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href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/un-official-resigns-after-pressure-withdraw-israel-apartheid-report">https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/un-official-resigns-after-pressure-withdraw-israel-apartheid-report</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">UN official resigns after pressure to
withdraw Israel apartheid report</h1>
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<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimah"
typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label
skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Ali Abunimah</a></span><span
class="field field-blog"></span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single" property="dc:date"
datatype="xsd:dateTime"
content="2017-03-17T17:17:52+00:00">17 March
2017</span></span> </p>
<p>A senior United Nations official has resigned,
following pressure from Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres to withdraw the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/landmark-un-report-backs-israel-boycott">landmark
report</a> published earlier this week finding
Israel guilty of apartheid.</p>
<p>Rima Khalaf, the head of the Economic and Social
Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) which published
the report, announced her resignation at a press
conference in Beirut on Friday.</p>
<p>Reuters <a
href="http://news.trust.org/item/20170317155911-wpmcb">reports</a>
that Khalaf took the step “after what she described
as pressure from the secretary-general to withdraw a
report accusing Israel of imposing an ‘apartheid
regime’ on Palestinians.”</p>
<p>“I resigned because it is my duty not to conceal a
clear crime, and I stand by all the conclusions of
the report,” <a
href="http://www.annahar.com/article/555726-%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7-%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%81-%D8%AA%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%8A%D9%84-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B6%D8%BA%D8%B7">Khalaf
stated</a>.</p>
<p>As of Friday, a <a
href="https://www.unescwa.org/news/escwa-launches-report-israeli-practices-towards-palestinian-people-and-question-apartheid">press
release</a> announcing the report remained visible
on the ESCWA website, but the link to the report
itself from the press release <a
href="https://www.unescwa.org/publications/publications/israeli-practices-palestinian-people-apartheid-occupation">no
longer works</a>.</p>
<p>A full copy of the report is available below.</p>
<p>It concludes that “Israel has established an
apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian
people as a whole.”</p>
<p>It finds “beyond a reasonable doubt that Israel is
guilty of policies and practices that constitute the
crimes of apartheid” as defined in international
law.</p>
<p>It urges national governments to “support boycott,
divestment and sanctions activities and respond
positively to calls for such initiatives.”</p>
<p>Palestinians <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/palestinians-hail-un-report-declaring-israel-apartheid-state">warmly
welcomed the report</a>, but Israel angrily
denounced it as akin to Nazi propaganda. Nikki
Haley, the US ambassador to the UN demanded that the
report be withdrawn.</p>
<p>That demand came just as the Trump administration <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/trump-budget-slashes-foreign-aid-not-israel">announced
a budget plan</a> that includes sweeping cuts in
US contributions to the UN.</p>
<p>Khalaf’s resignation indicates that Guterres acted
obediently and swiftly to carry out the orders from
the United States to withdraw the report.</p>
<p>The Israeli government has long targeted Khalaf for
retaliation for doing her job. In 2014, its UN
ambassador <a
href="http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Prosor-calls-for-UN-to-remove-official-for-anti-semitic-remark-348610">demanded
she be removed from her post</a> for criticizing
Israel’s policies of occupation and Jewish
colonization of Palestinian territory at the expense
of Muslim and Christian communities.</p>
<p>Her resignation, under pressure to suppress factual
and legal findings unfavorable to Israel, will send
a chilling message to other UN officials that they
are better off serving those in power than in
upholding any mandate to advance human rights and
respect for international law.</p>
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