JOURNALIIST
Why no response: Offer to share investigations of UNRWA with AIPAC
One of the foci of the Center for Near East Policy Research, CFNEPR, which I have directed since the retirement of Dr. Arnold Soloway z”l in 2005, remains the issue of UNRWA, of which we film and publish investigations for the media and for elected officials.
Our 29 year inquiry into UNRWA policy has directly led to the US government GAO full scale investigation into UNRWA ties with organizations designated by the US as terrorist organizations.
Our offer, this year, was to fly over Jewish and Arab experts on UNRWA to brief 2017 AIPAC conference with our latest investigations of UNRWA, on film and with hands-on documentation.
Since the US allocated $400 million to UNRWA — one-third of the UNRWA budget — this is an American issue that would concern every member of AIPAC.
We held successive meetings with AIPAC staff in Jerusalem, yet never received an answer as to why the Center for Near East Policy Research would not be allowed to provide a briefing for AIPAC conference members at its conference.
We did get a call this week from a prominent elder statesman of AIPAC, who was called in by the US State Department and told by State that UNRWA had reformed its school system and that UNRWA now promotes peace and reconciliation.
Not much different from the Obama administration line from exactly one year ago on the same subject.
At that time, Guy Lawson the head of PRM, the Dep’t of Population Refugees & Migration who oversees PA/UNRWA US State department policy, personally met with me and reassured our agency that the US State Department had evaluated the PA textbooks used in UNRWA schools and that they met standards of peace education.
However, CFNEPR verified that no such evaluation ever occurred and that State Department instead issued orders to US AID not to examine the PA school books used in UNRWA school.
Our response was to purchase all educational content used by UNRWA and to hire two PhD’s to translate the material and two Arab experts to evaluate the material. .
The executive summary of UNRWA education speaks for itself.
We also commissioned a study which confirmed current terrorist domination of UNRWA .
These are our films which AIPAC members could have seen this week:
It should be noted that the Israel Minister of Defense has taken the unprecedented move of making demands that UNRWA must crush Hamas Activity.
Israeli intelligence assesses that UNRWA fears that the US Congress may take action against Hamas.
Over the past few weeks, UNRWA inadvertently admitted that Hamas officials are on its staff, something that our office uncovered and warned about for the past 14 years:
Virulent anti-Semitism which emanates from UNRWA is worse than ever.
There are initiatives now pending in the US Congress to condition further US Aid to UNRWA on a cessation of UNRWA anti-Semitic policy.
However, key members of the US Congress people have informed us that AIPAC will not support that legislation, a stand which essentially kills the initiative to put a stop to the efforts of UNRWA to instill anti-semtic fervor in the hearts and minds of the 492,000 students who learn in UNRWA schools.
It has come to our attention that AIPAC may follow the lead of the Israel Civil Administration, which pays no attention whatsoever to the anti-semitism that is promulgated by UNRWA. The Middle East Forum study on why AIPAC influences the US Congess to not act against UNRWA speaks for itself.
Unanswered questions to AIPAC:
Why would AIPAC not allow CFNEPR to conduct a briefing to share our research, films and studies of UNRWA with AIPAC conference participants?
Why does AIPAC not support new legislation to condition US Aid to UNRWA on a cessation of anti-Semitism?
—
Become a member, patron or sponsor of The Center for Near East Policy Research
Related Topics
