another Palestinian killed three Israelis as they enjoyed an evening out in Tel Aviv. A senior Hamas official, Mushir al-Masri, said that “resistance operations are a natural response to Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people,” defending the killings of innocent civilians.

Wennesland was not pleased and decided to pen his own narrative.

The United Nations is partially responsible for the attacks on Israelis, as it coddles terrorist groups and refuses to hold Palestinians responsible for their actions.

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The UN Has No Interest in Mid-East Peace, Just a Palestinian State

The United Nations, as an institution, was designed to be an impartial party which would bring peace and order to a chaotic world.

If only.

The opening lines of the UN Charter note the “equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small,” and Article 2 specifically called out the “principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.” Equality seemed a cornerstone of the principles of the organization.

But the United Nations has continued to prefer a particular non-member OVER AND ABOVE an existing member. Specifically, the Palestinian Authority over the State of Israel.

The head of the United Nations, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, appointed a Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, by all accounts a good idea to keep the volatile region from spinning out of control and to serve as an impartial envoy to bring the PA and Israel together to forge an enduring peace.

But Guterres did not pick someone to act as a neutral party. He appointed Tor Wennesland, who has a history of working and supporting the Palestinians and other Muslim Arabs in the region. He served as:

  • Norway’s chairman of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Palestine
  • Norway’s Representative to the Palestinian Authority from 2007 to 2011
  • Norwegian Ambassador to Egypt and Libya from 2012 to 2015

Even worse and more telling, Guterres also asked Wennesland to act as his Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. This person was not selected to bring the warring parties together but to act on behalf of only one party – the PA – a non-member of the United Nations.

The appointment should have been roundly rejected by Israel as an affront to the peace process and by the entire membership body of the United Nations, as the leader of the organization promoted the agenda of a non-member state over those of a member.

The systemic anti-Israel bias in the United Nations is found in every corner, from the dozens of member states that refuse to recognize the Jewish State, to the Secretary General himself, who by now has become deeply stained in that toxic sea of anti-Semitism.


Related First One Through articles:

The United States Should NOT be a Neutral Mediator in the Arab-Israel Conflict

The United Nations’ Adoption of Palestinians, Enables It to Only Find Fault With Israel

UN Secretary General Guterres is Losing the Confidence of Decent People

The UN Blesses Turkey’s Anti-Semitism and Terrorism

The UN on the Status of Jerusalem

The UN Cannot See Palestinian ‘Lies and Loathing’

New Head of UNRWA is Another Hamas-Sympathizer Politician

There’s Nothing Worse Than Terrorism in France

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