
(LibertySociety.com) – A group of far-left Democrats recently introduced a bill that aims to restore U.S. funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). This group includes Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), André Carson (D-IN), and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). The bill, called the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2024, would restart funding that had been halted by President Trump in 2018, and again after the October 2023 Hamas attack in Israel. During this attack, over 1,200 people were killed. It was later found that UNRWA staff were involved in the massacre, leading to the suspension of U.S. support.
UNRWA had denied for months that their staff had any involvement. They called it Israeli “disinformation.” But by January, UNRWA’s leadership had to admit that some of their staff were, in fact, part of the attack. They announced that they had fired 12 of these staff members.
The problems with UNRWA go beyond this. For years, critics have said that UNRWA’s schools teach kids to hate Jews. Their textbooks, summer camps, and media push anti-Israel ideas. A report by U.N. Watch and Impact SC showed that UNRWA hires teachers who openly praise Hitler and support terror attacks on Israeli children.
During a recent hearing, Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) pointed out how UNRWA staff celebrated the October attack. As the violence unfolded, staff members took to Facebook to celebrate the slaughter. This is nothing new. UNRWA has been accused for years of allowing Hamas to use their schools and buildings for terror activities.
Jonathan Schanzer, a senior researcher at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, added that the UN doesn’t even recognize Hamas or Hezbollah as terrorist groups. This means UN resources often end up in the hands of people who belong to these groups.
Given all this, many, like Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), are pushing back hard. Jackson introduced a bill to stop all U.S. funding to UNRWA, calling the group anti-Israel and a supporter of terror. He argued that American tax dollars shouldn’t be used to fund hate or terror, and that it’s time to put an end to this.
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