Two news items that may have escaped public attention of late:

First news item

Israeli troops were dispatched last week to the UNRWA refugee camp in Jenin, in order to arrest sharpshooters who were firing on Israeli citizens, who had taken refuge in the safe refuge of a United Nations refugee facility. The Arab gunman would not come out quietly and instead fired on the Israeli soldiers, wounding two young Israeli troops in the process. The IDF then stormed their hideout and killed the three Arab terrorists who had holed up in an UNRWA camp. Following that skirmish, Israeli intelligence officials told the Times of Israel that The UNRWA refugee camp in Jenin is now the “Arab terror capital”.

Second news item

Firing missiles from the safe haven UNRWA refugee facilities in Gaza, Arab terrorists launched at least 70 aerial attacks on Southern Israel, forcing thousands of Israeli residents into shelters only two weeks ago. There are more than 750,000 Arabs who live in refugee conditions in Gaza, none of whom see Gaza as their home for the future- all of whom are led by UNRWA to believe that their homes are waiting for them in the cities that they are firing at: Sderot, Ashkelon, Ashdod and Beersheva, all of which are Israeli cities that replaced Arab villages from before 1948.


At UK parliament MP Blackman responds to Dr. Groiss presentation of school books.

The context?

During the second week of March, 2014, education experts Dr. Arnon Groiss and Mr. Jonathan HaLevi provided academic presentations at venues in the US Congress and the British Parliament concerning indiscretions of UNRWA education:

Concerning US AID and UK DFID funding of UNRWA education, our agency asked US AID and UK DFID if either entity would conduct an evaluation of UNRWA education, which prepares half a million Palestinian students in UNRWA schools to engage in a war to liberate all of Palestine, under the slogan of “the right of return” to Arab villages which were abandoned during the 1948 war.


David Bedein, Jonathan Halevi and Dr. Arnon Groiss at National Press Club in DC.

US AID and DFID have not responded that that inquiry.

On February 24, 2014, our agency arranged for a briefing on UNRWA education at the Israel Knesset Parliament for all diplomatic missions that fund UNRWA

All major government agencies that fund UNRWA were invited. 16 funders showed. DFID was there. US AID would not attend.

An official of US AID wrote that US AID is “not involved” with UNRWA education, despite US AID press releases which clearly state that that US AID funds UNRWA schools.

At all briefings, Dr. Groiss displayed the newest Palestinian Authority textbooks in use in the UNRWA schools, and mentioned that there are objective ways to evaluate the new textbooks.

It is important to mention that the Vatican conducted the first evaluation of new Palestinian school books of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in September, 2000.


At UK Parliament: Jonathan Halevi, David Bedein, MP Blackman and Dr. Arnon Groiss.

The Vatican PA textbook report concluded that new PA school books promote war, and not peace. That report caused the Italian government to withdraw funds from Palestinian Authority education at the time. Legislators from donor nations can ask the Vatican to share their report the new PA school books that the late Archbishop Pietro Sambi, former Papal Nuncio in Jerusalem, initiated at the time. http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=7073&q=1

With the UNRWA mandate set to expire on June 30, 2014, the US, the biggest funder of UNRWA, could ask fellow donors to demand that the renewal of UNRWA’s mandate be premised on a reform of UNRWA:

  1. To not use school books that encourage children to engage in war.
  2. To stop support for designated foreign terrorist entities such as Hamas.
  3. To cease promotion of the “right of return” through “armed struggle.”
  4. To adopt internationally accepted UNHCR definitions of refugee status, and not to bequeath refugee status on descendants of refugees from 1948.

What is not generally understood is that you do not have to go through the UN General Assembly to change UNRWA.

UNRWA is an autonomous body which operates under support from donor nations, who could ask that the UNRWA operation reflect an agenda of peace and reconciliation.

Citizens of donor nation could take the initiative to reform UNRWA, by asking elected their democratically elected officials to ask that UNRWA be true to its slogan: PEACE STARTS HERE.

MP Bob Blackman, a member of the British Parliament who listened intently to the UNRWA education briefing at a House of Commons briefing room with Dr. Gross and Jonathan HaLevi, stressed how important it is that citizens write to elected representatives, on the inappropriateness of a United Nations humanitarian agency which hosts a war education curriculum.

MP Blackman stressed that elected officials who receive such individually written letters of concern will take the issue very seriously.

4 COMMENTS

  1. j ai été outré de voir ce soir sur arte la chaine franco allemande que des israeliens veulent boycotter des produits venant de judee samarie , ils me font honte ces gauchistes qu il faudrait liquider tellement ils ont de la haine pour les juifs qui habitent les implantations de judee samarie et je ne comprends pas qu il n y a pas en israel une revolte juive contre ces racailles de vendus ou de traitres juifs qui sont pour la cause palestinienne !

    excusez moi israel est trop democratique et je dis là c est trop de la part de ces juifs gauchistes qu il faut penser à eliminer de la terre c est tout !!
    dire cela a la tele est vraiment ecoeurant de vouloir boycotter les produits de judee samarie , et tout ca moi j accuse bibi pour vouloir par force faire la paix avec ce faux peuple qui veulent toute la palestine "qui na été jamas à eux "mais au peuple juif " !!

    am iisrael chai

  4. It is unaceptable for donor nations not to be aware of the gross misuse of taxpayers money not to mention teaching you children to hate.

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David Bedein
David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.

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