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SDEROT, Israel — The Israeli parliament on Monday overwhelmingly passed two bills related to UNRWA, an abbreviation for the euphemistically named United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which bills itself as a humanitarian agency dedicated to the welfare of Palestinian refugees.

This may have been more accurate when it was founded decades ago. Today, UNRWA is a farce controlled by Hamas and other interest groups that openly advocate the destruction of Israel.

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This has been well chronicled over a long period of time. For example, UNRWA’s mandate includes the operation of schools for Palestinian refugees.

At every stage of their education, Palestinian children are taught to hate Jews and Israel, which is presented as an illegitimate state that steals the land of their ancestors. They learn that killing Jews is their greatest duty and brings honor to their family and nation. The curriculum used by UNRWA, paid for by western countries of which Canada is one of the most generous benefactors, promotes extreme violence and blind hatred.

Anyone who suggests that such subjects are covered and that only reading, writing and arithmetic are taught in UNRWA schools is either extremely ignorant or deliberately lying.

In the immediate aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, in which Israel fought for survival on three fronts, its rapid victory was unexpected.

The small and poor country did not have the financial or other resources to meet the needs of the large Palestinian population that suddenly came under Israeli control.

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Einat Wilf, a former member of the Knesset from the left-leaning Labor Party, is an expert on UNRWA and has written a seminal book on the origins and development of the organization. He remembers the chaos immediately following the Six-Day War.

On June 14, 1967, four days after the end of the war, an incident occurred. exchange of letters UNRWA’s commissioner general and a senior foreign policy advisor to the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs reached an agreement on a non-binding and voluntary basis that UNRWA would continue to serve the Palestinian people residing in the Gaza Strip and Israel. West Bank.

“A lot of people are under the mistaken impression that Israel should cooperate with UNRWA,” Wilf said in an interview with the National Post on Tuesday. “It’s like it’s a treaty obligation, but it’s not.” The agreement was made in good faith with the understanding that UNRWA would fulfill its humanitarian obligations. It could also be canceled at any time with a week’s notice.

“Despite the continuing appeal and power of the UN letters,” Wilf explained, “UNRWA is actually a Palestinian organization. So those who work in Gaza and the West Bank are Palestinians… They can still do their jobs. The next day they tell the children that Palestine is free from the river to the sea.” “They can teach you what will happen.”

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This slogan forms the basis of the hatred taught in UNRWA schools. Like Hamas, it openly calls for the destruction of Israel.

Since October 7, Israel has uncovered evidence from UNRWA that many schools and medical facilities in the Gaza Strip are used as Hamas bases or are connected to a network of tunnels used solely for military and terrorist purposes.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini argued: was unaware The organization’s headquarters in Gaza City is located on top of a massive Hamas server farm that feeds its power supply. Lazzarini’s claim is untenable. And this is just one of many examples.

Thousands of UNRWA workers support the October 7 attack and the brutality that followed glorified in online groups and chat rooms.

Even Lazzarini openly acknowledged that UNRWA employees may have participated in the October 7 atrocities. We also know that doctors and UNRWA teachers are among the Palestinians. took Israelis hostage prisoners in their homes.

But recently Canada’s international development minister Ahmed Husseinand Ambassador to the United Nations, bob raeWe condemned Israel’s refusal to cooperate with UNRWA, a UN agency effectively controlled by Hamas and other terrorist interests determined to destroy it.

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Posts on X state that Israel’s refusal to cooperate with UNRWA threatens the already dire situation in the Gaza Strip.

I challenge Ambassador Rae to direct her criticism towards Hamas (and its benefactors, Qatar and Iran), which are known to seize aid shipments entering the Gaza Strip.

Ambassador Rae must have been paralyzed by UNRWA’s brazen corruption and cruelty. It could also challenge Egypt for not allowing aid to flow from its territory to the Gaza Strip. However, Rae remains silent about this.

The suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip can be stopped tomorrow. Last year’s bloodshed could have easily been prevented.

Ambassador Rae should pressure Hamas to lay down its weapons and release hostages (dead and alive) immediately. If he chooses to use his influence in this way, endless suffering could be met with a much quicker and more positive outcome in human terms.

Punishing Israel for breaking ties with UNRWA is a strange moral transformation.

National Post

Vivian Bercovici is the former Canadian ambassador to Israel and the founder of Israel. Tel Aviv Province.

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