The United Nations Division for Palestinian Rights’ NGO Action News linked readers to the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights list of “5 Ways to Take Action for Tax Day,” which included instructions on how protesters can disrupt for a free Palestine and participate in a coordinated multi-city economic blockade. Anti-Israel protesters engaged in blockades in various U.S. cities, with police reporting traffic obstructions and nearly causing accidents in Detroit. Dozens were arrested across the country, raising concerns about the U.N.’s role in supporting these actions.
Anne Bayefsky, president of Human Rights Voices, accused the U.N. of aiding pro-Hamas anarchists in American cities by distributing a newsletter that contained links to radical anti-American and anti-Israel agitators. The U.N.’s NGO Action News website includes a disclaimer stating that they are not responsible for the content of third-party links, but Bayefsky believes that U.N. staff are involved in approving the inclusion of such links. She called the U.N.’s disclaimer “bogus” and also criticized the inclusion of inflammatory remarks in the USCPR’s protest guide.
The USCPR’s protest guide contained inflammatory remarks such as calling President Biden “Genocide Joe” and accusing Israel of mass murdering Palestinian families with U.S. tax dollars. The U.N. Secretary-General does not have the legal authority to label events as genocide, and the International Court of Justice did not rule that Israel had committed genocide. The secretary-general stated that NGO Action News does not fall under his authority and is compiled according to a mandate from member states.
In response to the rise in anti-Israel protests and antisemitic incidents in the U.S., the Anti-Defamation League released its annual Audit of Antisemitic Incidents, which found a 140% increase. The ADL observed explicitly antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric at anti-Israel rallies across the country. The Secretary-General has spoken out against the rise of antisemitism globally and stated that those calling for the destruction of Israel are engaging in modern antisemitism. Calls for Guterres to resign over his treatment of Israel have come from both Israel’s foreign minister and the U.N. ambassador.
