U.S. senators are calling on UN Women to fire one of their top officials after the UN admitted that she violated their code of conduct by using her social media accounts to endorse more than 150 claims that Israel committed “genocide” and other crimes.
In wake of an exposé by a watchdog group, the UN recently admitted that UN Women Deputy Chief Sarah Douglas “committed a violation of the Code of Conduct” in connection with her anti-Israel activity on social media, that the matter is “being dealt with,” according to a statement by the UN Secretary-General’s spokesman.
“Douglas made one anti-Israel post after another, all while refusing to advocate for the innocent women Hamas terrorists abused,” tweeted Senator Rick Scott today. “The only way UN Women should deal with Sarah Douglas is by firing her.”
Last week, Ms. Douglas deleted her social media accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter) and LinkedIn after the exposé revealed her partisan political activity in endorsing 153 posts since October 7th that promoted anti-Zionism, accused Israel of “genocide,” and celebrated shutting down bridges and highways for campaigns opposing Israel.
“The UN has admitted that Sarah Douglas violated its code of conduct for spewing antisemitic rhetoric,” tweeted Senator Marsha Blackburn yesterday. “When will she be fired for her actions?”
Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, an independent nongovernmental organization based in Geneva, welcomed what he said was “a rare admission by the UN of malfeasance committed by one of their senior officials.”
“But this isn’t enough. Although the spokesman of the UN secretary-general referred to ‘a violation’ of the UN’s Code of Conduct by Sarah Douglas, in fact there were at least 154 violations in the past two months alone.”
“We remind the UN that Ms. Douglas publicly endorsed no less than 153 tweets accusing Israel of genocide and other crimes, and that she addressed the UN from her home sitting next to a giant ‘Palestine’ poster with the colors of the Palestinian flag. Moreover, in previous years, she attacked the U.S. and glorified former PLO official Hanan Ashrawi, who recently defended the October 7th massacre.”
“Given that Ms. Douglas deleted her accounts, how will the UN find the evidence? Fortunately, we have screenshots of her tweets that have not yet been published. If UN Women is truly investigating, why haven’t they contacted us yet? We are prepared to share with them all of the evidence.”
“The UN cannot be allowed to dismiss and downplay what is in fact a lengthy, years-long pattern and practice of Sarah Douglas’ gross and systematic violations of her oath of neutrality.”
“Sarah Douglas has publicly endorsed the Hamas narrative, and every day that she remains is not only a black stain on the credibility of UN Women, but casts a shadow upon the United Nations itself. We are calling on the UN to remove her immediately.”
In a campaign launched by UN Watch with the hashtag #FireSarahDouglas on Instagram and X, nearly 10,000 people have signed a petition demanding that she be fired.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board dedicated a column to the controversy, entitled “Hamas’s Friends at the UN,” writing that “Section 101 of the UN charter on the conduct of staff notes that working as an international civil servant demands ‘integrity, independence and impartiality.’ Staff are not permitted to make statements or ‘any kind of public pronouncement’ that would call their impartiality into question. Yet Ms. Douglas carries on without rebuke.”
The UN has admitted that Sarah Douglas violated its code of conduct for spewing antisemitic rhetoric.
When will she be fired for her actions? https://t.co/zbZINoBBBC
- Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) December 27, 2023
UN spokesman said, “I understand there was a violation of the Code of Conduct by this individual.”
No. There was not “a violation.” There were 153 gross violations by Sarah Douglas in the past 2 months alone, and many more before.@antonioguterres, we demand: #FireSarahDouglas. https://t.co/gjLz1ZeXcc
- UN Watch (@UNWatch) December 27, 2023
Given that she deleted her social media accounts, how exactly is UN Women investigating?
Given that we made sure to screenshots of everything, knowing that she would try to hide the evidence, why hasn't UN Women contacted us?
cc: @Mike_Wagenheim https://t.co/tgzqX014yP
- UN Watch (@UNWatch) December 27, 2023
UN Women deputy chief Sarah Douglas scrubbed her account after we exposed her endorsement of 153 anti-Israel tweets.
Urge UN Women Goodwill Ambassadors Nicole Kidman, Anne Hathaway & Emma Watson to support our call for the UN to #FireSarahDouglas.
Sign: https://t.co/wqGnF3waSl https://t.co/o6via2hHmR pic.twitter.com/46xgVd1qMe
- Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) December 24, 2023
.@antonioguterres UN Women Deputy Chief Sarah Douglas publishes posts attacking 🇺🇸 America & 🇮🇱 Israel, in violation of her obligations as a UN civil servant to be neutral and impartial. She's never criticized UNHRC members like China, Cuba, Qatar or Pakistan. Will you fire her? pic.twitter.com/yhyDDsEth4
- Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) December 19, 2023
It’s been 74 days since Iran-backed Hamas terrorists took hundreds hostage, and the silence of @UN_Women on the evil and barbaric sexual abuse of women speaks volumes.
Sarah Douglas should not keep her job. These innocent women deserve better. https://t.co/97ywqXUDQ5
- Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) December 20, 2023
3/ The Wall Street Journal editorial board published a column about the Sarah Douglas scandal, calling on the U.S. to reconsider its funding of the United Nations: https://t.co/9dcbCvbE1Ohttps://t.co/eepLX9uuer
- Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) December 22, 2023
Top UN Women official sparks outage after backing ‘Gaza genocide’ remarks https://t.co/2cXdK8r8dN
- The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) December 22, 2023
@TimesofIsrael just published my latest: https://t.co/EJPwMJQef7
Time for UN Women to answer a few questions and if not for its funders to hold the org accountable for failing to fulfill its mandate …. I'll wait- Catherine Perez-Shakdam (@ShakdamC) December 27, 2023
