NY Director of UN Human Rights Org Quits in Protest of Palestine Response

The long-serving director of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights quit on Tuesday in protest of the organization’s weak response to the “genocide” of Palestinians and “grave humanitarian crisis” in Gaza. In a fiery letter to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, Craig Mokhiber wrote, “The European, ethno-nationalist, settler colonial project in Palestine has entered its final phase, toward the expedited destruction of the last remnants of indigenous Palestinian life.” He mentioned past genocides on which the UN failed, including the Tutsis, Muslims in Bosnia, the Yazidi, and the Rohingya people. “We are failing again,” he wrote. He then outlined a 10-point plan to end the violence, including establishing “a single, democratic, secular state… with equal rights for Christians, Muslims, and Jews” as well as destroying Israel’s arsenal of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. He called for the UN to “proudly join the anti-apartheid movement” and “stand on the side of justice.” Mokhiber’s office did not immediately respond to The Messenger’s request for comment.