Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

UNRWA USA communications director to address pro-BDS conference

Organizers say it is an “in-depth course on legislative advocacy” in training activists to lobby Congress on BDS and other anti-Israel issues.

Laila Mokhiber, communications director for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) U.S. office. Source: Twitter.
Laila Mokhiber, communications director for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency’s (UNRWA) U.S. office. Source: Twitter.

The communications director of the UNRWA USA National Committee is scheduled to address a conference next week hosted by American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).

Laila Mokhiber is scheduled to be part of a panel event at the conference in Washington, D.C., which organizers say is an “in-depth course on legislative advocacy.”

UNRWA USA is an American nonprofit group dedicated to educating the U.S. public about the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and generating support for its programs in the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. It is entirely separate from the U.N. agency.

AMP is an anti-Israel group that supports the BDS movement and was founded by Hatem Bazian, who also co-founded Students for Justice in Palestine.

Mokhiber did not respond to a request for comment from The Washington Free Beacon, which first reported her upcoming appearance, regarding her ties to AMP and the anti-Israel BDS movement.

UNRWA, founded in 1949, provides various kinds of aid and assistance to Palestinian refugees and generations of their descendants, in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, as well as in Judea and Samaria.

The Trump administration cut all U.S. funding to UNRWA in September 2018 due to criticism that the agency enables the Palestinian refugee issue and teaches anti-Israel material in its student textbooks.

“As a Democrat, it’s my responsibility to call out antisemitism in my own party, just as I hope that Sen. Lankford calls out antisemitism in his party,” Sen. Elissa Slotkin said at the event.
“Wishing all who celebrate a happy Shavuot,” said the Jerusalem legation led by ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.
The ritual bath was donated by American philanthropist Cheryl Halpern in memory of her husband, Fred.
During an assessment with all division commanders, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reviewed challenges in multiple sectors.
Ambassador Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun is doing “tremendous work,” the Israeli FM said.
Ahead of the holiday, President Isaac Herzog celebrates the country’s farmers, who provide Israelis “with all the bounty of the land.”