“There have been times where there have been extremely tense situations between the secretary general and various member states, but I don’t recall this kind of language”. – Stephane Dujarric
The United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric labeled on Wednesday the Israeli declaration of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres as “persona non grata” as another attack on the staff of the international organization by Israel.
The UN spokesperson revealed that this is not unprecedented since other countries have declared other UN officials as “persona non grata” although he has never witnessed such a statement during his 24-year-long career.
“There have been times where there have been extremely tense situations between the secretary general and various member states, but I don’t recall this kind of language,” Dujarric said according to the Anadolu news agency.
The Israeli Foreign Minister Katz declared the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres persona non grata and decided to ban him from entering Israel. There is no limit to the arrogance and reckless behavior of the Israeli government. pic.twitter.com/pwsOdkrWqM
— Mustafa Barghouti @Mustafa_Barghouti (@MustafaBarghou1) October 2, 2024
He emphasized nonetheless, that the international organization does not “recognize the concept of persona non grata applies to its staff.”
Dujarric stressed that the Israeli decision is a political statement.
“We see this announcement as a political statement, more than a legal one,” Dujarric emphasized while pointing out that the Secretary-General travels to a country only when invited.
“We saw this announcement this morning, which we see as a political statement by the (Israeli) Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu),” Dujarric said, while welcoming the support of the members of the UN Security Council for Guterres during the session on the Middle East.
He added: “Just one more attack on UN staff that we’ve seen from the government of Israel.”
Dujarric vowed nonetheless that the UN will continue to cooperate and maintain contact with Israel “at the operational level and other levels.”
Persona Non Grata
Israel officially declared on Wednesday the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres as ‘persona non grata’, banning him from entering Israel, Israeli media reported.
The announcement came with a post on X by Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz. Katz said the ban is due to Guterres’s failure to “unequivocally condemn” Iran’s missile attack on Israel.
“Anyone who cannot unequivocally condemn Iran’s heinous attack on Israel, as almost every country in the world has done, does not deserve to step foot on Israeli soil,” Katz wrote.
‘No Foot on Israeli Soil’ – Israel Declares UN Secretary-General ‘Persona Non Grata’
“This is a Secretary-General who has yet to denounce the massacre” of October 7, Katz also said.
“A Secretary-General who gives backing to terrorists, rapists, and murderers from Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and now Iran—the mothership of global terror—will be remembered as a stain on the history of the UN,” the minister concluded.
Israeli officials have repeatedly demanded that Guterres resign, especially after the UN Secretary-General declared that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation “did not happen in a vacuum” and that “the Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation.”
(PC, Anadolu)
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