An Israeli NGO on Sunday accused the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of distorting data regarding terrorist attacks against Israelis.
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The agency, which reports on events worldwide yet has an entire department dedicated solely to Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip often publishes updates on the "occupied Palestinian territories," but while these reports are meant to inform the global community on acts of violence in the area, Betzalmo, an NGO that describes itself as a "Jewish human rights organization," claims that the OCHA systematically fails to accurately report on the murder of Israelis by Palestinians.
Betzalmo cites as the most recent examples the OCHA's report of the brutal murder of Esther Horgan, which the agency said was "found dead … and Israeli authorities suspect she was attacked by a Palestinian." The same report underscores an unrelated incident in which settlers threw rocks and Palestinians, despite the fact it has nothing to do with the murder.
The NGO further said that the OCHA completely neglected to report on the murder of Rabbi Shay Ohayon in central Israel in August, and only partially amended its report at the time after it was approached by Betzalmo.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan has undertaken a diplomatic effort to change the agency's biased reporting and has called on United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UCHA Commissioner Mark Lowcock to ensure the agency's reports are updated and accurate.
"It is inconceivable that UN agencies ignore Jewish terror victims. It is time to end this disgrace and make it clear to all those heading UN bodies that they must stick to the truth and the facts," Edran said.
"It is very unfortunate that the UN deliberately chooses to omit the names of murdered Jews from its reports time and again," Betzalmo Director Shai Glick told Israel Hayom.
"The UN's disregard for murderous [Palestinian] terrorism is disgraceful. It seems the UN has forgotten that its purpose is to protect the human rights of civilians worldwide.
"We thank Ambassador Gilad Ardan for his commitment to the fight against this false and dangerous narrative."
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