From the Liveblog of
Sunday, February 11, 2024
FM Katz calls for UN special rapporteur to be fired for appearing to justify Oct. 7 massacre
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz calls on UN chief Antonio Guterres to fire UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians Francesca Albanese, a UN official with a history of antisemitic and anti-Israel remarks, following her most recent remarks appearing to justify Hamas’s October 7 massacre and claiming it was due to “oppression.”
“The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression,” she wrote in a tweet responding to a Le Monde post reporting on French President Emmanuel Macron honoring the victims of Hamas’s October 7 shock onslaught, including a number of French nationals. Macron decried “the biggest antisemitic massacre of our century” as well as “rampant antisemitism” in France in the wake of the attack.
“The ‘greatest anti-Semitic massacre of our century’? No, Mr. Emmanuel Macron. The victims of 7/10 were not killed because of their Judaism, but in response to Israel’s oppression. France & the international community did nothing to prevent it. My respects to the victims,” she wrote.
The French Foreign Ministry responded to her tweet that October 7 was indeed “the largest antisemitic massacre of the 21st century” and “disputing it is a mistake.”
Le massacre du 7 octobre est le plus grand massacre antisémite du 21e siècle. Le contester est une faute. Sembler le justifier, en y mêlant le nom des Nations Unies, est une honte.
Ces propos sont d’autant plus scandaleux que la lutte contre l’antisémitisme et toutes les formes… https://t.co/IGOfEP5Q0q
— France Diplomatie???????????????? (@francediplo) February 10, 2024
“Seeming to justify it, by including the name of the United Nations, is a shame. These comments are all the more scandalous since the fight against antisemitism and all forms of racism are at the heart of the founding of the UN,” the French ministry wrote.
Katz this afternoon wrote that “framing the October 7th massacre as a reaction to ‘Israeli oppression’ rather than an act of anti-Jewish hatred, is deeply troubling.”
The @UN's recent statement to the French President, framing the October 7th massacre as a reaction to 'Israeli oppression' rather than an act of anti-Jewish hatred, is deeply troubling. I call on Secretary-General @antonioguterres to fire @FranceskAlbs immediately. The time of… https://t.co/PTItZRTJNG
— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) February 11, 2024
He called on Guterres to fire Albanese “immediately.”
“The time of Jewish silence in the face of such misrepresentations has passed. We must stand strong and vocal against such narratives,” wrote Katz.
