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UN hiring new employee for ‘Jerusalem, Palestine’

The global body, which considers the eastern part of Israel’s capital to be “occupied,” has not been known to label the entire city “Palestine” in public statements.

The Jerusalem skyline seen from the Mount of Olives, May 19, 2008. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.
The Jerusalem skyline seen from the Mount of Olives, May 19, 2008. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90.

The United Nations posted a job opening on July 23 for an executive assistant in the U.N. Resident Coordinator Office, based in what the global body describes as “Jerusalem, Palestine.”

The listing, which expires on Aug. 6, states that the employee “ensures effective and efficient functioning of the RC front office, overall management of the RC’s schedule and logistical requirements, maintenance of protocol procedures, management of information flow and follow-up on deadlines and commitments made.”

It reports to Ramiz Alakbarov, of Azerbaijan, who was named resident coordinator on June 13. Alakbarov’s office is located at the U.N. compound in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood of Jerusalem, which was developed in 1973 on land liberated from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day War. (JNS sought comment from the United Nations.)

The United Nations refers to the office as part of the “United Nations in Palestine,” and labels the formerly Jordanian-occupied territory in eastern Jerusalem as “occupied Palestinian territory,” but the global body has not been known to dub the entire city of Jerusalem as “Palestine” in public communications.

Hillel Fuld, a technology adviser and energetic supporter of Israel on social media, stated that the U.N. reference was “a surprise to absolutely nobody.”

“The morally bankrupt United Nations is hiring an executive assistant in ‘Jerusalem, Palestine,’” he wrote. “And I am hiring a unicorn in Narnia.”

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