Netanyahu Meets UN Secretary General to Discuss UNRWA

On August 16, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who expressed concern about the UN-funded camps in the Middle East under UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees).

Netanyahu pleaded with the Secretary General to reform the UNRWA camps, which, he noted, have helped to “instill the culture of hatred and the ideas of destroying Israel amidst Palestinian children.” The Israeli PM continued, “It’s very hard to habituate and prepare the next generation for peace when they’re told that Jews are the descendents of pigs and monkeys and that the Jewish State has no right to exist, so I trust that you will make sure that these abuses of UN goals and UN funds does not continue.”

UNRWA is currently the largest agency-subdivision of the United Nations, employing in the range of some 30,000 staff. From its creation in 1949 to the present day, the number of refugees recognized has grown from roughly 750,000 to 5,000,000. This growth in the number of Palestinian refugees is attributable to UNRWA’s designation of refugee status. 

The agency considers “refugees” to include not only the first generation of Palestinians who were displaced in the 1948 Israeli-Arab War, but also their progeny–children and grandchildren of the initially displaced population. Given its liberality in designating refugees, it would not defy expectations if the next generation of Palestinians were similarly designated as such.

Despite its purported mission, UNRWA has drawn recent attention not for its humanitarian relief efforts, but rather for its ties to radical Islamist activities. Credible information has surfaced linking UNRWA funded-sites to activities such as harboring suspected terrorists and smuggling militant weapons through its ambulances into Israel and neighboring states.

Videos such as “Camp Jihad” have exposed the true nature of UNRWA camps: preaching jihadist ideology to an audience of unassuming early grade school-aged children.

The day before his meeting with Netanyahu, the Secretary General phoned new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, personally inviting him to the next UN General Assembly meeting in New York City, which takes place in September.