UN chief slams anti-Semitism

GUTERRES PLEDGES TO STAND UP AGAINST PREJUDICE AGAINST ISRAEL

United Nations (UN) secretary-general Antonio Guterres sought to reassure international Jewish community leaders on Sunday that he would stand up against any perceptions of anti-Israel bias at the world organisation.

Guterres spoke amid a deepening row over alleged bias within the UN following US pressure, exacerbated last month when a UN rights expert issued a blistering criticism of Israel’s policies.

Guterres said he would “guarantee” that those working under him would abide by principles that he considers right.

“As secretary-general of the United Nations, I consider that the state of Israel needs to be treated as any other state,” he said to applause at the World Jewish Congress in New York.

“I have already had the opportunity to show that I’m ready to abide by that principle even when that forces me to take some decisions that create some uncomfortable situations,” he added.

Former UN official and Jordanian national Rima Khalaf last month said Guterres asked her to withdraw a report in which she accused Israel of being an “apartheid state” and subsequently resigned.

The UN chief nonetheless qualified: “That does not mean that I will always be in agreement with all the decisions that are taken at any moment by any government that exists in Israel.”

Guterres promised that he would be “in the frontline” in the struggle against anti-Semitism, which he warned was on the rise in Europe and the US, saying it was “absolutely unacceptable”.

He promised to “make sure that the United Nations is able to conduct all possible actions for anti-Semitism to be condemned, and if possible eradicated from the face of the earth”.

The former Portuguese prime minister was given a standing ovation. – AFP