Israel excluded from UN victims of terror exhibition

The United Nations marked the International Day of Remembrance and Tribute to Victims of Terror on Wednesday with a large-scale exhibition in the foyer of its New York building — but with no reference at all to Israeli victims of terror.

Israel’s outgoing ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, made a furious video highlighting the omission, which he then posted on Twitter/X. He told viewers: “Soon, it will be a year since October 7, the most horrific terror attack since the Holocaust. Yet the disgraceful UN did not see fit to include even a single Israeli terror victim, in the exhibition it is presenting for this day of remembrance”.

He declared: “There are no words left to describe how morally corrupt and twisted the UN is. It’s simply a disgrace”.

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Walking around the display panels, Ambassador Erdan said that there were expected references to terror attacks such as 9/11 and Boston, and also to other incidents in Indonesia and Kenya. But there was nothing, he said, relating to Israel.

On one panel, headed Palestine 2019, the visitor is shown a picture of a woman called Maysoon Salama. “When you look at the fine print,” Mr Erdan said, “you realise that she was a Palestinian who was injured in a terror attack in New Zealand”. This, he claimed, was the sole reference to Middle East terrorism.

A spokesperson for the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Office, Laurence Gerard, responded. She said: “The exhibition was launched in 2022 with victims of prior terrorist attacks.

“Since then, it has been also shown in multiple locations including Spain, Nigeria and at the UN Headquarters in July-August 2023 to mark for the International Day of Victims of Terrorism and in September 2022, on the occasion of the Global Congress of Victims of Terrorism.

“The Memories exhibition features victims and survivors of terrorism from across the world who share the personal meaning tied to physical objects and memories that have supported their long-term recovery and healing journeys.

“The International Day aims to pay tribute, honour, and remember all victims of terrorism regardless of their nationality, ethnicity or religion. The United Nations stands in solidarity with all the victims of terrorism around the world and aims to uphold their rights and support their needs”.

While the fact that the exhibition pre-dates October 7 2023 is a valid response, Ms Gerard’s answer did not explain the total absence of any reference to prior terror attacks on Israelis or Jews.

On Wednesday, at the regular daily press briefing, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric was asked about the exhibit. He repeated the answer provided by Ms Gerard and noted that the Secretary-General, Antonio Gutteres, had made “many” condemnations of the October 7 2023 attacks and had “repeatedly” met families of the hostages still in Gaza.

But, he said, the exhibit had toured in many countries and he “had no doubt that it will be updated”. The reporter, however, asked why there was no mention of the 2012 terror attack in Bulgaria in which five Israelis had died, or of the Amia bombing in Buenos Aires in 1994 in which 85 people had died and 300 more were injured. Did Mr Dujarric see such exclusions from the exhibit as part of a pattern, the reporter asked? “No”, replied the Spokesperson.