Congressmen revive campaign to cut US funds to UNRWA

Quick notes:

A. It's about time.
B. Good luck
C. Thank you Reps. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) for a commendable case of honesty in the house of representatives.

Battle gets nasty at critical juncture for U.N. agency aiding Palestinians

UNRWA, the massive United Nations bureaucracy that administers assistance to the Palestinians, is locked in an unseemly epithet-laden battle here with some pro-Israel figures who say the relief agency should be shut down because it has been co-opted by radicals. They challenge not only the legitimacy of UNRWA but the refugee status of the 4.3 million Palestinians it is charged with serving, including 1.6 million in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

It's not a new fight, but its tone has become ferocious just when the new Obama administration is attempting to restore civility to a peace process bloodied by the conflict last month in the Gaza Strip. The fight comes as policymakers say the United Nations Relief and Works Agency is more critical than ever in getting desperately needed food and supplies to the Palestinians, and also when the agency is facing physical attacks from the Hamas-led regime in Gaza.

In the U.S. Congress, Reps. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) are reviving their campaign to cut U.S. funds to UNRWA until it comes clean about what the lawmakers say are its irregularities and its coziness with terrorists. The United States provides between a fifth and a quarter of UNRWA's $440 million to $540 million annual budget. (The discrepancy in the 2008 figures arises from the gap between pledges from donor countries and actual projected payments.)

In recent days the lawmakers have been seeking Jewish support for a nonbinding resolution calling on UNRWA to tighten its employment policies against terrorist infiltration, and for a separate letter to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton asking for a cutoff in funding for UNRWA until a U.S. review of the agency is completed.

In a recent conference call organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Rothman said he needed Jewish communal help to overcome institutional resistance in Washington to cutting off funding for UNRWA, particularly among "the U.S. Senate leadership who think that is an unfair and unreasonable burden on Palestinians."

Later, in an interview with JTA, Kirk bluntly likened the agency to his home state's scandal-plagued political machine.

"This reminds of Rod Blagojevich in its corruption," Kirk said, referring to the recent removal of the Illinois governor over pay-for-play allegations.

In their letter to Clinton, Kirk and Rothman suggest alternative "bilateral assistance mechanisms" to deliver aid.

The problem with this idea, some observers say, is that only a few such mechanisms exist on the ground, and they lack UNRWA's infrastructure. The respected American Near East Refugee Aid, for instance, has managed to distribute $4 million in food and medical aid since the end of fighting -- a minor amount compared to the tens of millions UNRWA is expected to deliver.

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Continue reading this excellent article, also please consider Omri Ceren's comments:

Congress: Hey, Has Anyone Heard About This "We Fund UNRWA And UNRWA Funds Hamas" Rumor?

I would have thought that UNRWA's boasts about employing terrorists...

"Oh I am sure that there are Hamas members on the UNRWA payroll and I don't see that as a crime" said United Nations Relief and Works Agency's Gaza chief Peter Hansen, 2004... The United Nations agency that administers a school in Gaza where dozens of civilians were killed by Israeli mortar fire last week has admitted to employing terrorists to work at its Palestinian schools in the past, has no system in place to keep members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad off its payroll, and provides textbooks to children that contain hate speech and other incendiary information.

... would have put an end to the debate over whether UNRWA employs terrorists. But apparently this is still an open question:

UNRWA, the massive United Nations bureaucracy that administers assistance to the Palestinians, is locked in an unseemly epithet-laden battle here with some pro-Israel figures who say the relief agency should be shut down because it has been co-opted by radicals. They challenge not only the legitimacy of UNRWA but the refugee status of the 4.3 million Palestinians it is charged with serving, including 1.6 million in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip... In the U.S. Congress, Reps. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) are reviving their campaign to cut U.S. funds to UNRWA until it comes clean about what the lawmakers say are its irregularities and its coziness with terrorists. The United States provides between a fifth and a quarter of UNRWA's $440 million to $540 million annual budget.

Whatever. Any legislation they pass is going to be non-binding. Or it'll have a "national interest" loophole. Or Obama will veto it. Or it will be circumvented by the State Department. But nobody is going to yank UNRWA's funding - least of all this administration.

Obama already funneled an additional $20 million, to UNRWA and the EU threw in a few million of their own. Before the war was even over, UNRWA's reward for helping to develop Hamas's terrorist infrastructure passed the $30 million mark.

On the plus side, putting money back into Hamas's coffers is yet another place where Obama and Iran can come together. This "explore our mutual interests" thing is going even faster than expected!