ad

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. 

ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU CALLS PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP – HERE’S WHAT THEY SPOKE ABOUT

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.” 

An exhibit displayed at the United Nations.  (Fox News Digital)

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.

HAMAS REACTS TO TRUMP VICTORY, SAYS HE MUST ‘WORK SERIOUSLY TO STOP THE WAR’ IN GAZA

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

Most of the drawings show an explicit call for peace.  (Fox News Digital)

“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.” 

CHICAGO (AP) — A man who was recently fired from his job at Navy Pier returned to the Chicago tourist attraction and killed two workers before fleeing, police said.

The attack happened Tuesday afternoon after the fired worker gained access to an office space near a loading dock at Navy Pier, police Chief of Patrol Jon Hein told reporters.

The assailant shot Lamont Johnson, 51, and an unidentified 47-year-old man before fleeing, police said. The victims were pronounced dead at a hospital.

Police declined to name the alleged attacker Wednesday, citing a department policy of not naming people until they are charged, and didn’t say whether they think he poses a danger to the public. It wasn’t immediately clear why police didn’t know the name of one of the killed workers but did know his age.

The suspect was fired on Oct. 14 from his job at Navy Pier. which features shops, restaurants, entertainment and its iconic Ferris wheel along Lake Michigan.

“As a former employer of the subcontractor, he had access,” Brian Murphy, Navy Pier’s chief operating officer, told WLS-TV. “He knew how to get to that back loading dock area.”

The site was put on lockdown after the shootings and an alert was sent to people who live nearby, Murphy said.

Stephanie Knowles, who works at a souvenir shop, said her manager received a call and told employees they had to “start closing everything down.”

Workers turned off the lights and hid in the back of a storage room, Knowles said.

“I was a little nervous, you know, when you think about the high school shootings,” she said. “I’ve never had to live through that, so this was the closest thing that I’ve had to that experience.”