'UN worker who defamed Israel has anti-Israel history'

Prosor says woman accused of tweeting inflammatory picture was disciplined for participating in an anti- Israel demonstration in 2008.

By GIL STERN STERN SHEFLER
Prosor 311 (photo credit: Shahar Ezran)
Prosor 311
(photo credit: 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.


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