Antisemitic Qatari Diplomat Loses Bid for Key UN Human Rights Post

Ambassador Hend al-Muftah’s long record of antisemitic and homophobic tweets were exposed by UN Watch.

By TPS

Qatar’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Hend Al-Muftah lost her bid to become chair of the upcoming UN Forum on Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, in wake of an outcry over her tweets calling Jews “our enemies” and gays “disgusting.”

Instead, Patricia Hermanns, the ambassador of the Bahamas, was appointed to the post.

Al-Muftah’s long record of antisemitic and homophobic tweets were exposed by UN Watch, an independent human rights monitoring organization based in Geneva.

In a letter sent last week to the President of the Human Rights Council, UN Watch urged the international body to oppose Qatar’s bid to become chair of the human rights forum, which opens in the same week Qatar hosts the World Cup.

“We commend council president Federico Villegas for doing the right thing and rejecting Qatar’s ambassador of hate,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch.

“Hend Al-Muftah is a rabid anti-Semite who over a decade has been tweeting vile hate against Jews and gays, while spreading malign conspiracy theories about Western countries. She is the last person in the world who should head a UN forum on human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” Neuer added.

UN Watch also spotlighted some of the ambassador’s antisemitic tweets.

“The Jews focused their investments in industry and the media, and that is why they dominated, tyrannized and ruled the world,” she alleged in one tweet.

“The American zionist controls the U.S. media,” and “thus it is well-targeted for achieving their anti-Islam everywhere!” she accused in another.

“We learned from a young age that the Jews are our enemies!” she said.

Qatar’s initial chances of winning the post were high due to its influence at the UN in Geneva. Qatar sponsored a $20 million “Hall of Qatar” next to the UN Human Rights Council chamber, and its GDP dwarfs that of Bahamas and Togo, its two competitors for the post.