US to stop funding UNRWA?
A bill that was recently introduced in the United States House of Representatives could force the US to stop funding UNRWA - the agency that has perpetuated four generations of 'Palestinian refugees' rather than resettle them elsewhere as is done with refugees elsewhere in the world. The United Nations Transparency, Accountability and Reform Act, sponsored by House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking Republican member Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Fla.), would require that the United States withhold U.S. contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency unless certification could be provided that nobody associated with, or receiving money from, the agency is associated with terror.The United States contributes about 22% of the United Nations' annual budget. UNRWA's annual budget is nearly half a billion dollars, some 30% of which comes from the United States. If this legislation goes through and is enforced, the impact on UNRWA and other UN agencies could be significant.
UNRWA has said it doesn't have the resources to check the background of everyone affiliated with the group, but it does run the names of some of its employees by Israeli intelligence services. A recent report released by the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy found that very few of the agency's 15,000 employees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are affiliated with terror groups, but said that the agency has allowed itself to become politicized.
The legislation would also require an audit of five other U.N. entities devoted to the Palestinians as well as any other entity that "results in duplicative efforts or fails to ensure balance" in its approach to Israeli-Palestinian issues, and would require the United States to withhold from its regular contributions to the world body the amount of money expended on such duplicative agencies.
Among the other provisions of the bill is one which states that the U.S. must press the U.N. Secretary General to issue a directive requiring all U.N. employees and employees of U.N. agencies to officially and publicly condemn anti-Semitic statements made in U.N.-affiliated forums, and would require any of those employees to be subject to punitive actions for making any anti-Semitic statements or references.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:11 PM
2 Comments:
"it does run the names of some of its employees by Israeli intelligence services."
Sort of. I know for a fact that the only UNRWA employees that are checked are those for whom UNRWA want to obtain travel permits.
In any case - the end of UNRWA like this would be good - maybe finally transfer the authority (and the operation guidelines) to the UNHCR.
Killing the parasitical welfare agency for the Palestinians would do more for peace and brotherhood in the world than all the diplomatic conferences and high leader summits ever will. The Palestinians are the first and only people in history to subsist on the charity of others, with less than impressive results.
Its time to force UNRWA to close up shop!
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