Erdan Calls on U.N. to Boycott ‘Nakba’ Commemoration

By Matis Glenn

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan called on countries around the world to boycott the commemoration of “Nakba Day,” a term used by Palestinians and their supporters to describe the founding of the State of Israel.

Last December, the U.N. voted by a large margin – 90 to 30, with 47 abstentions – in favor of a resolution which would establish May 15 as Nakba Day, which means “catastrophe” in Arabic. Annually, a commemoration would be held at the General Assembly Hall at U.N. headquarters in New York City.

”This event is a blatant attempt to distort history, neglecting the fact that those who paint themselves as the victims were actually the aggressors who initiated a five-front war on the newly established State of Israel,” Erdan said in a statement.

Notably, the United Arab Emirates, which has normalized ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords, voted in favor of the resolution. Most European Union countries, along with the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada voted against it.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the creation of the State of Israel.

In recent months, a campaign led by Erdan was conducted to persuade countries not to participate in this event, including a letter recently written to the ambassadors of U.N member states.

“We have already managed to convince a number of countries to boycott this despicable event and I continue to work to convince more countries not to attend,” said Ambassador Erdan.

In his letter, Erdan wrote of bias and a double-standard that Palestinians and their supporters use regarding Israel.

 “Those who attend one-sided hypocritical initiatives, such as the abominable event taking place on May 15, only serve to promote the antisemitic practice of holding the Jewish State to a different standard than any other member state,” the letter read. “Not only does this condone Jew-hatred, but it also gives a green-light to the Palestinians to continue exploiting international organs to promote their libelous narrative.”

Erdan also made note of the expulsion of around 1 million Sephardic Jews from Arab countries which directly followed the creation of the State of Israel; an issue he says is often overlooked when discussing the events of the period.

“Instead of commemorating the real Nakba, the expulsion of almost a million Jews following the establishment of Israel, this biased organization is distorting its own history,” he said in a recorded video statement, addressing the U.N body.

He added in the video that the U.N., in passing the resolution, has ignored Palestinian aggression and refusal to accept the State of Israel and created a roadblock to peace.

“Attending this despicable event means destroying any chance of peace, by adopting the Palestinian narrative calling the establishment of the state of Israel a disaster while ignoring Palestinian hate, incitement and terror, and refusal to accept the legitimacy of a Jewish state.”