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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAOC: US aid to UNRWA should resume immediately
Link to tweet
She makes some valid points. UNRWA does a huge amount of good, yet we cut off funding over the actions of 12 people?

MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)First, ferret out the rot and corruption within UNRWA, which the UN has known about for years but refuses to clean house, then restore the aid.
BannonsLiver
(18,648 posts)12 got caught.
AZSkiffyGeek
(12,685 posts)The 12 were just directly involved in Oct. 7.
MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)to determine just how many Hamas sympathizers are employed by UNRWA and what role they play in Hamas terrorist activities before any aid is restored.
patphil
(7,392 posts)I agree that it is needed, but to withhold aid while the investigation progresses puts hundreds of thousands of people at risk.
The investigation should go forward, but aid should be restored now.
Both can be done with proper oversight.
AOC is right.
MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)This investigation should've been done years ago, the UN has known about this problem for years yet refused to do anything about it and now this is where we're at.
The rot and corruption needs to be weeded out first, then restore the aid with strict oversight to make sure the aid gets to the actual people who need it, which doesn't include Hamas or anyone supporting Hamas.
IMO, AOC is wrong.
agingdem
(8,541 posts)she's on the wrong side of this...and you can bet her anti-Israel/pro-Palestine posturing is not sitting well with many of her constituents...for a woman who is politically savvy, she's slipping
womanofthehills
(9,468 posts)I cant believe you guys want to starve the kids. Lets see - you kids no longer have legs but we are no longer going to feed you.
EX500rider
(11,749 posts)UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Do you personlly know for a fact there is even ONE agency on the ground with the infrastructure, resources and staff to even come CLOSE? Because I do not know of one.
Are you willing to tolerate people dying because there is no other agency able to distribute the food to so many people? I sincerely hope no one will tolerate that no matter what.
KS Toronado
(20,710 posts)You believe UNRWA is the only agency in this world that is capable of feeding all the hungry
people in that war zone? And currently they are the only ones over there providing aid?
And do you believe if full funding was restored, the money Hamas skims off the top will not
be used to kill people?
Remember I'm not putting words in your mouth , that would require statements, I'm only
asking questions.
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Do you believe that Hamas is skimming money from the top? Surprising, given that UNRWA's financial statements are audited by an international Board of Auditors annually and have been signed off by the Board. If this is going on, it would be a huge surprise to, for example, the President of the German Court of Auditors, a member of the Board.
I suppose it could all be a huge financial swindle perpetrated by a UN agency, but I'll hold my opinion until any such evidence comes out. I have seen nothing but allegations from the Israeli side to date. Correct me if I'm wrong.
As for the efficacy and centrality of UNRWA's services, I believe what the experts and those in the know have to say, not the government of a country waging war on the people that agency serves. I might add one that has a clear and long-established animosity towards the UNRWA and whose interests lie in the agency's discrediting and dismantlement.
Of course there are other aid agencies in the world. I don't know if they are capable of feeding and sheltering millions in a war zone, in the face of starvation and looming famine and disease. I doubt they would be able to step in on the moment's notice required by the humanitarian crisis. To hang your hat on the unknown and highly improbable seems a bit reckless to me in this situation. But then again, the creation of this crisis atop the already existing humanitarian crisis is reckless to.
Regardless, 21 global humanitarian agencies, including some of the biggest like Oxfam and Save the Children, have signed a letter urging donor countries to reinstate funding and reiterating that UNRWA's role cannot be replaced by other agencies in Gaza.
These are the people I believe.
152 UNRWA staff have already been killed and 145 UNRWA facilities damaged by bombardment. UNRWA is the largest humanitarian agency in Gaza and their delivery of humanitarian assistance cannot be replaced by other agencies working in Gaza. If the funding suspensions are not reversed we may see a complete collapse of the already restricted humanitarian response in Gaza.
With approximately over one million displaced Palestinians taking shelter in or around 154 UNRWA shelters, the agency and aid organisations have continued to work in near impossible circumstances to provide food, vaccinations, and freshwater. The countries suspending funds risk further depriving Palestinians in the region of essential food, water, medical assistance and supplies, education and protection.
EX500rider
(11,749 posts)As of 2021, it supported over 128 million people across more than 120 countries and territories.
About two-thirds of WFP life-saving food assistance goes to people facing severe food crises, most of them caused by conflict.
In 2022, funding reached a record USD 14.1 billion. The United States was the largest donor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Food_Programme
But yes, I know, only the Gazan terrorists embedded in the UNWRA can help!
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Frome the WFP's website:
We appeal for these decisions to be reconsidered.
.....
Withdrawing funds from UNRWA is perilous and would result in the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, with far-reaching humanitarian and human rights consequences in the occupied Palestinian territory and across the region.
The world cannot abandon the people of Gaza.
EX500rider
(11,749 posts)Since no one wants to fund organizations with terrorists as members
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Of course no one would do that, collective punishment only applies to Palestinians.
And while these other organizations are "trying" the Palestinians will be dying.
womanofthehills
(9,468 posts)Also, Israel first said it got this information from detainees - tortured detainees???
Genocide is not enough - they are trying for super genocide.
The Israelis lie - they lied about the 40 beheaded babies which The Times of Israel and Haaretz said never happened.
Why should anyone believe them?? Trying to get the news away from them being the perpetrators of genocide.
EX500rider
(11,749 posts)Western countries disagree
In Europe, only the Muslim nation of Turkey has publicly stated its support. No Western country has declared support for South Africa's allegations against Israel. The U.S., a close Israel ally, has rejected them as unfounded, the U.K. has called them unjustified, and Germany said it "explicitly rejects" them.
But if you want to side with Turkey & Iran etc...
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)Describing events in Gaza as 'genocide', a foolish but understandable exaggeration from the spectacle, adopted to drive home how bad the situation is for those caught between the forces, has come to be regarded as mundane fact by its so frequent use, and so to exaggerate for effect now requires some intensifier: it's not 'genocide', why, it's 'super-genocide', which surely is worse than mere 'genocide'. And depend upon it, it will not be long till the process reveals that this is the greatest genocide of all time --- GGOAT!
TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)so that the genuine article can occur with minimal blowback.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)But at least among the rank and file, I do think it's mostly a result of heartfelt belief one stands by angels opposing darkest evil, and what's the most evil thing there is? Genocide! So of course those evil whomevers are doing it. I recall seeing here someone saying engaging Houthi missile launchers was genocide....
"People who see the world as black and white are helpless confronted by the need to choose between jet and onyx greys."
EX500rider
(11,749 posts)TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)xmas74
(29,824 posts)Is it worse than a regular genocide? Is it worse than what happened the Albanians or during the Holocaust or The Killing Fields or Rwanda or many others?
What is a super genocide?
EX500rider
(11,749 posts)MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)want to starve the kids?
What bullshit is this?
NorseSaxonCelt
(75 posts)Even without the USA, UK, Finland, Australia and Canada. Where is that money going?
MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)I think I can answer that, its going into the pockets of the Hamas terrorist leadership living in the lap of luxury in Qatar, certainly not to the people who truly need it.
NorseSaxonCelt
(75 posts)Hamas are starving people, withholding aid, while the propaganda blames Israel.
agingdem
(8,541 posts)brutally raped mothers, set fire to the elderly and the disabled, turned a music festival into a killing field, kidnapped babies, children, parents, grandparents and then openly rejoiced in their savagery ...and Hamas knew exactly how Israel would retaliate..they knew babies would die/ children would die/lose limbs...they knew buildings would be leveled and towns destroyed...they knew this but they didn't care because "from the river to the sea" is not about land, it's about killing Jews, all Jews..and that's called "genocide"...
AOC is on the wrong side...
Kennah
(14,465 posts)I may have that mixed up, but it's the gist of what I recall from some who appeared to be apologists for Hamas
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)100% false.
nocoincidences
(2,369 posts)
Kennah
(14,465 posts)AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Your question merits no response.
Kennah
(14,465 posts)AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Response to AloeVera (Reply #97)
MarineCombatEngineer This message was self-deleted by its author.
Magoo48
(5,870 posts)Cha
(307,161 posts)they're the ones Starving the poor Palestinians KIDS.
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Obviously.
I guess it all depends on your priorities.
MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)maybe the UN should've addressed this years ago when they knew what was going on, and maybe the UNRWA should've been more cognizant of who they were hiring.
As it is, there is no reason to send more money to this agency until they get their shit together and deal with this problem, this isn't Israel's fault, nor is it the fault of the US, UK, Germany or the other nations that have put a temporary hold on the charitable aid until the UN fixes it.
It would be throwing good money after bad money.
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Not.
Like I said, priorities.
MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)Way to twist my words around, I'll kindly ask you to not put your words in my mouth, I've no idea where they've been.
Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)I find people get rude when their words are distilled down to their actual meaning and they don't like it.
Money was your emphasis, not mine. If that is the only reason you've got to push the defunding of UNRWA, then it follows you are willing to risk famine for that.
OK, I'm sure you didn't really mean to say that. We all know the real reasons have nothing to do with money, don't we?
MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)my problem is tax dollars going to an organization like UNRWA that employs terrorists, and apparently there are alot of other nations who agree with that.
O
And just what would the real reason be pray tell?
Are you accusing me and others who support this temporary suspension of aid until the investigation is complete of what?

Don't be vague, spit it out.
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Israel has wanted UNRWA gone, no secret. Reasons are political, strategic, expansionist and two-state obliterating.
UNRWA upholds the refugee status of Palestinians, counters the Israeli narrative with eyewitness documentation and reporting, serves as the last bulwark for the people against starvation and famine, is in some ways the "municipal government" of Gaza so holds the fabric of life together there. The timing of the allegations raise suspicion that it was sprung at the opportune time to do the most damage to UNRWA's ability to do those things and at the same time absolve Israel of any responsibility in front of the world and the ICJ.
I've said it from the beginning and even non-believers are having a rethink now that the evidence is staring them in the face: The end goal of the war is the "transfer" of Palestinians, a Jewish Gaza - the destruction of UNRWA is a very important step in getting there. As well, the end of their refugee status is the end of the Palestinian "problem" and the end of the two-state dream.
It's ugly.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)It's nonesense for 'refugee' status to be hereditary. There are no Palestinian refugees. There were, many, and now, there are Palestinian exiles.
The semantic subterfuge engaged in is obvious. 'Refugee' is a temporary status: one who is seeking refuge from some immediate danger. The expectation is that once that danger has passed, the refugee will return to the home he or she fled. Exile has a permanent ring to it. Exiles aren't going back, to their own or to their ancestors' land. Calling Palestinians refugees today is claiming their present situation is a temporary one, to be rectified in some near future by returning whence they fled. Though of course even people carried in the arms of a parent in flight from Palestine are pretty thin on the ground nowadays, in Gaza and anywhere else. The honest term, exiles, would contain acceptance their circumstances are what they are. Which has the great advantage of being matched to the facts.
The provision of a special relief agency for Palestinians is part of what has kept that people sequestered, and made easier their refusal to deal squarely with the circumstance they are in. Probably best to shut down the agency, and fold needed relief for Palestinians into the general assistance to distressed person the United Nations provides. And the new staff probably oughtn't be recruited locally, at least for a while....
EX500rider
(11,749 posts)I don't think there is any going back to there.
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)I think The Vanquished has a certain ring to it. Or how about USO, short for Unconscionably Screwed-Over? Or the more vulgar UFO, short for...
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)Any preferences?
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)Cocked his head a little, looked up, pointed to the ceiling fan's slow revolutions.
I like to think we understood one another....
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Heading towards the terrible two's with my own resident grandkid. God help me.
But I got the story. Sometimes no is all that's possible to say, even at our age.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)As you seem to have done above.
"The U.S. has little left to teach the world except how to squander every first world advantage it ever had and to immolate all reason on the altar of populist ignorance and primitive superstition."
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)I like the quote. Populist ignorance. So true!
Or is that a test too?
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)"Now, that is cool. A highwayman puts a gun to my head and says 'Hand me your money, or I shall have to shoot you, and then you will be a murderer.'"
LeftInTX
(32,268 posts)Cha
(307,161 posts)AloeVera
(2,209 posts)The NYT article does not name the unidentified Israeli woman as being Shani. Nor does the NYT article name the perpetrator, yet the guy on Xitter somehow manages to find a picture of this unknown person atop the truck carrying Shani, perhaps the most well-known of the hostages and to whom we have a very emotional response because of what we saw on that awful video 3+ months ago.
See how propaganda works? Some people fall for it, others spread it knowingly. It's wrong.
From the NYT:The most detailed accusations in the dossier concerned a school counselor from Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, who is accused of working with his son to abduct a woman from Israel..
Jose Garcia
(3,058 posts)TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)Is this "agency" going to now be trusted to self report and what changes situationally if the rabbit hole leads to a toxic waste dump?
It is still going to be the exact same excuses and outcry to keep funding Hamas so that the Palestinians can get what crumbs fall from their table.
The funders of the terrorists can reallocate their spending to feed their disgarded pawns save for the Death to Israel, Death to America, Death to the West chants and bellicose sabe rattling bullshit.
Lonestarblue
(12,234 posts)Aid should continue while the investigations take place.
MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)A temporary pause in the charitable aid is justified until the investigation is completed and strict guidelines are put in place to make sure this doesn't happen again.
And furthermore, a huge chunk of that aid never makes it to the people that truly need it, instead it ends up in Hamas' dirty pockets for their stated purpose of wiping Israel off the map and eliminating all Jews from the ME and the world.
The blame for this pause is wholly on the UN and Hamas, not Israel, not the US, not Germany, not the UK and all the other nations that have followed the lead of the US.
Magoo48
(5,870 posts)MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)Hopefully, it is.
Cha
(307,161 posts)tehy Feed the Palestinians taht need it because of the WAR that Fucking HAMAS Started.
Celerity
(47,871 posts)which allowed him to concentrate on stealing West Bank land via his RW religio-fascist/racist settler base and his concentrated use of the IDF in the West Bank.
That part always seem to get left out.............

Buying Quiet: Inside the Israeli Plan That Propped Up Hamas
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled that a strong Hamas (but not too strong) would keep the peace and reduce pressure for a Palestinian state.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/10/world/middleeast/israel-qatar-money-prop-up-hamas.html
Just weeks before Hamas launched the deadly Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, the head of Mossad arrived in Doha, Qatar, for a meeting with Qatari officials. For years, the Qatari government had been sending millions of dollars a month into the Gaza Strip money that helped prop up the Hamas government there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel not only tolerated those payments, he had encouraged them. During his meetings in September with the Qatari officials, according to several people familiar with the secret discussions, the Mossad chief, David Barnea, was asked a question that had not been on the agenda:
Did Israel want the payments to continue? Mr. Netanyahus government had recently decided to continue the policy, so Mr. Barnea said yes. The Israeli government still welcomed the money from Doha. Allowing the payments billions of dollars over roughly a decade was a gamble by Mr. Netanyahu that a steady flow of money would maintain peace in Gaza, the eventual launching point of the Oct. 7 attacks, and keep Hamas focused on governing, not fighting. The Qatari payments, while ostensibly a secret, have been widely known and discussed in the Israeli news media for years.
Mr. Netanyahus critics disparage them as part of a strategy of buying quiet, and the policy is in the middle of a ruthless reassessment following the attacks. Mr. Netanyahu has lashed back at that criticism, calling the suggestion that he tried to empower Hamas ridiculous. In interviews with more than two dozen current and former Israeli, American and Qatari officials, and officials from other Middle Eastern governments, The New York Times unearthed new details about the origins of the policy, the controversies that erupted inside the Israeli government and the lengths that Mr. Netanyahu went to in order to shield the Qataris from criticism and keep the money flowing.
The payments were part of a string of decisions by Israeli political leaders, military officers and intelligence officials all based on the fundamentally flawed assessment that Hamas was neither interested in nor capable of a large-scale attack. The Times has previously reported on intelligence failures and other faulty assumptions that preceded the attacks. Even as the Israeli military obtained battle plans for a Hamas invasion and analysts observed significant terrorism exercises just over the border in Gaza, the payments continued. For years, Israeli intelligence officers even escorted a Qatari official into Gaza, where he doled out money from suitcases filled with millions of dollars.
snip
LetMyPeopleVote
(158,121 posts)This is very disturbing.
Link to tweet
That is 1,200 out of 12,000 employees. The WSJ report goes on to say, HALF the employees have close relatives with official ties to militant groups, particularly Hamas.
Two things. First, this is according to Israeli intelligence, so it should be verified by other intelligence agencies. Second, we obviously should not suspend aid while 2.1 million people are displaced from their homes. Sorting out UNRWA is not that important while people are starving and living in tents.
But, assuming this report is generally true, it certainly lends credence to Israeli claims that UNRWA has exacerbated tensions in the region.
https://wsj.com/world/middle-east/at-least-12-u-n-agency-employees-involved-in-oct-7-attacks-intelligence-reports-say-a7de8f36



MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)strict guidelines to see that this never happens again and any UNRWA employee found to be in cahoots with any terrorist group is fired and criminally prosecuted.
Mountainguy
(1,371 posts)Most people in Gaza have significant links to Hamas. Most support Hamas.
It's basically the same as the KKK in the deep south in the 60's. Most people weren't wearing hoods and burning crosses, but most did know who they were and supported them.
sarisataka
(21,517 posts)I would agree.
However the UNRWA has a long documented history of connections to terrorist groups, antisemitism and promoting violence. The UNRWA is an obstacle to peace and should be dissolved.
Palestinians can be aided by the UNHRC, like all other refugees in the world.
Beastly Boy
(11,659 posts)employs a single terrorist enabler, let alone 12 (or more), for any extended period of time, and it doesn't give a shit about it until it loses their funding.
I am afraid AOC got it backwards.
Torchlight
(4,253 posts)The Gaza tunnels alone are estimated to have cost more than $50 million to construct and maintain. Three top leaders of Hamas alone have a staggering fortune of $11 billion, according to a 2023 report by New York Post.
Hamas has the fortune to invest in food security, jobs, and education for Gaza, and I think Hamas should be the first in line in making life easier for the Palestinians currency living in Gaza, but it looks like they've decided their own caviar wishes and champagne dreams are a greater priority.
MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)If so, it's perfect.

Igel
(36,572 posts)Leach ended each episode with a wish for his viewers that became his signature catchphrase, "champagne wishes and caviar dreams.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyles_of_the_Rich_and_Famous
nycbos
(6,430 posts)I highly doubt it was only 12.
AZSkiffyGeek
(12,685 posts)It's just 12 that were actual kidnappers and murderers. But apparently that's okay, because we need to think of the children!!!!
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)It's never OK to starve children in service of whatever your cause is. No exceptions for any damn country or any damn reason. That's my silly belief anyway.
It may be 1200, I have no idea. That is based on the nice round 10% "assessment by Israeli intelligence". So it's an estimate, with no proof or verification, by the intelligence services of a country with a lot to gain from the dissolution of UNRWA. Colour me sceptical.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)You seem to expect one side alone to 'think of the children'.
The government in Gaza, in fact Hamas, could end infliction of further suffering on children by ceasing hostilities and releasing captives.
The fact is that when Hamas leaders 'think of the children' they see nice, sweet, useful corpses, maimed and mutilated bodies, martyrs bred of a nation proud to be a nation of martyrs, and in Paradise this day. Who could be so heartless as to deny them this, by bending the knee to a JEW...
AloeVera
(2,209 posts)Are you then absolved from responsibility for your own actions in actually harming those children? And does it lessen, assuage or abolish your guilt as you bomb civilian homes, apartment buildings and schools with those very children being killed and brutally maimed?
The answers to me are no and no.
To be outraged by the moral corruption of Hamas leaders, and their unwillingness to surrender, while ignoring or minimizing the actual killings and collective punishment being committed by your own side, and continued willingness to do so in spite of the cost, is morally unsound and a double-standard. In my humble opinion and with all due respect, sir.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)If your enemy uses children as cover, then they are cover. Right, wrong, guilty, innocent, deserving or otherwise, is quite beside the point. War isn't a game, with rules. War is an exercise in using violence to attain an end which another will not willingly concede. It continues, once begun, till one side or the other lacks the will to continue it. In this particular instance, one side believes it useful in attaining their political end to have a great many non-combatants killed, and arranges the battlefield to make this an inevitable result, while the other side believes its military end, destruction of its enemy's ability to continue fighting, must be achieved whatever the battlefield may be. For one side, the deaths of non-combatants is a means to its end, to the other the deaths of non-combatants is a by-product inevitable in pursuing its end.
"They say war is an art but it's not. It mostly consists in outwitting people, robbing widows and orphans, and inflicting suffering on the helpless for one's own ends, and that's not art: That's business."
Happy Hoosier
(8,737 posts)They've been close to openly supporting Hamas. Fuck that. Get your act together, UN.
tritsofme
(18,929 posts)Let Qatar and Iran step up for their Hamas allies, if they care.
LexVegas
(6,630 posts)GhostHunter22
(95 posts)I mean afterall, 12 (12 !!!!!) out of 13,000 workers were accused of aiding Hamas.
Those 2+ million suffering Palestinians should just get a job and get over it - theyll be fine
especially the children.
Allowing aid to anyone who can pronounce Hamas is antisemitic and I am horrified that anyone would dare to think otherwise.
MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)your attempt at falls flat on its face, but you keep on doing you.
Arazi
(7,503 posts)UNRWA is hopelessly corrupt, rife with antisemitism, and totally ineffective as an aid organization.
Its creation as the sole entity assisting only this refugee population is antisemitic when every other refugee group is placed under UNHRC. It stinks and has from day one.
betsuni
(27,448 posts)We've been told that for years.
Igel
(36,572 posts)Yes, it provides jobs and they know the local environment.
But it also allows for easy infiltration and appropriation of assets and means. Even with careful vetting, we limit the access that local employees at embassies and consulates have--and those tend to be jobs where we suspect applicants. When you're rooting for the local population, it makes vetting them even harder. I mean, look at UPenn, where the enforcement staff in charge of stopping and corralling hate speech and protecting students were on the side of the protesters accused of anti-semitism and intimidation. "Nothing to see here, move along."
EX500rider
(11,749 posts)https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-68127544
Then there is the whole stories about the UNRWA's local telegram posts celebrating the 10/7 attack that came out last month
And the story about the Israeli hostage being held at a UNRWA's teachers house
Igel
(36,572 posts)that were stolen--then said to have been transferred--how did they put it--transferred to the appropriate authorities?
If Hamas members or fellow-travelers did the transferring, then vouched for the transferring, who could say they *weren't* "stolen" by Hamas (esp. if UNRWA staffer's enabled and facilitated the transfer)?
Torchlight
(4,253 posts)Current senior leadership of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, Moussa Abu Marzuk and Khaleed Mashal have been maintaining their luxury lifestyle in Qatar, while the average monthly income for a middle-class family living in Gaza is around $250. Hamas possesses quite the disparity between its noble and righteous assertions of freedom for those in Gaza and the lack of actual aid it dispenses to those in need.
Hamas is the perfect example of 'physician, heal thyself.'
sarisataka
(21,517 posts)This quote is from 2009, showing how long the UNRWA has been associated with Hamas
LeftInTX
(32,268 posts)Cha
(307,161 posts)$2 Billion.. or is that too much of an Ask for them to feed the Palestinians who are "starving" because of the War the Butchers started?
Fucking Terrorists.
Autumn
(47,251 posts)
Ace Rothstein
(3,313 posts)Last edited Mon Jan 29, 2024, 07:41 PM - Edit history (1)
The UNRWA schools are also breeding grounds of future terrorists.
muriel_volestrangler
(103,007 posts)by the governments now trying to hamstring relief, or those cheering them on. Innocent lives are at stake.
The suspension of funding by donor states will impact life-saving assistance for over two million civilians, over half of whom are children, who rely on UNRWA aid in Gaza. The population faces starvation, looming famine and an outbreak of disease under Israels continued indiscriminate bombardment and deliberate deprivation of aid in Gaza.
We welcome UNRWAs swift investigation into the alleged involvement of a small number of UN staff members in the October 7th attacks. We are shocked by the reckless decision to cut a lifeline for an entire population by some of the very countries that had called for aid in Gaza to be stepped up and for humanitarians to be protected while doing their job. This decision comes as the International Court of Justice ordered immediate and effective action to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza.
152 UNRWA staff have already been killed and 145 UNRWA facilities damaged by bombardment. UNRWA is the largest humanitarian agency in Gaza and their delivery of humanitarian assistance cannot be replaced by other agencies working in Gaza. If the funding suspensions are not reversed we may see a complete collapse of the already restricted humanitarian response in Gaza.
https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/news/media-centre/press-releases/unrwa-funding-cuts-threaten-palestinian-lives-
Saying "another UN organization can take over" ignores the reality of operating in a war zone. This is not like telling people to change their bank.
EX500rider
(11,749 posts)So UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the Red Cross/Crescent are incapable of loading trucks with food and distributing them?
muriel_volestrangler
(103,007 posts)It would just be like a massive aid operation to an earthquake zone or similar (buildings mostly destroyed, everyone displaced). But without that? No, they couldn't. The people of Gaza dream of being in the situation of having suffered a massive earthquake with outside help able to get in to them without being killed.
MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)What happened the last time Israel agreed to a cease fire?
Oh yeah, Hamas launched a terrorist attack inside Israel that killed 3 Israeli's and then proceeded to launch a rocket attack on Israel.
Why is it that only Israel has to abide by a cease fire when Hamas clearly doesn't abide by one?
muriel_volestrangler
(103,007 posts)and it's Israel that is bombarding Gaza. You can't order unarmed workers into a war zone where 200 people are being killed a day without the government doing the killing stopping. UNRWA is the only organization that stands a chance of doing that, because it has already been doing most of it. That's why 150 of UNRWA workers have already been killed. They're Palestinians, and are stuck there.
TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)just like this lot.
Hamas has plenty of loot, they can feed their own instead of stealing from them.
The lion's share of the money and supplies are going to support and fund Hamas anyway.
Response to TheKentuckian (Reply #85)
Post removed
Cha
(307,161 posts)EX500rider
(11,749 posts)Are you saying the UNRWA members are armed?
Other UN orgs can certainly deliver food & shelter, they can coordinate with the IDF.
sarisataka
(21,517 posts)That "Ceasefire Now" only applies to one party. The other is free to act as they please. It's just "resistance"
Arazi
(7,503 posts)Theyre presently in Yemen and Sudan
Theyve also recently been in Afghanistan, Congo, Syria, South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia etc. They're still in some of those areas even with low level conflicts raging for years
muriel_volestrangler
(103,007 posts)I'll repeat what the aid organizations said, and give the full list, because these people know what they're talking about:
Signed
Save the Children
War Child Alliance
ActionAid
Norwegian Refugee Council
Diakonia
Oxfam
Première Urgence Internationale
Médecins du Monde France, Spain, Switzerland, Canada, Germany
Danish Refugee Council
Johanniter International Assistance
The Association of International Development Agencies - Aida
Humanity & Inclusion/ Handicap International (HI)
INTERSOS
CCFD-Terre Solidaire
International Council for Voluntary Agencies
Norwegian People's Aid
Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine
Norwegian Church Aid
DanChurchAid
American Friends Service Committee
Caritas Internationalis
Arazi
(7,503 posts)They operate in active war zones as well as low level conflicts. They were in Afghanistan and Iraq during active war. Theyre in Yemen and Sudan right now.
The fact is UNRWA is complicit in stoking the I/P war. They have employees who are active participants in terrorism. Theres just no way that any governments should be giving them aid to perpetuate their abuses.
Even further, Im not sure why there was ever a separate agency just for the Palestinians. Theres been no precedent for it before or after. Its rife with corruption and utterly untrustworthy. The majority of the funds are going straight to the Hamas leadership in Qatar and Turkey instead of actually providing aid for the residents of Gaza
muriel_volestrangler
(103,007 posts)UNRWA was created first (with Israel and Arab states voting for it), in 1949; UNHCR in 1950, originally for refugees in Europe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UNRWA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_High_Commissioner_for_Refugees
And the opposite is deeply troubling. While UNHCR does not have a mandate to operate in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (and let me pay tribute here especially to UNRWA, my former organization, and other humanitarian staff for their heroic work, and express my deepest condolences for the now 67 colleagues who have been killed), it is clear that this latest and deadliest round of violent conflict risks infecting the wider region and beyond with catastrophic consequences including in places where UNHCR is very much present and working to help protect and assist the displaced and solve their plight.
https://www.unhcr.org/news/speeches-and-statements/high-commissioner-s-statement-united-nations-security-council
The point is that UNHCR don't operate in cities under active attack (reminder: Gaza is about the size and population of Queens). They don't get told "you are the people primarily responsible for feeding and sheltering 2 million people in a city under active attack, who cannot move from that city, when you don't operate there already".
And that's why AOC, and the NGOs, are right.
Arazi
(7,503 posts)Ukrainian cities are under active daily attack, including multiple and sustained unrelenting rocket fire virtually every night.
Look, I too want humanitarian aid to continue but UNRWA isnt going to continue there imo. Theyre too badly corrupted and complicit. No nation will resume funding them after this report, nor should they. UNHCR is the logical choice for a replacement and we should focus our demands on an immediate workable replacement. They have the skills and logistics staffing to ramp up the fastest.
muriel_volestrangler
(103,007 posts)That's the Ukrainian government. Plus the civilian daily toll in Ukrainian cities is under a tenth of Gaza. It took maybe 5 weeks for 10,000 civilian deaths in Gaza; it took about 18 months in Ukraine.
The only possible way for UNHCR to go in an take over the support of over a million people is for a ceasefire.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)To bring what succor they could to the people of Gaza....
muriel_volestrangler
(103,007 posts)It's the provision to Gaza (and, for that matter, to the West Bank, where, again, the killing is by the IDF, plus settlers. But it probably is realistic for other aid groups to take over in the West Bank, though they'd surely love it if the IDF and settlers stopped the murder). So a ceasefire by the Israelis is the important part. A unilateral ceasefire by Hamas would not help.
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)Do you seriously suggest that Hamas downing arms and standing by doing so for some weeks would not improved the supply situation in Gaza?
Do you suppose it would be politically feasible, not just internationally but domestically, for Israel to continue bombardment in face of that?
muriel_volestrangler
(103,007 posts)For instance, they continue to kill in the West Bank. I look at DU and think "yes, if there are this many normally moderate Americans who don't care about Palestinian deaths, then it's feasible in Israel".
The Magistrate
(96,043 posts)If it is, then what have events in the West Bank to do with it?
Will continued vigilantism by settlers and suppression of protest by soldiers there prevent supplying Gaza in the event of a ceasefire declared there by Hamas?
Arazi
(7,503 posts)I dont understand your comment about running the cities but regardless, its clear UNHRC operates in war zone cities under regular assault. Youre moving the goalposts with every post - now youre saying only an agency that has operated under Gaza-level war conditions can manage humanitarian aid?
Thats just utterly untrue. In fact, Id stipulate that UNRWA has exhibited massive failures managing Gazas humanitarian aid over and over for decades. The documented evidence of their complicity with terrorists is undeniable. Giving a different agency that task seems prudent and necessary at this point, especially an agency thats been successfully tasked with this sort of work for hundreds of other conflicts.
Finally your comment about a ceasefire is great. Israel has proposed (another) one. Hamas has rejected it. I wouldnt hold my breath on those negotiations tbh
mcar
(43,886 posts)Who raped, mutilated, tortured and murdered? No thank you.
Mosby
(18,088 posts)JI7
(91,311 posts)I would say most UNRWA agree with the attacks onIsrael.
LeftInTX
(32,268 posts)
Hours later that day, a video emerged showing Louk's body,[28][29][c][d] partially clothed, with a significant head injury and blood-matted hair, being paraded in the streets of Gaza City by Hamas militants in the back of a pickup truck; they were exclaiming "Allahu Akbar", and were joined in the cheers by the people in the crowd surrounding the vehicle, some of whom spat on the body.[33][22][34][35] The video went viral,[36][37][3] becoming one of the first viral videos of the 2023 IsraelHamas war.[36] It was released in a wave of videos of Hamas members parading hostages and bodies.[38][39][40] Photographs were also taken and circulated on the internet,[29] including a photograph of the pickup returning to Gaza Strip, taken by an Associated Press photojournalist.[41]
From early on, there were media reports that Louk had been killed, describing the video as depicting her lifeless body.[51][52] According to The Times of Israel, "it seemed likely at the time that Louk was no longer alive."
On 30 October 2023, the German and Israeli governments confirmed Louk's death. Forensic examiners found the petrous part of the temporal bone from her skull on a road leading out of the festival grounds,[56][59] with her DNA
________________________________
Savages!!!! No wonder everyone is pulling funding!!
moonshinegnomie
(3,075 posts)the agency should be dissolved. let the rich arab states provide humanitarian aid.
the agency as it exists now is a terrorist haven
https://archive.is/s6jmz
Raine
(30,674 posts)Response to The Contrarian (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
William769
(56,708 posts)



Mosby
(18,088 posts)Calista241
(5,619 posts)They also designed and provide the racist school curriculum taught throughout the Palestinians territories.
Gaugamela
(2,735 posts)MarineCombatEngineer
(14,817 posts)So Hamas can steal some more to put to their stated goal of the destruction of Israel and the elimination of all Jews in the ME and world?
Yeah, there's a great plan.
tritsofme
(18,929 posts)TheKentuckian
(26,314 posts)It wasn't because of some shortfall where an accounting choice was made but rather because the agency is corrupted/in partnership with Hamas.
If Israel got $0 aid it would not free up a cent to fund Hamas.
Takket
(22,862 posts)As a taxpayer I'm not cool with the idea of my money potentially being funneled to terrorists.
There are plenty of aid organizations out there. Invest in someone else to help.
LetMyPeopleVote
(158,121 posts)LeftInTX
(32,268 posts)Thirteen other countries have issued similar declarations: Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
BBM...New countries added to the list.
I think AOC may have gotten this wrong, unless there is a strange bandwagon going on. However, most of these countries voted for the ceasefire.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-784213
Raine
(30,674 posts)radius777
(3,847 posts)these people are suffering and they need any/all aid they can get - regardless of any issues with the group delivering the aid. A starving baby does not care about the politics of adults.