Qatari UN envoy deletes Twitter account after antisemitic, homophobic tweets exposed

JTA — The Qatari envoy to United Nations agencies based in Geneva has deleted her Twitter account after a watchdog exposed antisemitic and homophobic tweets.

Hillel Neuer, the director of United Nations Watch, which tracks anti-Israel and anti-Jewish bias among other bigotries at the United Nations, reported Tuesday that Hend al-Muftah had deleted her account.

Al-Muftah had been a candidate to become the chairwoman of the UN Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law. After UN Watch exposed her history of bigoted tweets, the president of the UN Human Rights Council, Federico Villegas, appointed someone else. Among al-Muftah’s responsibilities is being an envoy to the Human Rights Council, and she bills herself as a Qatari expert on human rights.

Among a slew of antisemitic tweets in both Arabic and English, most of which are still available online, Al-Muftah wrote that “the Jews” focused investments in industry and media, “and that is why they dominated, tyrannized and ruled the world.”

“The American Zionist controls the US media,” and “thus it is well-targeted for achieving their anti-Islam everywhere… We learned from a young age that the Jews are our enemies!” Al-Muftah said.

She has also called LGBTQ people “God’s curse” and described their struggle for rights as “disgusting.”

Qatar, known for its repression of LGBTQ rights, is set to host soccer’s World Cup in November and December.

Al-Muftah was the first woman to be appointed to Qatar’s Shura Council, designated as Qatar’s most influential social media figure in 2016 and honored by the British Council in 2019.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report