Democrat lawmakers call to restore funding for UNRWA despite its possible involvement in Oct. 7 Hamas attack

By avagrace // 2024-09-25

Mastodon

Parler

Gab

Copy

A group of Democratic lawmakers is calling for the U.S. to restore funding to a controversial United Nations agency that supports Palestinian refugees. Speaking at a press conference outside the U.S. Capitol, Indiana Rep. Andre Carson, Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal and Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois said passing H.R. 9649, or the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Funding Emergency Restoration Act, was crucial for helping Gazans. Carson was the bill's sponsor, according to Fox News. Overall, 65 House Democrats have joined Carson in cosponsoring the bill. Carson portrayed a dire situation in Gaza, calling current conditions "absolutely deplorable" and "inhumane." "One million. That's the number of estimated Gazans who will not have enough food this month. 700,000. That's the number of women and girls in Gaza who do not have access to menstrual products or even running water and toilet paper. 100,000. That is the number of Palestinians who have been seriously injured without access to functioning hospitals. 41,000. That's the number of Palestinians killed by Israel since Oct. 7," the Indiana congressman said. Meanwhile, the National Pulse reported in January that Western nations donated over $8 billion to UNRWA between 2013 and 2022. According to data compiled, in the ten years from 2013 to 2022, the United States gave $2.55 billion; he European Union and its member states collectively gave $5.25 billion; and Australia, Canada and New Zealand gave a combined $313 million to the controversial agency. This totals to $8.11 billion. Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, argued that reinstating funds would overlook the alleged "connections to terrorism" within UNRWA and send an inappropriate message to both Israel and adversaries of the United States. In a statement, Bayefsky claimed extensive links between UNRWA employees and Palestinian terror organizations, including Hamas. Significant donors to the agency, including the U.S., subsequently suspended funding, creating a $450 million shortfall. Other donor countries, such as Canada, have resumed their contributions. Former President Donald Trump cut off funding to UNRWA in the final two years of his presidency, only for the Biden-Harris regime to restore it.

9 UNRWA staff members likely involved in terrorist attacks against Israel

Earlier this year, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres assigned an investigative team to look into Israel's allegations regarding UNRWA involvement in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. After investigating 19 staff members, the UN acknowledged that nine members were likely involved in the terror attacks against Israel. "For nine people, the evidence was sufficient to conclude that they may have been involved in the seventh of October attacks," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN secretary-general. (Related: UNRWA fires 9 staffers over possible involvement in Oct. 7 massacre after months of denying Hamas links.) "OIOS [the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services] made findings about each of the 19 UNRWA staff members alleged to have been involved in the attacks. In one case, no evidence was obtained by OIOS to support the allegations of the staff member's involvement, while in nine other cases, the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient to support the staff member's involvement." Israel's initial accusation was that UNRWA directly employed 450 individuals to terrorist groups operating in Gaza. Visit Humanitarian.news for more similar stories. Watch as advocates argue that defunding UNRWA threatens the survival of Palestinian civilians amid ongoing conflict. This video is from the Cynthia's Pursuit of Truth channel on Brighteon.com.

CITIZENS NEWS

9 UNRWA staff members likely involved in terrorist attacks against Israel

More related stories: