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Did UNRWA Deceive the Secretary of State to Receive U.S. Funding?

(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch - During the last decade, U.S. aid to the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA has been conditioned upon written certification from the Secretary of State that the organization satisfies a series of requirements. One of those criteria is that the agency is taking "all possible measures to assure that no part of the U.S. contribution shall be used to furnish assistance to any refugee who is receiving military training as a member of...any...guerrilla type organization or who has engaged in any act of terrorism." In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 massacre, information has come to light indicating that at least 13 UNRWA employees actively participated in the massacre and another 1,200 UNRWA employees are active members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. It is unreasonable to suggest that these 1,200 UNRWA employees were suddenly recruited last year since Secretary of State Blinken gave the previous certification. On the other hand, it is reasonable to assess that he was likely to have been intentionally and maliciously misled by UNRWA and its leadership on the affiliations of UNRWA staff and the recipients of UNRWA aid. Since the last certifications of Secretary of State Blinken were based on an intentional deception by UNRWA, and that agency cannot meet the requirements and conditions set forth in U.S. law, it would seem that the United States is positively prohibited from transferring any additional aid to UNRWA. The writer, Director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center, served for 19 years in the IDF Military Advocate General Corps and was director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria.
2024-02-02 00:00:00
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