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One of the top Palestinian representatives at the United Nations reportedly lives high on the hog in a luxury Manhattan apartment while blaming Israel for the suffering of the Gazan people, triggering trepidation among the building’s Jewish residents.
Majed Bamya, the Palestinian Deputy Permanent Observer to the UN, lives with his wife and children in the Regency Towers on the Upper East Side, where three-bedroom apartments go for up to $11,000 per month, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
The swanky 34-story building on East 63rd Street, just minutes from Central Park, boasts a 24-hour doorman, a fitness center and a roof terrace, according to the description of the site, which is owned by Carlyle Property Management.
Bamya’s wife, Sahar Salem, works alongside her diplomat husband as an adviser to the UN’s Palestinian mission.
Bamya has frequently used his status to publicly condemn Israel to a global audience, accusing the Jewish state of genocide in the course of its war against Hamas in Gaza.
“There are people starving only a few feet away from aid and yet unable to reach it. Israel has made sure that famine has set in,” he told the UN in May 2024.
More ominously, Bamya described Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian terrorist leader serving life for murdering five Israelis, as a “new Nelson Mandela,” and called for him to receive a Nobel Peace Prize in a post on X in 2015.
He also called on his fellow Palestinians to “rise against the Israeli occupation,” and “fight once more to protect our cause,” in a since-deleted 2012 blog post.
Bamya’s presence in Regency Towers has caused alarm among his Jewish neighbors, with one resident estimating to the Free Beacon that “80% of the apartments on his floor have a mezuzah.”
“It’s a very Jewish building — a lot of religious Jews, too,” this person added.
“This has been discussed in the elevator: ‘Is he [Bamya] a murderer? Did he become an ambassador by killing Jews?’ This is a thought process in my head,” the resident said.
Neither Bamya nor Regency Towers management immediately responded to requests for comment.
Records indicate Bamya and his wife have lived in Manhattan since 2016, when he was appointed as First Counsellor to the mission.
Their previous address was listed as the Palestinian UN mission on East 65th Street.
Before joining the Palestinian mission, Bamya served as “Coordinator of the Free Marwan Barghouti and All Palestinian Political Prisoners” campaign for the West Bank’s ruling Palestinian Authority, records show.
PA President Mahmoud Abbas boasts an estimated fortune of $100 million, making him one of many Palestinian officials who have reportedly become extremely wealthy over the years by siphoning off Western aid.
Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) founder Yasser Arafat reportedly accrued more than $1 billion during his life, at one stage controlling an airline, a shipping company, banana plantations, and an African diamond mine, along with real estate across the Middle East.
Although the Trump administration revoked visas for many Palestinian officials ahead of last month’s UN General Assembly, mission staff — including Bamya and his wife — received waivers due to pre-existing agreements between the global organization and the US government.
