As the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas persists in the Gaza Strip, UN Watch has released a comprehensive report shedding light on the concerning activities of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) teachers in Gaza. Funded primarily by the United States and the European Union, these educators have been accused of indoctrinating Palestinian children with ideologies promoting terrorism and anti-Semitism.
Titled "UNRWA: The Hate Starts Here," the report exposes the alarming behavior of 20 UNRWA teachers and other staff members who openly praised the Hamas massacre that occurred on October 7. This revelation comes courtesy of UN Watch, an independent human rights monitoring organization headquartered in Geneva.
What the UN never showed you: Hamas put their rocket launchers next to mosques & youth clubs. Rocket wiring ran inside the mosque, from where they were activated, fired at Israeli towns. @antonioguterres, you have thousands of staffers in Gaza. Why was this never mentioned? https://t.co/vXNyS9Vwz3
ā Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 6, 2023
These new cases are added to the 133 UNRWA educators and staff previously identified in a March 2023 UN Watch report for promoting hatred and violence. Hillel Neuer, the Director General of UN Watch, is set to present the complete report before the U.S. Congress on Wednesday. The report was also presented to high-ranking officials in the European Union and the American administration.
UN Watch is calling upon the major funders of UNRWA, including the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, to ensure that none of the $1.6 billion in donations to UNRWA supports teachers with such disturbing affiliations. They are also urging these funders to hold UNRWA accountable for the actions of its staff.
Among the educators found to be using their social media platforms to propagate hatred and celebrate the terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7 is Osama Ahmed, a teacher at a UNRWA school in Gaza. Ahmed wrote, "Allah is great, God is great, reality surpasses our wildest dreams" at the time of the massacre. The director of the UNRWA school, Iman Hassan, defended the massacre, describing it as an effort to "restore rights" and "address Palestinian grievances."
It's important to note that UNRWA's teachers receive substantial funding from Western countries, which contribute the majority of UNRWA's $1.6 billion budget. In 2022, donations included $344 million from the United States, $122 million from Germany, $107 million from the European Commission, $61 million from Sweden, $17 million from the United Kingdom, $24 million from Switzerland, $32 million from Norway, $28 million from France, $24 million from Canada, and $15 million from the Netherlands.
The UN's ā#NotATargetā meme is designed to create the impression that Israel is targeting children. The opposite is true: Israel is going after Hamas terrorists, who use their people as human shields. Israel urges civilians to get away from Hamas. @UN, why are you enabling Hamas? https://t.co/UOWlPhgCVH
ā Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 6, 2023
Hillel Neuer, Director General and founder of UN Watch, emphasized, "The U.S., EU, Germany, UK, Canada, and other donor states cannot ethically continue to allocate funds to UNRWA until the agency demonstrates a genuine commitment to basic educational norms within its schools. This entails publicly condemning UNRWA employees who incite terrorism and anti-Semitism, removing them from their positions, and establishing an independent and impartial investigation into the conduct of all staff."
