'UN worker who defamed Israel has anti-Israel history'
By GIL SHEFLER
03/23/2012 03:02
Prosor says woman accused of tweeting inflammatory picture was disciplined for participating in an anti- Israel demonstration in 2008.
Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor Photo: Shahar Ezran
A United Nations employee accused of defaming Israel on Twitter last week has a
history of anti-Israel activism, the Israeli delegation to the UN said on
Wednesday.
Ambassador Ron Prosor sent a letter to UN
Under-Secretary-General Valerie Amos saying Khulood Badawi, who works for the
UN’s Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jerusalem, was
disciplined for participating in an anti- Israel demonstration in
2008.
“The OCHA employee’s rap sheet of incitement extends well beyond
the incident this month,” he wrote. “From the time that she was hired, OCHA has
whitewashed Ms. Badawi’s record of hate speech. How can Israel possibly regard
OCHA as impartial, when it hires extremists like Ms. Badawi – and allows them
free reign to engage in political activism?” Last week, Badawi caused a
controversy when she uploaded a picture of a bloodied Palestinian girl held in
her’s father arms.
The caption attached to the image read: “Palestine is
bleeding. Another child killed by Israel. Another father carrying a child into a
grave in Gaza.”
Israel complained to the UN saying Badawi violated the
rule of impartiality and should be relieved from her position.
Prosor
concluded his letter on Wednesday by reiterating Israel’s call for Badawi’s
immediate termination.
In response to an inquiry from The Jerusalem Post
on Thursday, an OCHA spokeswoman said that her organization was investigating
the Israeli allegations.
“We are taking these concerns extremely
seriously and an internal enquiry has already been initiated to look into any
breach of UN staff rules and regulations,” the spokeswoman wrote in an email.