On Friday (5th January), the United Nations told the media that its employee Lamia Burkart accused of sharing pro-Hamas posts on X did have an account on social media. UN said that both her LinkedIn and X accounts were hacked. This explanation by the UN came days after UK-based whistleblower Khaled Hassan exposed that an X handle in the name of the UN employee had repeatedly shared terror-sympathising content on X. Interestingly, in a formal response to Khaled Hassan’s complaint, the UN officials claimed that Lamia Burkart did not have an active X account in the first place.
It started with Khaled Hassan exposing Taqadum Al-Khatib
On 4th December 2023, Khaled Hassan exposed Taqadum Al-Khatib, the antisemitic, pro-Hamas Germany-based Egyptian academic on X and YouTube.
This revelation was followed by a campaign to hold him accountable because supporting Hamas is a criminal offence in countries like Germany and the UK. Subsequently, Taqadum Al-Khatib lost his seat as an academic in Germany. Khaled Hassan shared this update from his X handle.
X handle of Lamia Burkart attacked Khaled Hassan
In response to this post by Khaled Hassan, an account named Lamia Burkart with X handle @TweetingLamia unleashed an attack against the whistleblower. From her Twitter handle (which does not exist anymore) it was revealed that she is working with the United Nations as a communications strategist and is responsible for various communications of the UN concerning Human Rights. She also handles United Nations social media communications about Human Rights. Details from the LinkedIn profile named Lamia Burkart also confirmed that she was living in Germany and working as a communications strategist for the United Nations.
In her attack against Khaled Hassan, Lamia Burkart on X called him a despicable person and said that as she was in Germany, she could see how “it was marching towards the 3rd Reich directed against the Arabs this time”. She was essentially referring to the expulsion of Taqadum Al-Khatib after being exposed as an antisemitic Hamas-sympathiser. This Lamia Burkart on X also accused Khaled Hassan of manufacturing consent for what she called the Gaza genocide. She further said that she did not see any evidence of what Khaled Hassan had claimed about Taqadum Al-Khatib.
The X handle then shared Khaled Hassan’s post and wrote, “Here’s the kind of despicable 3rd Reich agent x Kristallnacht reveller contributing to censorship of Arab intellectuals in The attack was directed against Taqadum Al-Khatib, PhD scholar at Princeton and FUB for speaking out against Gaza Genocide. Probably on Israel payroll.”
Lamia Burkart has a history of pro-Hamas antisemitism
This X handle named Lamia Burkart had repeatedly posted antisemitic and pro-Hamas content in the past. Khaled Hassan showed it all in his X posts as well as in his YouTube video that Lamia preferred Hamas 1000 times more than Israel.
She also called Israel a Nazi state and asked for dismantling it. She further went on to call it a Nazio state – a slur that combined both terms Nazi and Zionism. She also wished ‘Henry Kissinger rest in Hell’. She also demonised the star of David – a Jewish symbol.
Lamia Burkart opened LinkedIn to check the details of Khaled Hassan
After Khalid Hassan started calling out her on X for her pro-Hamas bias, Lamia Burkart allegedly visited Khalid Hassan’s LinkedIn profile to check his credentials, educational background, and profession. She then posted on X and criticised him based on his background and profession. She wrote, “Haha a manager of a close protection and guard service with barely a BA from an unknown university taking on a high level academic on false pretence. Trying to compensate for something?” With this post, she also posted a GIF to indicate ridicule over a small-sized penis.
Khaled Hassan wrote to the United Nations
After this, Khaled Hassan contacted the United States. He wrote in his email, “I was targeted today by a member of your staff, Lamia Burkart. I am a proud Jew and activist. I dedicate many hours of the day to countering antisemitism and terrorism. Recently, your Germany-based employee, Lamia Burkart, accused me of being a “despicable 3rd Reich agent x Kristallnacht reveller. She tweets under @TweetingLamia and continues to make the most horrifically antisemitic tweets. In addition to supporting terrorism.”
He added in his complaint, “Responding to a post by Rabbi Shmuel Reichman, she referred to the Star of David as a symbol of “Nazio” and suggested that Germany moved from Nazism to “Nazio” by allowing the star of David to be publicly displayed. She also explicitly called for “dismantling the Nazi Israel State”, and asserted proudly that “we prefer Hamas to Israel 1000 times”. You can find additional details about me in the below articles. Several British/American media outlets have been informed and I am in the process of reporting her to German counter-terrorism police. I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.”
United Nations said Lamia Burkart does not have an X handle
In response to this email, the United Nations wrote, “Dear Mr Hassan, Thank you very much for your message. We have taken your concerns very seriously and appreciate you bringing them to our attention. We have thoroughly looked into this matter, and we can confirm that the account you mention, @Tweetingiamia, a definitely not run by our colleague Lamia Burkart, who does not have an active presence on. The only public account Ms Burkart has is a LinkedIn account that has been hacked. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate it if you could set the record straight on X and urgently take down your tweets against her.”
UN said in this response that Lamia Burkart did not have any X handle in the first place to post anything Khaled Hassan claimed. Khaled Hassan had not claimed anything about her LinkedIn account in the first email, yet the UN clarified that the LinkedIn account of Lamia Burkart was hacked. Khaled Hassan had written to UN about her LinkedIn handle in his next email.
Revisiting the LinkedIn angle in the story
Khaled Hassan wrote in his next email to the UN, “I got some abuse from a person called Lamia on X, who is listed as a “Comms planner” and based in Germany. Immediately after this abuse (I am talking within less than 2 minutes), your colleague’s LinkedIn account, under the name of Lamia Burkart, visited my LinkedIn account. This LinkedIn account shows that Lamia is listed as a “Comms Strategist” at the UN. I then called this person out for her antisemitism and support for terrorism. Immediately after my tweet calling this person out, the LinkedIn account was deleted.”
He added, “You are now suggesting that someone with the same name, industry (Comms), and the same location (Germany as per her own statement on X), just happened to have an X account and hurl antisemitic abuse at me and then immediately check my Linkedin account? Moreover, you are also suggesting that the person who hacked your colleague’s LinkedIn account simply happened to delete the account immediately after I called her out. Could that be another coincidence or was the hacker potentially concerned for her reputation and decided it’s probably wise to delete the LinkedIn account?”
Khaled Hassan further said, “I would like to see what evidence you obtained in such a short time, almost 7 hours, to conclusively decide that the X account in question doesn’t belong to your colleague and that her LinkedIn account was indeed hacked. At the moment, you are asking me to simply take your word for it, despite ample evidence that it is indeed your colleague using this X account to hurl antisemitic abuse and support Hamas.”
Now UN says Lamia Burkart had an X handle
The UN did not respond to this email. However, in an interaction with The Jewish Chronicle, the UN said that Lamia’s social media accounts with X and LinkedIn were hacked without her knowledge and that she did not make the abusive posts in question. A UN official told the media, “We were very concerned about the allegations and immediately followed up with Ms Burkart, who assured us she had not used her X account in years. Upon checking, she said she discovered a data breach involving both her X and LinkedIn accounts. She has subsequently closed her X account to prevent any further hacking.”
Conclusion
In conclusion, the unfolding situation involving United Nations employee Lamia Burkart and whistleblower Khaled Hassan exposes a troubling facet of the UN’s approach towards complex international issues. The inconsistent responses from the UN regarding Burkart’s alleged social media activities not only raise questions about its internal oversight but also suggest a possible undercurrent of bias and hypocrisy within the organization. Despite multiple resolutions condemning Israel annually, the UN’s apparent reluctance to similarly censure Palestinian authorities, who are accused of tacitly supporting Hamas—a group internationally recognized as a terrorist organization—casts a shadow over the UN’s impartiality.
Burkart, holding a significant position as a Communications Strategist, becomes a focal point in this controversy. Her role, pivotal in shaping the UN’s communication, becomes controversial when allegations of her harbouring pro-Hamas sentiments surface. Instead of addressing these serious allegations with the rigour they deserve, the UN’s response, which included instructing Hassan to delete his posts, seems to be a defensive manoeuvre protecting its own rather than a stride toward unbiased truth and accountability. This scenario reflects poorly on the UN, indicating a descent into a realm where defending the indefensible becomes a norm, undermining its credibility and the values it stands for.