The recent strategic move by Israel, the US, and various other Western nations to defund UNRWA is nothing but a well-orchestrated move to dismantle the Un Agency, in the mistaken confidence that doing so would somehow erase the inalienable right of return that Palestinians claim.
The deja vu crisis of defunding is about much more than just financial support and the provision of aid for humanitarian purposes.
Don’t let yourself be led astray by misguided perspectives.
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that UNRWA owns registration documents, historical archives, and substantial evidence collection, which includes more than half a million varied materials such as negatives, prints, slides, films, videocassettes, documents, and even original ownership papers. All these materials comprehensively cover the life experiences and the extensive history of Palestinian refugees right from 1948 to the present times.
UNRWA stands as undeniable evidence of Palestine’s rightful belonging to the Palestinian people.
Palestinians, once the hosts to Jews on their land, have since been faced with the stark reality of their lands being claimed. Jewish immigrants then commenced a 75-year long battle of colonization against Palestine.
The issue at hand extends far beyond the confines of humanitarian aid and services.
The US and Israel are seeking to redefine what it means to be a Palestinian refugee. By attempting to defund UNRWA, Israel and the US are not only seeking to cut humanitarian aid or to collectively punish Palestinians.
Rather, their ambitious goal is to eliminate the right of return for 5.5 million Palestinian refugees by abolishing UNRWA, which maintains the refugees’ registration services.
Their goal is however, based on a fundamental misconception.
International law grants refugee status to children of other refugee populations until they return to their permanent homes. Homes that were stolen by Israeli occupation and the land that Israel occupied.
For over a decade, UNRWA has been continuously under attack, with the US and Israeli governments spearheading crisis after crisis, most notably during Trump’s 2018 campaign to defund UNRWA.
The character assassination of UNRWA employees has been a persistent aim of Israel, with a string of baseless allegations against UNRWA in the past.
For instance, in 2014, Israel used a drone video to falsely accuse two UNRWA staff members of smuggling Hamas missiles in an ambulance. It turned out they were only moving a stretcher in the ambulance.
Why should the world continue to believe Israel after its propaganda of 40 beheaded babies was used to fuel the monstrous killing and dismembering of more than 13000 Palestinian children and babies?
In the span of two decades of my service in the United Nations globally, I have never encountered neutrality breaches, save for when I was working for UNRWA or when Israeli blogs were involved.
That’s primarily because the so called neutrality breaches are fueled by Israel’s persistent attempts to dismantle UNRWA. This constant assault on UNRWA by pro-Zionist blogs results in the US administration being inundated with false claims against UNRWA staff. This, in turn, initiates a cycle of crises centered on breaches of impartiality, ultimately leading to repeated financial cuts.
The US administration and these zionist blogs are not the only culprits.
The fact that UNRWA largely depends on funds from the US and Western nations leads to senior executives being appointed from these countries.
The current Commissioner General hails from Switzerland and has dual citizenship with Italy, while the two deputy Commissioner Generals are from the USA and France. The other director posts are held by individuals from Germany and the UK. Given these influences, it hardly comes as a surprise that all these nations have hastily halted their financial support for UNRWA.
The latest debacle surfaced when Israeli officials requested the UNRWA Commissioner-General to abruptly terminate the contracts of 12 staff members, whom Israel accused of involvement in the attacks on October 7th. This would undoubtedly be considered a neutrality breach and perhaps even a criminal act.
From our inside sources, we’ve learned that the Commissioner-General of UNRWA instructed his team to announce the termination of those 12 staff members precisely at the same time as the International Court of Justice’s session on Friday, 26 January, which was passing an Order against Israel. The calculated timing aimed to soften the blow of the order from ICJ on Israeli authorities. The UNRWA CG put a 24-hour hold on his Communications Department following his statement.
The CG’s statement began with:
“The Israeli Authorities have provided UNRWA with information about the alleged involvement of several UNRWA employees in the horrific attacks on Israel on 7 October. I have taken the decision to immediately terminate the contracts of these staff members and launch an investigation in order to establish the truth without delay. Any UNRWA employee who was involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution.”
Some violations should be highlighted in the Commissioner-General’s statement.
First, a disturbing fact is how the Commissioner-General seemingly took instructions from the Israeli authorities. This act contravenes the standards of conduct set for international civil service. Most importantly, it raises questions about the impartiality expected from international civil servants.
“If the impartiality of the international civil service is to be maintained, international civil servants must remain independent of any authority outside their organization; their conduct must reflect that independence. In keeping with their oath of office, they should not seek nor should they accept instructions from any Government, person or entity external to the organization.”
Despite the UN rules and regulations, the Commissioner-General swiftly ended contracts without launching an investigation, thereby violating the concerned staff’s fundamental right to due process.
The Office of Investigations (OIOS) is put in a tight spot as it can no longer conduct an impartial and lawful investigation. Former staff members are under no obligation to cooperate with the OIOS, making the process even more challenging.
Instead of rushing to terminate their contracts, the Commissioner-General had the option to first suspend the staff without pay, followed by an impartial investigation. His haste in terminating their contracts — even before commencing an investigation — hints at his attempt to appease the Israeli authorities, thereby breaching the standards of impartiality outlined by the International Civil Service’s code of conduct.
It’s important to remember that allegations must be proven and substantiated.
A recent UNRWA judgment issued on 31 December 2023 highlights the eagerness of the Agency to always appease the Israeli authorities by taking disciplinary measures against UNRWA staff regardless of the case’s merits. This case involved a breach of neutrality. The Judge found that the CG imposed a serious miscounted disciplinary measure on an UNRWA staff allegedly because he was a teacher (as reported by the Israeli NGO) when it turned out that he was not one. The UNRWA Tribunal found in favor of the UNRWA staff and reversed the disciplinary measure.
One day after the CG issued his statement on the termination of contracts, Western European countries declared their solidarity by freezing their financial aid to UNRWA. An unwanted consequence or a planned one?
Equally interesting was the reaction of the Secretary-General who expressed his horror at allegations against UNRWA staff. Yet, he has strangely not used the same term to describe the tragic death of 32,000 Palestinians, including the killing and dismemberment of over 13000 children.
Fear? Or sheer hypocrisy?
As to the EU, on the day of the ICJ order on 26 January 2024, it issued a statement reaffirming its continuing support to the International Court of Justice and reminding the parties that ICJ orders were binding and that they must comply with them.
Within days of the ICJ order, the EU took an abrupt U-turn, suspending its funding for UNRWA and demanding a review of all employees. Clearly, concerns for the integrity of their assistance do not match the reality on the ground. To make things stranger, the EU requested a review of all UNRWA employees (30,000 people) to verify that they were not involved in the attacks.
In the span of two days, the majority of Western donors had announced they were freezing funding based on a recycled “40 beheaded babies allegation” unseen by anyone, without any evidence and any sort of investigation into the matter.
Would these countries dare to withhold funds and weapons sale to Israel for the indiscriminate bombing of hospitals, UN schools, health clinics and UN shelters in Gaza?
Today, hundreds of aid trucks are deployed at the Rafah border, with Israel blocking the delivery of essential humanitarian aid. The Palestinians wage a battle for survival, while the world watches in silence.
Israel’s recent decision to declare the Kerem Shalom crossing a closed military zone is leading to a deadly famine.
Israel is subjecting Palestinians to forced starvation, and the international community is observing in silence.
It is thus clear that the humanitarian crisis will persist even if funds were not suspended.
The truth is confronting: we’re witnessing an American-Western led production aimed at more than just funds or humanitarian aid.
This narrative seeks to shift focus from the ICJ order and set UNRWA—often synonymously associated with Palestinians—as the scapegoat. If UNRWA is guilty, all Palestinians must be deemed guilty, or so the story goes.
Given these unfounded allegations, the conversation now centers around UNRWA staff being implicated in acts of violence, further dehumanizing entire Palestinian communities and validating their genocide.
The message that Israel wishes to convey is that killing Palestinians is within its rights.
Led by Israel, a new wave of misinformation seeks to shift global narratives away from the injustices meted out to Palestinians. Such a scenario can only engender the opposite of goodwill and further erode the moral leadership of the Global North in the Middle East.
To the Global North we say: UNRWA does not need your funding.
It needs you to comply with the International Court of Justice’s order by requesting Israel to stop its violence, open the humanitarian corridors and stop the bloodshed.
Cutting funding to UNRWA at this critical juncture is nothing less than a brand new Laissez- Passer to prolong the genocide against the Palestinian people.
But one thing is certain: no amount of money will convince the millions of Palestinian refugees to give up their profound and enduring attachment to their homeland.
To the Global North, we say:
Defund as you May, the Right of Return will Never Cease to Exist,
and Palestine is Here to Stay.
Thank you for your advocacy and truth telling. Palestinian lives matter.