UN Official Demoted After Condemning Palestinian Rocket Fire

A United Nations official was demoted after she condemned Palestinian Islamic Jihad for firing rockets into Israel.

The Times of Israel (TOI) reported that Sarah Muscroft, the head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Palestinian Territory prior to the demotion, had tweeted relief that Israel and the Gaza Strip had reached a ceasefire after fighting between the two August 5-7. “Such indiscriminate rocket fire of Islamic Jihad provoking Israeli retaliation is condemned,” Muscroft wrote in the since-deleted tweet. “The safety of all civilians is paramount—the ceasefire must be upheld.”

Muscroft later apologized for the tweet, which she said was “ill-informed,” and proceeded to delete her account after coming under fire from “pro-Palestinian activists” over the tweet, per TOI. A U.N. spokesperson told TOI that she will be given a different job at the international body.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urging the international body to rescind their decision on the matter. Erdan wrote that the U.N.’s actions have provided “the Palestinian players and the local UN staff an ‘unwritten veto’ over UN statements, and stands in clear contradiction with the basic principles of objectivity and neutrality that the UN claims to hold,” Erdan wrote.

Here is the letter I sent to the SG. pic.twitter.com/tVsS8NmWjP

— Ambassador Gilad Erdan גלעד ארדן (@giladerdan1) August 14, 2022

Jewish groups and human rights organizations condemned the U.N. for demoting Muscroft.

Human rights lawyer Arsen Ostrovsky, who heads the International Legal Forum, one of the first organizations to break the story, said in a statement to the Journal that the U.N.’s actions were “a shameful act of cowardice and hypocrisy.” “Notably, the UN, who are supposed to be impartial, never call out or reprimand their people when they criticize and attack Israel, yet they only do so when an official has the basic courage and decency to speak the truth and challenge the lies of Islamic Jihad and Hamas,” Ostrovsky said. “The UN needs to make a decision: either they play a constructive role to advance peace in the region and support those most in need, or they become an outpost for Palestinian terror groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It appears they have made their choice.”

UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer noted in a tweet that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) fired an official in 2021 after he acknowledged that the Israeli strikes on Hamas were “precise.” “The UN’s policy is crystal clear: any official who dares to publicly defy the false narrative of Hamas and Islamic Jihad will be removed,” Neuer tweeted.

The UN's policy is crystal clear: any official who dares to publicly defy the false narrative of Hamas and Islamic Jihad will be removed.

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 13, 2022

The American Jewish Committee tweeted: “Talk about a double standard: UN official Sarah Muscroft was removed from her post for condemning terrorist rocket fire from Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Meanwhile, UN investigator Miloon Kothari, who made overtly antisemitic comments, remains in his role.”

Talk about a double standard:

UN official Sarah Muscroft was removed from her post for condemning terrorist rocket fire from Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Meanwhile, UN investigator Miloon Kothari, who made overtly antisemitic comments, remains in his role. https://t.co/7b0dKpgCuX

— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) August 15, 2022

B’nai Brith International tweeted that Muscroft “should be reinstated immediately.”

We condemn the forcing of @UN staff member Sarah Muscroft to delete & apologize for a tweet panning the “indiscriminate rocket fire of Islamic Jihad” – and her apparent removal from her position. She should be reinstated immediately.

— B'nai B'rith Intl. (@BnaiBrith) August 15, 2022