She is not a household name and maybe never will be. But Rima Khalaf should be viewed as a hero in the Arab world. Instead of withdrawing a UN report that she authorized which accused Israel of apartheid over its treatment of Palestinians — a withdrawal demanded of her by the UN’s new Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — Khalaf resigned. That decision took courage. Khalaf chose values and principles over financial benefits and a top international post.
The report, entitled “Israeli Practices Toward the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid”, published earlier this month by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, of which Khalaf is head, drew swift criticism from US and Israeli officials. That was to be expected. The surprise was the reaction of Guterres.
At first Guterres distanced himself from the report, saying it reflected its authors’ views. But somewhere along the line he must have been pressured, either by the US or Israel or both, to demand that the report be withdrawn. His office denies he was pressured, yet the reason for his demand does not hold. A UN spokesman said the issue with Khalaf was not the content of the report but a result of her failure to follow the necessary procedures before the publication. She supposedly had to consult the relevant departments and Guterres himself.
If that were truly the case, what’s the problem besides a minor procedural blip? Obviously, the problem was much more than one of protocol. A few days after the report was published, it was no longer visible on the ESCWA website.
If the UN cannot trust Khalaf, herself an under-secretary general in the world body, then why was she appointed to the post to begin with? A UN press release said of Khalaf when she was appointed in 2010: “Khalaf brings to the position a combination of deep passion for, and knowledge of, the region with its challenges and opportunities; substantial experience with the United Nations at the senior policymaking levels; and the necessary management skills for a complex organization such as ESCWA.” That is a glowing assessment that Guterres upended in one day.
Guterres’ demand that Khalaf withdraw a report backed up by facts is not as much an insult to the efforts of those who prepared the report as much as it disregards the credibility and integrity of the UN itself.
The report itself said it had established on the “basis of scholarly inquiry and overwhelming evidence, that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid”. Its authors concluded that “Israel has established an apartheid regime that systematically institutionalizes racial oppression and domination of the Palestinian people as a whole”.
If Israel disagrees with these characterizations, its case must be argued on the facts. The fact is it cannot hide half-a-century of collective suffering of an entire people. The commission said that a “history of war, annexation and expulsions, as well as a series of practices” had left the Palestinian people “fragmented”.
In her home country Jordan, the government has described Khalaf as a patriot. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has awarded Khalaf the highest Palestinian honor: Palestine’s Medal of the Highest Honor in recognition of her “courage and support” for Palestinians, stressing to Khalaf that “our people appreciate her humanitarian and national position”.
The report is reportedly the first by the UN to conclude Israel is a racist state. That is a serious accusation and by itself took courage to publish it. Khalaf did not hesitate for even a moment to either take a stand or bow to political pressure.
When it was demanded of Khalaf that she retract the report, she held her ground and held fast to what she firmly believes in. She did not surrender her principles, personal dignity or integrity. She did not succumb to political blackmail.
