BICOM

Israel yesterday sharply criticised a decision by the United Nations (UN) Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations to approve accreditation to the Palestine Research Centre (PRC), a group which Israel says is a Hamas front.

Israel banned the PRC in 2010. The Israeli UN mission released a statement yesterday which said that the PRC, which is based in the UK, is “an organisational and a coordinating wing of Hamas in Europe.” The statement also said that PRC members include senior Hamas officials. Yesterday’s vote by the UN Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations approved the PRC’s recognition thanks to 12 votes in favour, including those from  Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Turkey, Venezuela, China and Cuba. Meanwhile, Israel, United States and Uruguay voted against with India, Greece and Russia abstaining. As a result, PRC will have access to UN facilities and buildings and can attend or observe UN conferences and committees across the world, including the UN Human Rights Council, which already has a long record of hostility towards Israel.

Responding to the vote, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor said, “Until today, the UN has given Hamas discounts and let it strengthen its activities … Now, the UN went one step further, and gave Hamas a welcoming celebration at its main entrance, allowing it to be a full participant.” He added that, “This is the peak season for the UN’s Theatre of the Absurd,” although he noted sarcastically that “According to this script, one day we may find Hezbollah sitting at the Security Council and ISIS voting at the Human Rights Council.”

There was no comment from the PRC yesterday, nor from the UK mission or other country delegations at the UN. The European Union and the United States both classify Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely called yesterday’s decision “scandalous.” She said, “Bringing an organisation affiliated with Hamas into the UN institutions is a prize to terror and its actions.”