Israel lies children die.
US restores funding to “UNRWA
Children are the greatest gift to mankind. Without them, the world would be empty. Children, of all faiths should be revered, valued equally, and nourished and protected by the leaders of all countries. However, both Israel and the Biden administration have violated this cardinal rule.
In one case, Biden was uncharacteristically decisive: After Israel alleged involvement in terrorism by staff members of the United Nations agency at the center of efforts to avert starvation in Gaza, Biden swiftly suspended funding for the agency. Congress then extended the funding freeze.
Yet it now appears that Biden was wrong for the factual basis behind accusations against the agency has proved elusive. It pains me that in a misguided effort to impose accountability, the United States instead appears to have layered additional misery on hungry people.
Far-right Israeli politicians are pushing to abolish the agency in question, UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which provides schools, clinics, and other services in the region. A bill in the Israeli Parliament that would ban UNRWA as a terrorist organization easily passed a first reading, leading to international condemnation. Doctors Without Borders called the move “an outrageous attack on humanitarian assistance,” and the European Union described UNRWA as “crucial and irreplaceable.”
“UNRWA is staggering under the weight of relentless attacks,” said Philippe Lazzarini, the Swiss Italian humanitarian who leads the agency. He warned that it may “crumble” in ways that “sow the seeds of hatred, resentment, and future conflict.”
The ground around the U.N. agency’s headquarters in East Jerusalem is charred where violent Israeli protesters attacked the compound and twice set it on fire. During the arson attacks, a crowd chanted in Hebrew, “Let the U.N. burn.”
Since then, two independent investigations have been undertaken, and they suggest a pattern of Israel making wild accusations against UNRWA and failing to back them with significant evidence. One investigation, led by a former French foreign minister, recommended reforms but exonerated UNRWA of allegations that it was complicit with Hamas; it added that “UNRWA is irreplaceable and indispensable” and “pivotal in providing lifesaving humanitarian aid.”
Given that UNRWA seems to be a force for stability, it’s hard to see the Israeli campaign against it as anything but one more effort to silence voices for Palestinians. That’s how Lazzarini sees the campaign against the organization he runs.
“Ultimately, there is a political objective to strip the Palestinians of their refugee status, to weaken their further aspirations for self-determination,”. “It’s also a way to undermine the two-state political solution.”
So Biden should acknowledge his misstep. As famine threatens Gaza, the United States should be backing the agency at the center of efforts to fight starvation, not undermining it.
The carnage in Gaza will be a moral stain on Biden forever. There is enough evidence out there that Israel is deliberately starving Gaza. This is no longer "self-defense." This is a deliberate strategy of annihilation of the Palestinians.
The EU and several individual countries, including Canada, have restored funding to UNRWA. Since Israel has supplied no evidence for its charges against UNRWA employees, I suggest it's time for the YS to restore funding to UNRWA.
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