The Moral Conundrum of UNRWA

Since Biden’s long-anticipated announcement that he was dropping out of the 2024 Presidential race, attention has focused on Kamala Harris as the presumptive nominee. As someone who follows basically every Jewish influencer on social media, the furor surrounding whether or not Kamala Harris is “good” or “bad” for Israel is already raging — from her choice to not preside over Bibi’s Congressional address versus having a private meeting with him later, to her stepdaughter’s decision to publicly advocate donations to UNRWA, people have a lot of opinions (a novel thing for Jews). But it is Ella Emhoff, the stepdaughter herself, who seems to be the target of a lot of online ire. Thus, I want to focus less on Kamala herself though and instead look at how Ella Emhoff’s public support of UNRWA demonstrates the moral conundrum that Jews and Zionists are currently in  — and a moral trap that we need to better navigate.

As Hen Mazzig eloquently puts it, advocating for Palestinian humanity does not detract from Israeli humanity. One can focus — and many prominent Jewish organizations do — on the horrifying position of the Palestinians without supporting or justifying Hamas, and there is plenty of room and need for it. Hamas’ attack was a result of dehumanization, and no moral people should ever forget the humanity of innocents. Simultaneously, UNRWA and the question of its existence and actions demonstrates a real moral conundrum for Jews (and allies) that is hard to navigate. But at the same time, I think that moral conundrum can extend to our community as well; where we see things that are very cut-and-dry, others don’t necessarily see things as so morally simplistic, and perhaps those others don’t immediately deserve our censure. 

Let’s just go ahead and name the problem. There is a big difference between supporting the Palestinians and advocating for Hamas, and very problematically, UNRWA — the organization devoted to aiding the Palestinians — has often ended up supporting Hamas itself. Its incestuous relationship with Hamas is well-documented, and calls for its defunding are — unfortunately — probably necessary. Realistically, well-meaning individuals (like Ella Emhoff) see UNRWA as being necessary for the distribution of food and care for the exceptionally vulnerable Palestinians living in the Strip, who, regardless of the justifiable nature and need of Israel’s war, are suffering greatly. As their situation gets progressively worse, the need for aid organizations only grows more important.

Unfortunately, the more aid that goes to UNRWA, the more aid is ultimately diverted to Hamas. It is not for nothing that Ishmael Haniyeh and the other Hamas leadership living in Qatar are each worth in the neighbourhood of 2 – 4 billion USD, and that the fighters in Gaza are safe in their international-aid-funded rabbit warren of tunnels. Many UNRWA schools seem to teach a curriculum about Israel and the Jews that would not have been out of place in Nazi Germany, and Hamas headquarters and processing centres have been found littered throughout UNRWA infrastructure in the Strip. And yet, close to two million people in the Strip depend on said infrastructure for distribution of life-saving foodstuffs (that often Israel itself is providing). And right at this moment, for both the Palestinian civilians’ benefit as well as Israel’s, that aid needs to keep going out. 

For people who are outside of the Jewish community, and whose awareness of the conflict has been limited to the last nine months, it can also be hard to reckon with an organization under the auspices of the UN being so morally bankrupt. Many Westerners were raised with faith in these institutions, and it can be hard for some to understand that the UN often demonstrates extremely problematic, biased and morally-deficient policies towards Israel. The UN is often given a veneer of neutrality and morality, even when its policies at times are anything but. While all of these things are true, one of the key facets that I think we should understand is how many people still understand the UN (including UNRWA) as an organization that acts to better the lives of others, and merely has a few bad-apples of its own. Should they be more educated about the extent of the rot? Absolutely. Should we write them off as Hamas supporters? Probably not.

So what is a moral person and people to do? When Ella Emhoff is being targeted by Jewish personalities online for encouraging people to donate to UNRWA, I understand the core moral impulse that lies underneath that position. UNRWA can turn its blind eye to workers participating in the October 7th attack, gun caches in its buildings, and wildly antisemitic policies of many of its staff for only so long, and only to its enormous discredit. But at the same time, one also has to understand the core moral impulse behind calls to restore its funding, by people who see a people on their knees, who view that the Palestinians are being collectively punished (by circumstances) for the actions of Hamas. While I may wish to see UNRWA discredited, defunded and disbanded, that feels like an imperative for a post-war period. For what it’s worth, I feel the same way about Bibi — I would like to see him removed from his position and held accountable for his many failures in the days and weeks leading up to October 7th, but I also feel like that’s something that cannot be done until the war is over. 

Ultimately, UNRWA and the debate surrounding it demonstrates a fundamental reality that Hamas capitalizes on: the more its people suffers, the more international antisemitism and antizionism proliferate. It’s not enough that Israel is blamed for the death of civilians put deliberately in harm’s way by Hamas. It’s not even enough that support for Israel is eroded by burgeoning casualties in a war that they neither wanted nor started. And when Jews and allies argue that anyone who donates to UNRWA is a terror apologist, as a result of the fact that Hamas is accommodated, protected and enriched by said organization, we are sometimes seen as morally bankrupt ourselves. Perhaps that’s even part of Hamas’ goal: it is in their interest, after all, to frame us as the ultimate aggressors and sole force behind Palestinians’ suffering. Maybe its systemic use of UNRWA infrastructure was always building up to a point where Israel would be forced advocate for its dissolution, with all of the negative associations that might come along with that.

We cannot control Hamas’ actions. We cannot control how the world reacts to them. But perhaps we can do one thing — understand and acknowledge the moral conundrum that groups like UNRWA present, and not immediately assume that those who call for others to donate it are in a pro-Hamas camp. Even if we think that they’re wrong.  

And maybe just leave Ella Emhoff alone.