PRESS RELEASE: American Jewish Congress Welcomes State Department’s Suspension of UNRWA Funding; Calls for Permanent Halt

January 26, 2024, New York, NY – In response to the announcement that UNRWA has halted funding over employees’ involvement in the October 7 attacks, Daniel Rosen, President of the American Jewish Congress, released the following statement:

“The American Jewish Congress appreciates the swift reaction from the U.S. State Department in suspending additional funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Reports that a dozen UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 terror attack on Israel by Hamas are shocking, outrageous, and absolutely unacceptable. In fact, it is time for the United States to permanently halt funding for a UN agency that is no longer serving its stated purpose and mandate and to pave the way for a much-needed discussion on what should replace it.

UNRWA’s mandate, operations, and role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has always been subject to a clear and consistent anti-Israel bias. However, its employees’ ties to terror attacks constitute a point of no return. The termination of employees after UNRWA received information from Israel detailing the employees’ terror connections is clearly not enough.

UNRWA’s proponents and supporters have long argued that the agency offered stability in the West Bank and Gaza. However, everyone can see that the reality is different. Facilitating terrorist activities and supporting the cold-blooded murder, rape, and mutilation of innocent Israel civilians is very far from the professed scope of work of providing education and health-care services. Anyone who truly cares about the interests of the people in Gaza should protest at the UN for UNRWA’s dereliction of duty toward the Palestinian civilians, instead of fomenting hate against Jews on our city streets and college campuses.

In the past, there have been multiple calls, including from the United States, to reform the agency, and to lead it to refrain from actions that prejudiced the solution of the conflict. With UNRWA incapable of doing that, a new way of serving the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians is needed. It is not a matter of reform anymore, but of accepting the fact that UNRWA has helped to perpetuate the conflict, and even worse, take active part in it.”