Washington, D.C. — Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) today wrote a letter to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, highlighting his refusal to refusal to call Hamas a terrorist organization in the wake of their brutal execution of six hostages. Senator Cotton pointed out the UN’s repeated false equivalencies between the nation of Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.

In part, Senator Cotton wrote:

“Could you please answer this simple question: Is Hamas a terrorist organization?”

Full text of the letter can be found here and below.

September 10, 2024

Mr. Volker Türk
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Plaza
New York, New York 10017

Dear Mr. Türk:

I write regarding your shocking failure to condemn the terrorists of Hamas. While you preen as the moral voice of the world, you’ve refused to call Hamas a terrorist organization and repeatedly drawn a false equivalence between Hamas and Israel.

You and your United Nations colleagues should immediately and unequivocally call Hamas what it is: a terrorist organization. The United States, United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, Japan, and even the European Union took this action long ago.

Yet moral blindness unfortunately seems to be your modus operandi—never more evident than in your statement earlier this month after Hamas executed six hostages. Although you professed that you were “horrified” by the executions, you failed even to mention Hamas as the murderer and called for an “independent” investigation into the killing. Hamas had already admitted to these barbaric murders, so I’m not sure what such an investigation would prove.

Of course, the United Nation has an obscene penchant for targeting and smearing Israel. From the UN’s infamous “Zionism is Racism” resolution a half century ago to its parroting of Hamas casualty numbers today, the UN consistently sides with terrorists against the Jewish state. Your office especially has shown contempt for Israel, repeatedly posting criticisms of Israel on your official social-media accounts and falsely accusing Israel of war crimes.

Your moral equivalence between brutal terrorists and a nation-state protecting its citizens is appalling. You have painted Israel as the aggressor while ignoring that Hamas bears responsibility for civilian deaths in Gaza.

But you can address these concerns with very little effort by simply joining the rest of the civilized world. Could you please answer this simple question: Is Hamas a terrorist organization?

Please respond to this letter no later than September 17. To make it very easy for you, I’ll happily accept a letter that says nothing more than “Hamas is a terrorist organization” between the salutation and the signature line.

Surely you can muster the courage to do that?

Sincerely,

____________________

Tom Cotton

United States Senator