UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-MoonReuters

Rafat Alian, the Jerusalem spokesperson of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, cited UN Director-General Ban Ki-Moon in justifying the attack on the Old City's Damascus Gate in which Hadar Cohen was murdered.

In the attack last Wednesday three Arab terrorists shot dead Cohen and wounded another female Border Police officer, but due to their brave response, the terrorists - who were armed with automatic weapons, knives and explosives - were prevented from conducting a large-scale attack.

Alian said the "occupation" of the "Palestinian nation" demands a "natural response" - in a direct quote from Ban, who two weeks ago caused outrage by sympathizing with Palestinian terror and saying, "it is human nature to react to occupation." 

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon wrote an official letter to Ban, demanding that he take back his statements that grant legitimacy to terrorism in Israel.

"Palestinian terror is using your words as justification for its actions," wrote Danon, citing Alian's words.

"Your words have created two categories of terror - against Israel and against the rest of the world."

Addressing Cohen's murder, Danon noted that the brave 19-year-old prevented a much greater attack on Israel's capital city by confronting the terrorists.

"Since when is it the UN's role to find justifications for terror? Since when does the UN create two categories for terror and victims? I call on you to take back your statements and say clearly that there is no justification for the bloodshed of Israeli victims," wrote Danon.

Ban's statements have raised ire in Israel and among the wider Jewish community. On Saturday he was scheduled to speak at Park East Synagogue in New York City for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, but while speaking there he was booed over his recent justification of Palestinian terror.