Pro-Israel influencer and journalist Luai Ahmed spoke at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this week, and accused them of hypocrisy regarding their conduct and report on Israel.
"I ask the UN, the Arab League, and I ask the UN, the Arab League, and everyone who had waving the Palestinian flag since October 7: Where is the flag of Yemen?" Ahmed asked, referring to his home country. "Half a million people have died [there] in the last 10 years. The biggest famine and humanitarian crisis in modern history. Why does no one care when half a million Yemenis die?"
Ahmed also references other countries such as Sudan and Syria where there are ongoing humanitarian crises, accusing the UN body of only acknowledging such crises where Israel could be blamed.
My speech at the UN Human Rights Council about their recent report on Israel on behalf of the @UNWatch :I ask the UN, the Arab League, and everyone who had waving the Palestinian flag since October 7: Where is the flag of Yemen?In my country, half a million people have… pic.twitter.com/4c9Ilbjxqe
— Luai Ahmed (@JustLuai) March 1, 2025
Ahmed, speaking on behalf of the UN Watch NGO, then went on to directly address Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, asking, "Why is it that when Arabs kill millions of Arabs, no one bats an eye? Why does your report mention Israel 188 times — yet fails to mention the Islamic Republic in Iran even once?
"How can you speak about the conflict while ignoring the party who armed, trained, and funded the terror proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis — who have been bombing Israel thousands of times?"
Ahmed then asks Turk why the UNHRC has not acknowledged the Houthi terrorist organization in his home country, who have "spent millions of dollars firing missiles at Israel, instead of feeding [his] starving people?" Ahmed then questions the legitimacy of Qatar sitting in the UN body, when they "host Hamas terror leaders in luxury hotels."
Turk said there was "no justification" for Israel to fight in Gaza
Turk had previously said on Wednesday that there is “no justification” for Israel's war in Gaza in a UNHRC meeting, claiming that there was a “raft of human rights violations” and “an unprecedented disregard” for humanitarian law by both Israel and Hamas in the Palestinian enclave.
Last month, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced Israel's withdrawal from the UNHRC, saying that it has "traditionally protected human rights abusers by allowing them to hide from scrutiny, and instead obsessively demonizes the one democracy in the Middle East - Israel. This body has focused on attacking a democratic country and propagating antisemitism instead of promoting human rights."
In response to Sa'ar's announcement, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese said that Israel's decision was "extremely serious" and that "It shows the hubris and the lack of realization of what they [Israel] have done. They insist in self-righteousness, that they have nothing to be held accountable for, and they are proving it to the entire international community."
Reuters contributed to this report.