Israel Matzav

It's wrong for Israel to compensate UNRWA

I follow David Hazony on Twitter and usually find myself agreeing with him. But not this time.

David has written an article in London's Jewish Chronicle which takes the position that Israel's agreement to pay UNRWA $10.5 million for damages inflicted on the agency's buildings in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead is the right thing to do. I disagree.

In everything but name, then, UNRWA is a part of the Palestinian struggle against Israel. So what is one to make of the fact that its buildings in Gaza suffered damage during the war?

According to the IDF inquiry, both the HQ and the UNRWA school that were damaged were turned into battle zones by the Palestinians. At the HQ, the IDF held their fire until an IDF bulldozer took a hit from an anti-tank missile, and the building was damaged in the ensuing exchange. At the school, Hamas rocket launchers were operating within 80 metres of the school grounds — a distance calculated to maximise the public relations benefit of any Israeli response.

By any reasonable standard, it is the Hamas government in Gaza who should pay for the damage. They chose to fire from within civilian centres, using Palestinians and the UN as human shields.

Yet despite all this, the buildings are part of the UN. Symbolically, that flag means something — even to Israelis. In this sense, Israel may be wise, if not morally obliged, to cover some of the damage. Ten million dollars is chump change. The real question is: What is the UN actually doing in Gaza?

We all know what the UN is doing in Gaza: Maintaining the 'refugee status' of hundreds of thousands of 'Palestinians' across four generations. And employing terrorists to do it. That would be enough in my mind not to compensate the UN for its damages. But there's a better reason for Israel not to compensate UNRWA.

If Israel pays for damages to UNRWA's buildings that resulted from terrorists using them as a battleground, what do you think will happen in the next war (and there will be a next war)? What are the odds that UNRWA won't give shelter to the terrorists? I would say somewhere between slim and none.

Just last week, Canada cut off funding for UNRWA. Is David suggesting that Israel has a 'moral obligation' to fund UNRWA instead?

Read the whole thing.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 4:37 PM