Australian UN official in hot water

June 16, 2017 by Michael Kuttner
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There is a report that Israel has been requested the replacement of Robert Piper, UN Deputy Special Co-Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Piper, an Australian, was appointed to this position by Ban Ki Moon in May 2015 after having spent over 25 years working for the UN in humanitarian roles in various countries.

He has consistently issued statements highly critical of Israel’s policies towards Gaza and Arabs living in Judea & Samaria which have been viewed by the Government as one sided and lacking balance. They include assertions that Israeli government “policies have violated international humanitarian law as well as the human rights mechanisms to which Israel is a party” and that “Israel’s occupation is backed by force. Deliberate policies have isolated Palestinian communities from each other, ruptured social cohesion, profoundly limited economic activity, and deprived many of their basic rights – of movement, of expression, of access to health, and much more.”

The straw that broke the camel’s back was his press statement issued on the 50th. anniversary of the 6 Day War in which he condemned Israel’s “occupation.”

The Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs is demanding that Piper be replaced and if he is not, his residency permit may be revoked. His continued presence would make working with him impossible and this in turn would harm coordination of humanitarian aid to those in greatest need.

No comment has so far been forthcoming from the UN.

 

Comments

3 Responses to “Australian UN official in hot water”
  1. George H. Bindon says:

    Aside from the clear fact that his views, at a minimum, are shallow and unbalanced, they are also dramatically out of line with the position of our current Minister for Foreign Affairs.

    What’s the use on yet another parrot yapping the rote regurgitations of delusions of the last half century? In that time Israel has become a great cultural, economic, technological, and military power. The Muslim world has sunk to a pathetic and obscene joke. Hey, your program needs some serious debugging. Israel has been masterful at doing this for over three thousand years. You should take some lessons.

  2. Adrian Jackson says:

    Let us not forget that Piper is speaking for the UN as a whole and has 25 years experience in the UN.

  3. Adrian Jackson says:

    In paragraph 1 which “report” is the author referring to?

    In paragraph 3 which “government” is the author referring to?

    As an Australian I am happy that Australians are in key positions in the UN.

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