UN pulls backing for Palestinian women’s centre over naming

The UN has stopped supporting a Palestinian women centre in the West Bank that was named for a woman who participated in a deadly 1978 attack in Israel.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

30 May, 2017

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' office said the UN withdrew its support for centre [AFP]

The UN has stopped supporting a Palestinian community centre in the West Bank that was named for a woman who participated in a deadly 1978 attack in Israel.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' office said in a statement on Sunday that the UN withdrew its support after learning the centre was named for Dalal Mughrabi.

"The glorification of terrorism, or the perpetrators of heinous terrorist acts, is unacceptable under any circumstance," Guterres' office said.

"The UN has repeatedly called for an end to incitement to violence and hatred as they present one of the obstacles to peace."

Sorida Hussein, head of the organisation behind the women’s centre that received the funds, said she was "happily surprised that the UN secretary-general has the time to mention a small Palestinian village under Israeli occupation."

She emphasised "how good this centre has been for the community regardless of the name."

Hussein said members of the centre chose the name after the UN completed the project last year.

Mughrabi, a member of the Fatah faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), participated in a 1978 bus hijacking on Israel’s main coastal highway in which 38 civilians were killed.