The UN is refusing to address the findings of an investigation into UNRWA management’s ties to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, on grounds that the 50-page report, “The Unholy Alliance,” was revealed in the media instead of being sent directly to the UN.
“We’re not going to respond to yet another report from UN Watch,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters Tuesday, saying the world body’s officials “appreciate information being given to us directly, instead of done through the media.”
Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch non-governmental organization, said he was “astonished at the audacity of the UN’s stance.”
“The UN spokesman claims they won’t respond to our report because we didn’t provide the evidence to them beforehand. Yet that is exactly what we have been trying to do these past few months, in repeated letters and appeals requesting to meet,” Neuer said.
“We urge Western donor states to take note that our new report reveals how UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini regularly meets with the leaders of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups, and yet by contrast he has systematically declined our requests to meet.
“I urged to meet with him ahead of his visit to Geneva on June 25, and his visit to Lausanne on August 1,” Neuer continued. “I was right next to him on both occasions, yet he refused to to receive our evidence of UNRWA terror ties. Neither would he meet with me in New York in November, despite our repeated public appeals for him to receive our dossier.
“UNRWA won’t respond to our letters and emails, and pressures groups to disinvite me from panels where they appear.”
“The audacity of the UN in refusing to respond to our detailed report, while dismissing our efforts to engage directly, is staggering,” Neuer added. “It’s a shameful abdication of accountability, especially given the serious nature of the allegations.”
This past November, the State of Israel terminated the 1967 agreement outlining the terms of its relations with the agency, a week after the Knesset passed legislation banning UNRWA operations in the Jewish state.
In October, the Israeli parliament (Knesset) voted overwhelmingly (92-10) to bar UNRWA activities in the sovereign territories of the State of Israel. The legislation forbids any interaction by the Israeli government or its officials with UNRWA anywhere, which includes the areas of Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
UNRWA, which plays a central role in maintaining the “refugee” problem in perpetuity generations after the Arab war to eliminate Israel, became overrun and taken over by Hamas terrorists years ago.
Some 100 UNRWA employees directly participated in the October 7th (2023) massacre of 1,200 people and held Israeli citizens hostage, and/or were members of the invading Hamas terrorist organization. UNRWA teachers have for generations taught incitement against Israel in the agency’s schools, and numerous UNRWA school principals have been found to be card-carrying members of Hamas as well.
