Can Israelis Trust the UN?

(Spectator-UK) Stephen Daisley - Sarah Muscroft was the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian territories (OCHA), based in eastern Jerusalem. After Islamic Jihad fired 1,000 rockets into Israel until there was a ceasefire, Muscroft tweeted: "Relieved to see a ceasefire agreed ending hostilities impacting both Palestinians and Israeli civilians. Such indiscriminate rocket fire of Islamic Jihad provoking Israeli retaliation is condemned." That's when all hell broke loose. The Palestinians fumed that Muscroft was blaming them for the fighting. Muscroft deleted her tweet, then tweeted an apology, then deleted her Twitter account. A spokesperson for OCHA said Muscroft had been reassigned. Israel's UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, deemed Muscroft's dismissal "a clear surrender of the UN to threats and intimidation" and called for her reinstatement. Muscroft's case recalls that of Matthias Schmale, Gaza director of UNRWA, who admitted during a TV interview in May last year that Israeli airstrikes against terrorists in Gaza had been "precise." Hamas condemned him, Palestinian NGOs condemned him, and he now works in the UN office in Nigeria.


2022-08-18 00:00:00

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