The Biden administration is pausing, temporarily at least, additional funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) after employees of the entity created to help "Palestine refugees" were fired for participating in Hamas terrorists' October 7 massacre that killed the most Jews in a single day since the Holocaust.
In a statement on Friday, State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said the U.S. "is extremely troubled by the allegations that twelve UNRWA employees may have been involved in the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel." As a result, Miller explained that the "Department of State has temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them."
According to Miller, Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken had a conversation with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday to "emphasize the necessity of a thorough and swift investigation of this matter" and secured a "pledge to take decisive action to respond, should the allegations prove accurate." Miller also said that the Biden administration welcomed the U.N.'s announcement of a 'comprehensive and independent' review of UNRWA" and reiterated there "must be complete accountability for anyone who participated in the heinous attacks of October 7."
And, because this is the Biden administration, Miller's statement also included a glowing review of UNRWA — the agency to which funding was just paused because its employees participated in the barbaric murder and rape of innocent Israelis:
The Biden Administration can’t even announce the halt of funding to UNRWA terrorists without equivocating.
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) January 26, 2024
UNRWA should never receive another dime from the U.S. https://t.co/D7tJ4PmVcZ pic.twitter.com/xSNxTAeM2R
A separate statement on Friday from Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner-General, said he had made "the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay."
All the above weak diplomatic-UN blather is shameful, especially because the truth about UNRWA is already known — and it's not pretty.
Israel had to present evidence to UNRWA that its own employees—at least a dozen, but very likely more—are terrorists. Just as UNRWA had “no knowledge” of tunnels under its schools, it mysteriously had “no knowledge” of terrorists in its ranks. Garbage. All of it. We are getting…
— Erielle Azerrad (@politicalelle) January 26, 2024
As the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) has documented, UNRWA is little more than a globally funded anti-Israel propaganda and indoctrination outfit that aids Hamas terrorists more than it does the "Palestine refugees" it claims to support.
Among the many issues noted by FDD, UNRWA actually "perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem," and lacks any actual "authority to meaningfully solve the refugee issue."
UNRWA also refuses to recognize Hamas for what it is: a terrorist organization. And, by providing some basic services in Gaza, UNRWA helps Hamas by freeing up resources for the Iran-backed proxy to spend on terrorism.
In the UNRWA schools that are supposed to help children in the Gaza Strip learn and provide them with opportunities for the future, the curriculum being taught "denies Israel's legitimacy, incites antisemitism, and encourages violence and jihad." In just one instance, after October 7's Hamas massacre, "a teacher led elementary students in prayer to support the jihad warriors" slaughtering innocent Jews in Israel.
This is not hyperbole. UNRWA and Hamas are the two biggest employers in Gaza. No one gets hired at UNRWA without Hamas’ say-so. Hamas runs the UNRWA employee union.
— Erielle Azerrad (@politicalelle) January 26, 2024
The UNRWA also allows itself to be "manipulated" by Hamas in Gaza where schools and other UNRWA buildings are used as cover for terror tunnels, weapons storage, and rocket launch sites. Conditions at UNRWA sites outside of Gaza aren't much better and the aid group "has a history of scandal."
Despite all this, United States taxpayers have funded UNRWA with more than $7 billion since 1950 (save for the period between 2018 and 2021 when then-President Trump cut funding). Under Biden's unconditional restoration of funding, the U.S. is again the UNRWA's "single largest donor."
What's more, the Biden administration has had no issue praising UNRWA and its Hamas-aiding efforts in the past:
Biden State Department spokesman Matt Miller praises UNRWA — which employs Hamas terrorists and terrorist sympathizers, is complicit in storing Hamas weapons, and whose schools teach kids to hate Jews — as "essential" in Gaza pic.twitter.com/7fKpBahM7Q
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) December 11, 2023
Enia Krivine, the Senior Director of FDD’s Israel Program and National Security Network, has noted that "under the tutelage of UNRWA schools, generations of Palestinians have been fed a diet of hatred. That "dehumanization and incitement," she said, "have resulted in unspeakable violence against Jews and Israelis. October 7 should serve as a wakeup call to the international community, and UNRWA should immediately be defunded."
Notably, the Biden administration has repeatedly stated that UNRWA should have a role in rebuilding Gaza following the war Hamas set off with its October 7 attacks on Israel. But, as outlined above, having UNRWA at the table is essentially the same as having Hamas at the table — an untenable proposal.
Good. Maybe they should stop saying that the UNRWA should have any hand in Gaza post-war. https://t.co/s5QZ06o33V
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) January 26, 2024
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