October 7 was a particularly dark day for Israel and the Jewish people overall, as it was the bloodiest day in the country's history and resulted in the most Jews being killed in a single day since the end of the Holocaust. Hamas also brutalized civilians, as they raped, tortured, and killed women and then paraded their naked corpses around to be spat upon. It wasn't just Israeli women being brutalized. Matt covered how one young woman treated in such abominable fashion was identified as Shani Louk, a German national. His article includes a link to a post detailing footage of the treatment she received at the hands of Hamas.
The dark day came not too long before October 8's International Lesbian Day, the latter which the UN Women account chose to prioritize in not one, but two posts that day. One such post in particular has gotten considerable attention, considering that it not only prioritized International Lesbian Day over calling out the brutal treatment of women at the hands of Hamas, but it also added a pro-transgender agenda.
"Remember, trans lesbians are lesbians too," the post insisted, providing one more example of how trans issues have usurped women's spaces and women's causes. The post received over 18,000 replies, many of them calling out the account for such a tone deaf message. Our friends at Twitchy highlighted some of the best examples.
Remember, trans lesbians are lesbians too.
— UN Women (@UN_Women) October 8, 2023
Let's uplift and honour EVERY expression of love and identity!
Happy International #LesbianDay! @free_equal pic.twitter.com/h0jTxhDoSI
But again, it wasn't just how the UN Women's account decided to heap special attention on trans women, who, in reality are biological men. Women were enduring unspeakable treatment leading up to and even after their deaths. How did the UN Women's account respond? As of Monday night, there's been a single repost, from Saturday night, hours after news broke of Hamas' attack on Israel.
The post came from Sima Bahous, the executive director of UN Women. Like other problematic posts, especially from liberal Democrats in Congress and the mainstream media, Bahous' post looked to call out both sides, in this case using the term "the Occupied Palestinian Territory."
"It is imperative that all civilians, including women & girls, are protected," she went on to claim. "We call for immediate deescalation & for upholding & respecting international humanitarian law." While such a statement called for girls to be "protected," there was no calling out the treatment they've endured at the hands of Hamas.
There also can be no deescalation when Israel is being attacked in such a way.
The escalation of hostilities in #Israel & the Occupied Palestinian Territory #OPT is gravely concerning.
— Sima Bahous (@unwomenchief) October 8, 2023
It is imperative that all civilians, including women & girls, are protected.
We call for immediate deescalation & for upholding & respecting international humanitarian law.
The X account for the overall UN body has issued many more posts and reposts about Israel, though many of them contain the same theme in equating Israel with Palestine and even calling out Israel in this instance. The pinned post is not about Israel, as one might expect at this time. It's a post from September 26 sharing bullet points about "Our Work."
From Saturday until Monday afternoon, the UN account shared over two dozen posts and reposts. About half mentioned Israel. Some posts were better than others. Bahous' post was not among them, and none of them specifically mentioned the horrific treatment towards women and even young girls.
A post from Tor Wennesland, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, on early Saturday morning at least called out Hamas by name. It did, however, close by mentioning "I appeal to all to pull back from the brink."
I vehemently condemn the multi-front assault against Israeli towns & cities near #Gaza, & barrage of rockets reaching across central #Israel by Hamas militants. These are heinous attacks targeting civilians & must stop immediately.
— Tor Wennesland (@TWennesland) October 7, 2023
🔗https://t.co/S8Dyvjxo6k
My full statement👇 pic.twitter.com/fz2aJWUsGW
One post, from the so-called UN Human Rights Council, quoted the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk as "urg[ing] de-escalation to avoid further bloodshed," though if Israel did such a thing, Hamas would almost certainly only inflict more violence. Another post from UNICEF called for "the immediate cessation of hostilities."
Several posts and reposts to do with António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the UN, at least called out Hamas by name. However, the UN's X account also posted and reposted language that used the term "the Occupied Palestinian Territory," including from Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.
I am extremely alarmed by the rapidly escalating events in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) October 7, 2023
Violence is never the answer.
My statement: https://t.co/Idi6Hwrg1u
Another post, from the UN itself, used the same term when announcing on Saturday that a seminar for Monday had been postponed. Not only was the term "the Occupied Palestinian Territory" used, but Hamas was not mentioned as the cause for that "escalating crisis." The seminar was to be about peace in the Middle East in Dublin.
Given the escalating crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the United Nations International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East, scheduled for 9-10 October 2023, in Dublin, Ireland is postponed.
— United Nations (@UN) October 7, 2023
New dates will be announced in due course.
Still more posts to do with statements from Guterres by Monday afternoon were already calling for an end to the violence, as well as suggesting it with a 'both sides' matter when it comes to "a negotiated peace."
It’s time to end the vicious circle of bloodshed, hatred & polarization in the Middle East.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 9, 2023
Israel must see its legitimate needs for security materialized, and Palestinians must see a clear perspective for the establishment of their own state realized.
“It’s time to end this vicious circle of bloodshed, hatred and polarization.”
— United Nations (@UN) October 9, 2023
– @antonioguterres says only a negotiated peace that fulfills the legitimate national aspirations of Palestinians & Israelis alike can bring long-term stability. https://t.co/FU91blQzCh pic.twitter.com/V0xQ8ZXqF4
Gueterres also spoke to the press on Monday. "While I recognize Israel’s legitimate security concerns, I also remind Israel that military operations must be conducted in strict accordance with international humanitarian law," he said at one point, despite how during those same remarks he also recognized the barbarism of Hamas.
The UN Women's bio over X claims that "UN Women is the United Nations entity for gender equality and women's empowerment." If that were the case, one would think that we would be hearing a lot more outrage about how "equality" and "empowerment" involves not being kidnapped, raped, tortured, and and then have their bodies desecrated by savage terrorists.
In fact, the UN is supposed to exist so that conflicts such as the one Israel is experiencing now at the hands of Hamas don't occur. As we know all too well, though, not only has the UN been unable to prevent such conflicts, the body has also acted with a particularly clear bias against Israel and its right to exist, instead lamenting this supposed "occupation" they're engaging in. A subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee even held a hearing in late June about the bias, "Responding to Anti-Semitism and Anti-Israel Bias in the UN, Palestinian Authority, and NGO Community."
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