UN removes quilt panel artwork calling for Israel’s extermination after facing backlash

The United Nations says it has removed a controversial quilt panel artwork that called for the extermination of Israel. 

The incendiary painting on the panel featured a map of Israel, resembling a watermelon, without the West Bank or Gaza partition. In the top right-hand corner was the Palestinian flag. 

The left side of the map contained the phrase “From the River to the Sea” and the right side contained the phrase, “Will be Free” in an obvious nod to the phrase, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free.”

The phrase has become a rallying cry for Palestinians around the world protesting Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza, sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel. Israelis regard the phrase as a call to genocide, and for Israel to be wiped off the map entirely. 

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Fox News Digital was the first to report on the U.N. painting on Monday. It also drew the attention of Danny Danon, Israel’s permanent representative to the U.N., who called the display a “disgrace” and demanded the U.N. remove it. 

The U.N. told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the “Peace Flags” exhibit was a way to “re-purpose fashion waste for positive impact.” 

The U.N. said a staffer informed the organizer upon installation that several panels — including the one with the phrase “From the River to the Sea” — could not be displayed.

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The U.N. said the controversial panels were covered in the second week of October, but someone “removed those covers” earlier last week.

“Our colleagues covered it twice last week and were planning to do the same today upon learning that it was uncovered again,” a U.N. spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We have alerted UN Security to the continued unauthorized interference in the exhibit and to review security footage to find out who is responsible.” 

Danon took to X on Tuesday, criticizing the U.N. for what he deemed to be its lack of leadership.

“Yesterday, I exposed the hypocrisy of the U.N. through an exhibition featuring children’s drawings where the State of Israel was erased and filled with hateful imagery,” Danon said. “After firmly addressing the U.N. leadership this exhibition was fixed, and these antisemitic drawings were removed from the walls. We will stand up for truth and each time we witness acts of antisemitism and hypocrisy, we will confront them head-on.” 

Fox News Digital confirmed Wednesday that after initially covering the panel with the “From the River to the Sea” drawing, the panel has now been removed entirely. 

A spokesperson for the Secretary General told reporters Wednesday: “It is being dealt with, and we’re answering the Israeli ambassador.”