Consider the following:
• U.N. agency employees, doubling as Hamas terrorists, killed and kidnapped Israelis on Oct. 7.
• More than 10% of UNRWA’s Gaza staff has ties to terrorism.
• Hamas built a data center beneath the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza.
• Its education system incites hatred of Jews and Christians, and glorifies terror.
• Hamas command centers and gunmen often use UNRWA schools.
• The union is controlled by Iranian-backed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
These examples of complicity by Palestinian terrorists employed by UNRWA—the U.N. agency dedicated solely to the Palestinians—led the Israeli parliament to pass laws that restrict its work in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem. The laws were sponsored and widely supported by the coalition government and opposition parties.
U.N. employees killed and kidnapped Israelis on Oct. 7
A U.N. staffer commanded a Hamas terror squad that killed and kidnapped Israelis, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, from the Nova music festival hiding in a roadside bomb shelter. Muhammad Abu Attawi, who was recently killed by the Israeli Defense Forces, was a Hamas terrorist—and U.N. driver. UNRWA admitted after the driver died that he “had been employed by the agency since July 2022 while serving as a Hamas special forces commander.”
Hersh became a worldwide symbol of the worst tragedy perpetrated against Jews since the Holocaust. Dozens of UNRWA staffers were found to have “actively participated” or assisted in the terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
A U.N.-educated blacksmith also participated in the massacre. A UNRWA diploma belonging to Amer Yaser Nazmi Sada was found in a vehicle. The paper certificate showed that he graduated from a UNRWA-Vocational Section at Gaza Community College in 2018 with a diploma in metal works. Hamas has admitted that UNRWA graduates have become terrorists. Others have perpetrated shootings, bombings and rocket attacks.
Palestinian teachers and textbooks celebrate terrorists
UNRWA textbooks and their teachers promote antisemitism, encourage violence and erase Israel from the map. The Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education published in November 2023, UNRWA Education: Textbooks and Terror:
- “We are proud of terrorists, we study their march and give their names to our children; we put their names on our streets and squares and cultural landmarks. We spray our gatherings with the perfume of their memory, and each of us wishes to be like them.” Arabic Language, fifth grade
- “The Zionists are the terrorists of the modern age and they are fated to disappear.” Arabic Language (Teacher Guide), sixth grade
Some Gaza UNRWA employees openly celebrated the Hamas massacre. Teacher Afaf Talab: “God destroy the Jews and their supporters. Please God, Amen.”
Other employees, including teacher Sarah Alderawy, posted video clips of Hamas terrorists shooting Israeli civilians and rocket strikes on Israeli homes. Construction engineer Mahmoud Abu Adhm: “I have never before seen such joy in people’s hearts. This land is not big enough for two nationalities.”
Palestinians receive different benefits
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is essentially a Palestinian organization with foreign leaders at the top and funding secured from a variety of countries around the world. Its top three donors in 2022—the U.S. $344 million, Germany $202 million and the European Union $114 million—contributed 56% of its funding. Major donors, including the United States, oppose Israel’s recently passed legislation. The agency operates in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
UNRWA is the only U.N. refugee organization dedicated to a specific group. Israel supported its formation because it was intended to be temporary, but its mandate continues to be renewed. Unlike all other refugee populations, UNRWA confers refugee status to the descendants of refugees. The Palestinian population in 1949, when the agency was created, numbered about 1.4 million, with half originally classified as refugees. The total has swelled to 5.9 million. Over the years, it has become responsible for providing education, healthcare and financial services. In stark contrast, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees serves all other refugees around the world.
Antisemitic U.N. leader hosted across America
A celebrated voice among anti-Israel activists is the U.N.’s special investigator for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese. Despite a new U.N. Watch report titled “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” documenting her promotion of antisemitism and support for terrorism, elite universities continue to host Albanese, including the New School for Social Research in New York; Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.; and Princeton University in New Jersey.
Albanese justified the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre on the day of the assault and claimed that Israel’s rescue mission of four hostages in June was an act of “genocidal intent.” The Anti-Defamation League documented her libelous attacks in a report, “Francesca Albanese in Her Own Words.”
Albanese recently questioned, “How could I ever be an antisemite?” According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, Albanese meets multiple criteria: She promotes common antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jewish control of Congress, endorses blood libels and compares Israelis to Nazis.
Points to consider:
- Some U.N. agencies perpetuate the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
U.N. programs and initiatives, like those run by UNRWA, often emphasize false anti-Israel, anti-Jewish and anti-Christian narratives that reinforce division and conflict. The Palestinian agency was created to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians. However, it fuels grievances by focusing resources in ways that deepen dependency rather than educating Palestinian children and helping adults build a better future in Gaza and the West Bank. U.N. agencies must encourage peaceful coexistence, economic independence and regional cooperation.
- U.N. staffers promote attacks against Jews and the destruction of Israel.
Evidence of the complexity and sophistication of the U.N.-Hamas alliance in Gaza continues to multiply. It was well-documented before the Oct. 7 attacks that textbooks in U.N.-run schools incite Palestinian children to hate Jews and attack Israelis. Many U.N. teachers supported the Oct. 7 atrocities. Hamas built tunnels directly under U.N. facilities. Evidence of U.N. infrastructure used by Hamas terrorists and U.N. staff turning a blind eye proves a troubling lack of accountability.
- UNRWA violates its own principle of “neutrality.”
The United Nations fails to uphold its own stated values, giving Israel no reason to trust it. UNRWA: “Neutrality dictates that humanitarian actors must not take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial, religious, or ideological nature.” The documented evidence of U.N. schools, teachers and graduates teaching, glorifying and participating in terrorism proves that it does not abide by its principles of neutrality, impartiality and respect for international law.
- The United Nations needs impartial leaders.
The world body’s mission of fostering peace, security and human rights can only be upheld by neutral, impartial officials. When U.N. representatives are unbiased, they can assess conflicts fairly, ensuring credible investigations, recommendations and interventions. An impartial United Nations would build trust among nations, enabling constructive dialogue and cooperation. For the U.N.’s principles to hold meaning, its officials must remain free from bias, political pressure and any influence that compromise their integrity.
- UNRWA must be immediately reformed or replaced.
Former Israeli Labor Party politician Einat Wilf is a longtime critic of UNRWA. Her words from 2013 resonate today: “One of the greatest obstacles to peace is the perpetuation of the Palestinian refugee problem by UNRWA. Even more absurd is that it is funded by countries that support two states for two peoples, including the United States. They should use their financial power to steer their practices along a more constructive path. The continued registration of Palestinians living in Gaza as refugees should be discontinued. Outside the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, UNRWA’s work should be merged with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and operate on the same basis as all other refugees in the world.”
