World Agency Presses World Bank to Dismiss Senior Economist due to Controversial Social Media Remarks
The United Nations watchdog organisation, UN Watch, has called on the World Bank to terminate the employment of its Senior Country Economist in Tunisia, Massimiliano Cali. The call comes following a series of antisemitic and pro-Palestinian statements made by Cali on his Facebook profile.
The social media posts, catalogued on UN Watch's website, span more than a decade. One of the posts, from July 2014, accused the U.S. of arming Israel to "kill more Palestinian children." Another post, shared in 2021, demanded the International Criminal Court charge Israel with war crimes.
Hillel Neuer, the Executive Director of UN Watch, made the call to World Bank President Ajay Banga. Neuer argued that Cali's posts violated his duties as a neutral World Bank employee and caused reputational harm to the organisation.
Neuer also claimed that Cali's posts promoted Holocaust inversion, incited antisemitism, and incited Jihadi terrorism. Cali's posts have been visible to World Bank colleagues, as they were made on public platforms.
Cali's wife, Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, is a controversial figure who has been condemned by multiple governments and is facing U.S. sanctions. One of the posts in question claimed that Western countries backing Israel directly supported genocide, a claim based on a UN report by Albanese.
In response to the controversy, the World Bank has taken disciplinary action against Cali, deleting posts that crossed into hate speech. However, Cali's posts have caused significant damage to the World Bank's reputation, according to Neuer.
It's worth noting that Cali has been banned from entering the U.S. under Executive Order 14203, titled "Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court." Cali's social media presence appears to have diminished in recent months, but his Facebook page is still active.
The World Bank Group's former president has called for a 'remake of the Fed,' but this fact is not directly related to the call for Cali's termination.
As the World Bank continues to grapple with this issue, it remains to be seen whether they will take further action against Cali or whether he will remain employed by the organisation.
