The Palestinian Presidential advisor for Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Nabil Shaath, has awarded Palestine’s Highest Medal of Honour to Rima Khalaf, the President of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and has praised her courage in standing up against those who pressured her to withdraw the committee’s report which stated that Israel had established “an apartheid regime.”
UN Under-Secretary General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Rima Khalaf on March 17, 2017 [Muhammed Ali Akman/Anadolu Agency]
“A UN official who does not have the courage to stand up to US pressure would lack credibility,” he said.
Shaath stressed that withdrawal of the complete report from the UN official website will not affect the reality of its content. He stressed the need to publish and distribute its findings widely.
He added that the report, which discusses Israel’s violation of international law, has been withdrawn in a bid to protect Israel from a ‘scandal’.