Outrage over treatment of Israeli ambassador to UN

UN officials try to downplay the incident, which is making waves in the American media.

By Israel Today Staff | | Topics: Iran, United Nations
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, being detained and led away after protesting a speech by Iran's president. Screenshot
Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, being detained and led away after protesting a speech by Iran's president. Screenshot

The United Nations’ shameful treatment of Israel was on full display Tuesday when Ambassador Gilad Erdan was roughly detained and led out of the General Assembly for daring to protest a speech by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

As Raisi took the podium to speak, Erdan unfurled a poster of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman who was murdered by Iran’s “morality police” a year ago for failing to properly cover her hair in public.

“Iranian women deserve freedom NOW!” the poster read.

Erdan then began to leave the General Assembly hall but was intercepted by two UN security officers. Erdan later told Fox News that the officers had treated him with “unacceptable” brutality.

The Israeli ambassador was reportedly released following the intervention of Israel’s diplomatic and security teams. He later noted that other ambassadors have similarly protested in the General Assembly, for instance in relation to the war in Ukraine, and were not detained and forcibly ejected.

“While the butcher of Tehran is speaking at the UN and is being respected by the international community, hundreds of Iranians are protesting outside, shouting and calling on the international community to wake up and help them,” Erdan stated. “It is a disgrace that member states stay to listen to a mass murderer.”

“It should not be possible for a murderer with blood on his hands to receive a platform here at the UN,” he added. “I left the speech to make it clear that the State of Israel stands by the Iranian people. I call on the international community to stop the madness and prevent murderers and antisemites from coming and speaking here at the UN.”

United Nations officials tried to downplay the incident, suggesting that Erdan wasn’t “detained.”

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, told JNS that “there was indeed an incident when a permanent representative of Israel walked down the aisle and unfurled a photo during the speech by the president of Iran in the General Assembly. At no time was the ambassador detained in any way, shape or form. As far as we are concerned, the incident is closed.”

During his remarks, Raisi quoted frequently from the Koran, denounced Islamophobia, stressed the sanctity of family and frequently attacked Israel. He also referred to decades of Israeli “occupation,” accusing Israel of murdering civilians and calling for the creation of a state of Palestine.

He also claimed that Iran does not support any wars and that the United States “trampled” on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. “It has committed egregious and unilateral crimes,” he said.

Iran seeks “peaceful nuclear energy” and not nuclear weapons, Raisi claimed.

With reporting by JNS.

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