Scrutiny and Evasion
BY MICHAEL ARRIA JUNE 17, 2021
The Shift, new neewsletter from Mondelweiss
PALESTINIANS WHO HAD TAKEN SHELTER IN A SCHOOL RUN BY THE UNITED NATIONS
RELIEF AND WORKS AGENCY FOR PALESTINE REFUGEES (UNRWA) TRANSPORT THEIR
BELONGINGS AS THEY RETURN TO THEIR NEIGHBOURHOODS HIT BY ISRAELI BOMBARDMENT
IN GAZA CITY, AFTER A CEASEFIRE BROKERED BY EGYPT BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS,
ON MAY 21, 2021. (PHOTO: ASHRAF AMRA/APA IMAGES)
Palestinians who had taken shelter in a school run by UNRWA transport their
belongings as they return to their neighborhoods hit by Israeli bombardment
in Gaza City, on May 21, 2021. (Photo: Ashraf Amra/APA Images)
UNRWA Funding
In April President Biden announced that he was restoring funding to UNRWA,
the United Nations' agency for Palestinian refugees. This was no small
thing, but the context is obviously crucial. Why do many Palestinians need
relief? Because their homes are either stolen or destroyed. Who steals and
destroys their homes? Israel. Where does Israel obtain the resources to do
this? The United States government.
Within a couple months of Biden restoring UNRWA funding, there were forced
expulsions in Sheikh Jarrah, and Gaza was being attacked. Gaza public works
and housing says that almost 17,000 residential and commercial units were
destroyed. The UN says that 800,000 Palestinians are currently without clean
water as a result of the bombings. "The biggest need is mental health," said
Gaza director of UNRWA said in a recent interview. "You cannot live through
four wars and think it doesn't affect you."
Now Israel wants another billion from the United States on top of the $3.8
billion it already gets every year and the $735 million in weapons that the
Biden administration just sold them. The Biden administration committed more
assistance to Gaza's reconstruction after the attacks, raising that amount
to a little less than 9% of what Israel gets from U.S. taxpayers every year.
In fact, UNRWA funding was actually higher under Obama.
Members of Congress are working on this shameful discrepancy by fighting for
Palestinians to get nothing and Israel to get more. Missouri Rep. Michael
Guest has introduced H.R.3706, a very straightforward piece of legislation.
It would take the small amount of money earmarked to help Gaza rebuild and
give it to Israel. This is the House companion to S.1751, which was
introduced by Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty. It's cosponsored by Cruz,
Rubio, and Cotton.
These bills don't have much support in congress yet, but the Biden
administration is predictably caving into a number of adjacent narratives.
Yesterday U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told
the House Judiciary Committee that Biden is going to reform the funding
process for the relief agency and make sure every penny is scrutinized
carefully.
"We are putting all of our weight behind monitoring everything that UNRWA
does and monitoring the funding that the U.S. government provides to this
organization," she told legislators. "I met with the commissioner for UNRWA
early in my tenure in New York and made clear in no uncertain terms that the
U.S. will be watching everything they do very, very closely."
She also praised UNRWA for halting the distribution of educational materials
which were deemed anti-Israel. This is a longtime obsession of groups
looking to block aid to Palestine. An Israel-based NGO called IMPACT
monitors all textbooks for infractions. Concerning violations include use of
the word "occupation" or referring to the existence of "Zionists."
"Much more clarity is needed," IMPACT CEO Marcus Sheff told Jewish Insider.
"I think UNRWA is simply back to its years-long modus operandi of assuring
donor countries it is dealing with the hate while precisely nothing changes
in the UNRWA classrooms where the Palestinian textbooks are taught. After
UNRWA printed its own hateful teaching materials last year, this
unverifiable self-regulation ship has obviously sailed."
Unverifiable self-regulation, what a concept. There are a number of existing
laws which hypothetically prohibit the United States from providing military
aid to countries with terrible human rights records. Of course these rules
are altogether meaningless. The President has referred to the very concept
of conditioning aid (not cutting aid, just conditioning it) as a "gigantic
mistake." The same month that Biden restored UNRWA funding, Minnesota Rep.
Betty McCollum introduced H.R.2590, the Defending the Human Rights of
Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation
Act. The legislation aims to actually hold Israel somewhat accountable for
its actions.
A new Data for Progress poll found that 72% of Democratic voters support
McCollum's. However, the bill currently has just 27 cosponsors. That's less
than 13% of House Democrats. Dems might not sponsor legislation that seems
quite as outlandish as the GOP's when it comes to Israel, but they're
playing the same game and Palestinians continue to suffer as a result of it.