President of B & # Tselem Speaks to the Security Council, Called a Traitor by the Israeli Ambassador

Hagai El-Ad, executive director of B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights NGO, spoke to the UN Security Council on Thursday in which he told the international community that the moment was come to act on the Palestinian situation.

His speech criticized various Israeli policies towards Palestinians, which he compared to those of South Africa after the Thethe era. He urged the international community to act on behalf of Palestinians.

At the session of the Security Council, El-Ad was invited to speak on behalf of Israeli civil society organizations. The discussion was led by the UN envoy for the Middle East, Nikolay Mladenov, who warned Thursday against the dangerous situation on the brink of the explosion in Gaza.

El-Ad said: "It is difficult and perhaps impossible to express the strength of the humiliation, rage and pain that characterize the people to whom their human rights have been deprived of their rights. rights for more than fifty years, "he told the Council. the time had come to act.

El-Ad also discussed the problems of Khan al-Ahmar, a village in the West Bank threatened with imminent demolition by the Israeli government. He acknowledged that the village had been built without the necessary permits, but nevertheless handed over responsibility for the demolition to the Israeli government.

"It is virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits from Israeli authorities, as the planning regime established by Israelis and Israelis in the West Bank is designed to serve settlers and dispersed Palestinians," he said. El-Ad.

Israel's ambbadador to the UN, Danny Danon, reacted strongly to El-Ad's statement. At one point, he moved to Hebrew in the middle of the Security Council session to accuse El-Ad of cooperation with Israel's enemies.

"Mr. El-Ad, you are a citizen of the state of Israel who serves our enemies, they use you against us, IDF soldiers guard you and you come here to defame them." , exclaimed Danon in Hebrew. "Shame on you, collaborator!"

"Show me a Palestinian or a Bolivian who would come to the Security Council and dare to slander his country," Danon said.

Earlier in the week, Danny Danon had condemned the decision to invite El-Ad to the session, saying the invitation was "a border crossing by foreign countries with an anti-Israel agenda."

Palestinian Ambbadador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, followed El-Ad's speech by calling "imminent eviction of the evacuation and demolition of the Bedouin village of Khan al." -Ahmar "of" war crime ".

After the close of the session, Netanyahu echoed the disavowal of Ambbadador Danon of El-Ad in his statement.

"As our soldiers prepare to defend Israel's security, B'Tselem's general manager chooses to make a false speech at the UN in an attempt to help Israel's enemies," Netanyahu said. "The conduct of B'Tselem is a shame that will be remembered as a brief and fleeting episode in the history of our people."

B & # Tselem campaigns against the Israeli army's control over the Palestinian territories and uses Palestinian photographers and videographers to document the behavior of Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank.