« US Spy Agencies: Actually, It Turns Out That Iran Is Developing Nukes (UPDATE: Obama On The NIE: "Bush Continues To Not Let Facts Get In The Way Of His Ideology") | Main | Tom Friedman: "The Likud Under Bibi Will Be A Fringe Party" »

Congress: Hey, Has Anyone Heard About This "We Fund UNRWA And UNRWA Funds Hamas" Rumor?

Terrorists

I would have thought that UNRWA's boasts about employing terrorists...

"Oh I am sure that there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don't see that as a crime" said United Nations Relief and Works Agency's Gaza chief Peter Hansen, 2004... The United Nations agency that administers a school in Gaza where dozens of civilians were killed by Israeli mortar fire last week has admitted to employing terrorists to work at its Palestinian schools in the past, has no system in place to keep members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad off its payroll, and provides textbooks to children that contain hate speech and other incendiary information.

... would have put an end to the debate over whether UNRWA employs terrorists. But apparently this is still an open question:

UNRWA, the massive United Nations bureaucracy that administers assistance to the Palestinians, is locked in an unseemly epithet-laden battle here with some pro-Israel figures who say the relief agency should be shut down because it has been co-opted by radicals. They challenge not only the legitimacy of UNRWA but the refugee status of the 4.3 million Palestinians it is charged with serving, including 1.6 million in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip... In the U.S. Congress, Reps. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) are reviving their campaign to cut U.S. funds to UNRWA until it comes clean about what the lawmakers say are its irregularities and its coziness with terrorists. The United States provides between a fifth and a quarter of UNRWA's $440 million to $540 million annual budget.

Whatever. Any legislation they pass is going to be non-binding. Or it'll have a "national interest" loophole. Or Obama will veto it. Or it will be circumvented by the State Department. But nobody is going to yank UNRWA's funding - least of all this administration.

Obama already funneled an additional $20 million, to UNRWA and the EU threw in a few million of their own. Before the war was even over, UNRWA's reward for helping to develop Hamas's terrorist infrastructure passed the $30 million mark.

On the plus side, putting money back into Hamas's coffers is yet another place where Obama and Iran can come together. This "explore our mutual interests" thing is going even faster than expected!

References:
* United Nations Relief and Works Agency: We Employed Terrorists At Palestinian Schools [Daled Amos]
* Battle gets nasty at critical juncture for U.N. agency aiding Palestinians [JTA]
* U.S. giving $20 million more in humanitarian aid to Gaza [CNN]
* EU to provide €3 million in aid for Gaza residents [JPost]
* UN receives $30 million for Gaza aid work [YNet]
* Report: Iran behind attempt to funnel millions of dollars into Gaza from Egypt [Ha'aretz]

Previously:
* UNRWA Pours Millions Into Terrorism, Blames Israel (Plus: UNRWA Complains That Israel Is Blocking UNRWA Funding. Hmm)
* UN: Gazans Have More Than Enough Food, But Lack Of Fruits And Vegetables Is A Humanitarian Crisis
* Palestinians Shut Down Generator To Create Gaza Humanitarian Crisis, UN Blames Israel

TrackBacks

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.mererhetoric.com/mt/mr-trackbacks2008.cgi/1400

Follow / Support Mere Rhetoric


Our Sponsors

About

  • Omri Ceren is a PhD candidate studying Rhetoric at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication. He lives in downtown Los Angeles.

    Email: omri@mererhetoric.com

    AIM: mererhetoricblog
    ICQ: 342854935
    gTalk: mererhetoricblog@gmail.com
    Y!: mererhetoricblog
    MSN: mererhetoricblog@hotmail.com

News Informer

One Jerusalem Radio

Jerusalem Post

Search




Approbation

  • JIB 2007 Finalist

    Large Blog | Pro Israel Blog | News Blog | Right Wing Blog | News Post | Right Wing Post | Overall Post | Series of Posts | Specialty Contribution


    • The best blog going -- Larry Greenfield, Claremont Institute Fellow

    • One of the best blogs in the known universe -- Robert Avrech, Seraphic Secret

    • A must read... the new shining star of the Blogosphere -- Alexandra von Maltzan, All Things Beautiful

    • I read Omri and... you should too -- Meryl Yourish, Yourish.com

    • So damned good, it makes me want to pack up and leave the 'sphere -- Elder of Ziyon

    • Only Omri... could write a sentence like this -- Lynn B, In Context

    • Gets the gold star -- Anne Lieberman, Boker Tov, Boulder!

    • Stellar analysis -- Rick Richman, Jewish Current Issues

      Premio Apache Badge

    Disapprobation

    • [IsraPundit's] token fascist -- anonymous Democratic official
    • A clearly radical blogger based in Southern California -- Brown Daily Herald

    Powered By

    Hosting Matters
    Movable Type
    Google Analytics Tracker