Palestinians give award to UN official who condemned Israel
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territory — The Palestinian president has awarded his people’s highest honour to a former U.N. official who was forced to resign last week after authoring a report that accused Israel of establishing an “apartheid regime.”
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Sunday that President Mahmoud Abbas informed Rima Khalaf by phone that she would receive the Palestine Medal of the Highest Honor in recognition of her “courage and support” for the Palestinian people.
A statement said Abbas “stressed to Dr. Khalaf that our people appreciate her humanitarian and national position.”
Khalaf, a U.N. undersecretary-general, resigned Friday after refusing to withdraw her report for the U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia.