NAN-F-49
Report
New York, March 17, 2017 (Reuters/NAN) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked the U.N. Regional Commission that represents most Arab countries to remove a report accusing Israel of practising apartheid regime against Palestinians from its website, U.N. official said on Friday.
The report for the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), which comprises 18 Arab states, concluded that “Israel has established an apartheid regime that dominates the Palestinian people as a whole.’’
The accusation often directed against Israel by its critics has never before been made by a UN body.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric has said that the report was published without prior consultation with the U.N. Secretariat.
Israel’s foreign ministry spokesman likened the report to a Nazi propaganda publication that was strongly anti-Semitic and described it as “despicable and a blatant lie.”
The U.S., Israel’s main ally, said it was outraged by the report.
The report was still visible on ESCWA’s website as at Friday. (Reuters/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Idahosa Asowata