Republican senators propose cutting funding to antisemitic UN agency over alleged links to terrorism
The bill seeks to suspend aid to UNRWA until it can be certified that it does not promote extremism or fund Hamas.
A group of Republican senators led by Tennessee Republican Bill Hagerty introduced a bill aimed at withholding American funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for “its ties to terrorism and encouragement of extremism.”
The legislative proposal, the UNRWA Reform Act, seeks to suspend financial aid to the U.N. agency at least until the U.S. State Department can certify that UNRWA does not employ individuals linked to Hamas or other Palestinian terrorist groups, does not use American taxpayer funds to finance terrorism, and does not use antisemitic educational materials in its schools.
“As evidence continues to mount that UNRWA policies and school curricula cultivate anti-Israel extremism and encourage the operations of Hamas terrorists, it is unconscionable that the U.S. continues to fuel terrorism by supporting UNRWA,” Hagerty said.
In a statement shared by the Republican senator from Tennessee, he explained that UNRWA has been linked to terrorism for years and that this was why Donald Trump suspended funding to that agency in 2018.
However, in 2021, President Joe Biden restored funding without insisting on significant reforms. The United States has since given millions of dollars to an agency that refers to Israel as the “enemy” and speaks of terrorists as “martyrs.”
Hamas terrorists graduate from UNRWA
Recently, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-SE) revealed that a hundred Hamas terrorists have obtained graduation degrees from schools managed by the U.N. agency.
Hamas missiles hidden under UNRWA boxes
During Israel’s operations, the Israeli Defense Forces also discovered a dozen Hamas missiles hidden just below boxes bearing the U.N. agency’s logo.
“Israel has uncovered overwhelming evidence of diverted UNRWA aid in Hamas tunnels and of entrances to Hamas tunnels directly under UNRWA schools,” Hagerty said.