European Leftist Nominates Jihadist-Linked U.N. Palestinian Aid Agency for Nobel Peace Prize

Palestinian girls exit from a school run by the United nations Relief and Works Agency's (
JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP/Getty
Frances Martel

A Norwegian lawmaker revealed on Friday that he had nominated the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), its office dedicated to services for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Leftist Norwegian Labor Party member Asmund Aukrust, who also serves as vice-chairman of the Norwegian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, announced his choice for the Nobel Peace Prize at the tail end of a week in which the government of Israel revealed it had identified multiple UNRWA members among the terrorists invading the country on October 7. The October 7 attack, coordinated by the Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas, resulted in the deaths of 1,200, the abduction of over 250, and widespread acts of gang rape, infanticide, torture, and desecration of corpses.

The Israeli government revealed on Tuesday that it had found among the UNRWA’s staff ten Hamas members, two members of the Sunni terrorist organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and one “unaffiliated” person who actively engaged in terrorism on October 7.

Aukrust told the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet that UNRWA deserved the Nobel Peace Prize for its “long-term work to provide vital support to Palestine and the region in general.”

“This work has been important for over 70 years, in the last three months it has been vital,” Aukrust asserted, specifically citing UNRWA’s work in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks, which its members participated in, as a reason to award it the prize.

The Nobel Peace Prize is an annual recognition offered to “the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses,” according to prize founder Alfred Nobel.

Only individuals identified as qualified to nominate can submit a formal nomination for someone who deserves the prize; qualified individuals include all members of national federal legislatures, cabinet members, and heads of state.

The deadline to nominate for the prize passed on January 31. The nominations remain a secret for decades unless the nominators choose to reveal their choices. This year, UNRWA joins imprisoned Chinese anti-communist dissidents, celebrity chef José Andrés, and former American President Donald Trump among the publicly known nominees.

Protester Leslie Angeline of CodePink is removed by members of U.S. Capitol Police during a hearing before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Accountability of House Foreign Affairs Committee at the U.S. Capitol on January 30, 2024 in Washington, DC. The subcommittee held a hearing titled “UNRWA Exposed: Examining the Agency’s Mission and Failures.” (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Days before Aukrust revealed his nomination, the Israeli government identified individuals within UNRWA who had not only supported the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists on October 7 but committed them.

As a result, over a dozen countries suspended their financial support to the agency, including America, the most generous donor to UNRWA under leftist President Joe Biden. Joining America were the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Finland.

Under Biden, UNRWA received $344 million in American taxpayers’ dollars in 2022. Trump suspended funding to UNRWA on the grounds that it maintained inappropriate relationships with jihadist groups and years of evidence indicated that its education programs in Gaza were indoctrinating children into antisemitism and jihadist terrorism.

Experts testifying at a hearing before the several House Foreign Affairs subcommittees revealed the alarming content of UNRWA school textbooks and suggested that many of the October 7 terrorists were likely indoctrinated into jihad by those schools.

UNRWA “educates the majority of school children in the Gaza Strip, operating 183 Gazan schools, educating over 286,000 students,” Marcus Sheff, the CEO of the institute IMPACT-se, testified. “It is statically probable that the majority of the estimated 3,000 terrorists who committed acts of murder, rape, beheading, and abduction of Israelis on October 7 graduated from UNRWA’s education program and schools.”

“Today’s Palestinian textbooks are producing the terrorists of tomorrow,” Sheff added.

The executive director of the organization U.N. Watch, Hillel Neuer, shared with the subcommittees evidence from a report by the agency that revealed that UNRWA employees actively celebrated the mass slaughter of Jews on October 7 in a Telegram channel that day. One the group’s administrators wrote to the group of over 3,000 Telegram users, “pray for the Mujahidin,” hoping the terrorists come “back safe.”

“Our new report identifies more than 25 other UNRWA teachers in the chat group who celebrated Jihadi terrorism and the murder of Jews,” Neuer noted. The employees of the agency, he asserted, “regularly call to murder Jews, and create teaching materials that glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis and incite antisemitism.”

White House Defends Funding UNRWA Despite Role in Helping Hamas Terror

White House

The United Nations responded to the explosive allegations of its employees engaging in terrorism by asking for more money for UNRWA.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asserted on January 28 that “any U.N. employee involved in acts of terror will be held accountable” and that he was “horrified by these accusations,” but added, “I strongly appeal to the governments that have suspended their contributions to, at least, guarantee the continuity of UNRWA’s operations.”

UNRWA director of communications Juliette Touma told NPR on Friday that the agency will prioritize “the humanitarian response in Gaza” rather than eliminating terrorist elements within the United Nations.

“We should — there should be more efforts exerted on the Israeli authorities to allow us to do our work, UNRWA and other U.N. agencies. And when the war is over, then it might be a different discussion,” she added, refusing to commit to major reforms to eradicate Hamas and other radical Islamic elements from the agency.

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