Hamas-Affiliated Group Wins Seat on UN Body
by IPT News • Jun 2, 2015 at 10:55 am
A United Nations (UN) committee on Monday awarded “observer” status to a UK-based Palestinian organization, which advocates for Israel’s destruction, Fox Newsreports.
The Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), which allegedly serves as a Hamas front, earned the important designation on the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), enabling the radical group to receive official UN badges and complete access to UN facilities. The PRC’s new status also allows it to partake in UN debates in New York, Geneva, and Vienna.
The UN Committee features a 19-member panel including countries notorious for committing human rights violations such as Iran, Sudan, Pakistan, Venezuela, Russian, and China.
The move prompted harsh criticism from Israel, pointing out the PRC has direct ties to Hamas.
“According to this script, one day we may find Hezbollah sitting at the Security Council and ISIS voting at the Human Rights Council…This is the peak season for the UN’s Theatre of the Absurd,” said Ron Prosor, Israel’s ambassador to the UN.
Israel banned the PRC in 2010 when then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak confirmed that the PRC acts as a Hamas wing in Europe, promoting the designated terrorist organization’s activities and worldview while maintaining direct contact with senior Hamas officials.
UN Watch asserts that the group regularly hosted Hamas officials at its annual conferences, including leader Ismail Haniyeh.
“Despite its pose as pro-Palestinian human rights group, the PRC is one of the few Palestinian advocacy groups to have been banned by Israel, on account of its deep entanglement with top leaders of the Hamas terrorist organization based in Gaza and abroad,” read a UN Watch statement in a news release.
The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center produced a report outlining PRC’s Hamas ties, featuring photos of PRC leadership with Hamas officials.
The extensive report concludes that the PRC is devoted to the destruction of the Jewish state and serves as a propaganda wing of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
