Israel declares war on Hamas

[Manhattanboy]

Nm

[Azure]

OTTAWA – While many observers praised Canada for following suit with the United States in cutting funding for a contentious UN agency allegedly involved in Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks in Israel, many are wondering why it took so long.

Shimon Koffler Fogel, President and CEO of the Centre for Israeli and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), praised the move, saying they’ve been issuing warnings about the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for years.
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“We’re concerned about the fungibility of support directed by Canada to the agency, and ultimately where money goes and what it supports,” he said.

“There’s been a very long track record of not just of internal corruption within UNRWA, but there were a number of UN investigations of the agency and impropriety on the part of their staff — not just its local-hired staff, but the international UN staff that manages the organization.”

“But the fact now that you have a Democratic administration in Washington, Biden, that froze (funding), and now all the other countries have followed, particularly Canada. The evidence has been very clear — it’s something countries have ignored for many years, but now because of the direct connection with the brutality of Oct. 7, there’s a recognition that UNRWA cannot continue to function the way it has been up until now.”

Aurel Braun, a professor of international relations at the University of Toronto, said the accusations against UNRWA came as little surprise.

“We had so many warning signs about UNRWA,” he said.

“There were studies done by NGO Monitor and others that were rejected by Canadian diplomats, but the evidence is staring them in the face.”

The central question, Braun said, is why it took so long.

“Now, the evidence was so stark that there was clearly documentation that shows members of UNRWA were actually moonlighting as terrorists,” he said.

“It got the point where they just ignored the evidence, but it’s not as if the evidence wasn’t there, they didn’t want to see it. The evidence was hiding in plain sight.”

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada...-funding-pause

*crickets*

[Firebot]

Originally Posted by _Q_

Please enlighten us on what those textbooks contain and how an occupied people are supposed to love the people that occupy them.

https://unwatch.org/fact-checking-un...and-education/

https://www.impact-se.org/wp-content...94Jan-2021.pdf

Encouragement of violence, jihad, terrorism and martyrdom. UNRWA-produced material
frequently references, and sometimes directly reproduces, texts and phrases from the PA textbooks
that glorify violence and sacrificing one’s life and blood to defend the “motherland.” Such examples
include Arabic grammar exercises that use the language of jihad and sacrifice (see Example 3 in
“Selected Examples” below) and passages that celebrate known terrorists such as Dalal Mughrabi
(Ex. 1). In past statements, UNRWA officials have explicitly denied teaching students the sections
of the PA curriculum that discuss Dalal Mughrabi, making the inclusion of these passages even
more surprising and concerning.25 We were unable to find any direct condemnation of violence or
approach to resolve conflict within the UNRWA-produced material.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalal_Mughrabi

Intolerance, disrespect and demonization. UNRWA-produced material offers no examples of the
individualized Other and fails to provide alternative non-Palestinian narratives regarding historical
events. For instance, one example states that the goal of Zionism was to take Palestinian land for its
strategic value, while another references the Crusades as a war by “Europe,” waged arbitrarily
against Muslim lands (Ex. 18). The Jewish-Israeli Other is portrayed solely in a negative manner; no
objective information is provided about Israel or Jews which would serve to counterbalance such
portrayals. By denying “Other” narratives and failing to humanize them through individualized
accounts, UNRWA-produced material effectively obstructs attitudes of tolerance, respect and
understanding

https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/offic...l-materials-un

In the rush to continue students’ education uninterrupted, a very small amount of host-country provided material that the Agency had previously identified as not in line with UN values was mistakenly included. UNRWA deeply regrets that such material was disseminated and acted quickly to remedy the situation. As soon as the issue was identified, the Agency conducted a thorough review of the entirety of the self-learning material that UNRWA developed and took steps to ensure that only approved material was used going forward.

I mean the UNRWA even admits to it and just said oopsie those weren't meant to be there they just slipped in.


This has been a well documented issue with includes several reports from the US government including this one.

https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-19-448.pdf

UNRWA and State have taken steps to identify and address potentially
problematic content of textbooks used in UNRWA schools, such as maps that
exclude Israel.

There has to be an effort towards peace at some point and teaching is part of it.

[Doctorfever]

I don’t want to put words in someone’s mouth, but I suspect this is what Nage Waza was referencing in terms of “systematic”.

There doesn’t seem to be any desire for peace. At all. Especially with an incredibly young population without an opportunity to learn anything outside of what they are being told / taught.


But to be fair, there might be similar things happening on Israel’s side also. I don’t know.

[Firebot]

Originally Posted by Doctorfever

But to be fair, there might be similar things happening on Israel’s side also. I don’t know.

There very much is. The Zionist settler movement is similar and the Likud's party's original mandate bears extreme nationalism and a divine right to the land. Is it to the same extent in terms of indoctrining children? No, but it is also incorrect to see this as solely a Palestinian issue.

Q's video he posted is one of thousands similar. It is extremely tame compared to the many atrocities I have seen commited by Israeli soldiers. I am talking executions, torture, beatings followed by dancing (religious expression). Singing while slapping captives to get them to sing too. I have seen Israelis kick and laugh at dead bodies. There are sites and subreddits recording these as they occur. The shootings of the 3 Israeli hostages are not due to an outlying event. They were executed in cold blood with a white flag by Israeli soldiers who thought they were Palestinians

How Israeli soldiers act towards Palestinians are not very different from what I have seen of Russians towards Ukrainians.

Again, there is no sides to take here, just one towards less bloodshed and this must be a path taken and accepted by both sides. And I do not see it happening with the current leadership.

[Beninho]

Nm not worth it

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Firebot

https://unwatch.org/fact-checking-un...and-education/

https://www.impact-se.org/wp-content...94Jan-2021.pdf



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalal_Mughrabi



https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/offic...l-materials-un



I mean the UNRWA even admits to it and just said oopsie those weren't meant to be there they just slipped in.


This has been a well documented issue with includes several reports from the US government including this one.

https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-19-448.pdf



There has to be an effort towards peace at some point and teaching is part of it.

Like I said originally, if there are sources other than those from the Western global minority countries and media that can show that more than 0.04% of the UNRWA's workforce were part of unacceptable practices such as those that have been presented, then I 100% agree with pausing of the funding, but I have yet to read that more than the 12 people of a 30,000 person large organization were involved. We're talking about cutting funding from a group that provides relief to countries that need it the most, which yes, I know some don't agree, includes Palestinian CITIZENS (not the Hamas terrorists there) who suffer from constant terror and bombing in Gaza.

[Azure]

lol, shocking that you wouldn't believe that UNRWA has been corrupt for years, and that going back previous to 2010, there were tons of concerns about where the money was going.

But then again, you literally just said that being involved in a massacre is just 'unacceptable practice."

Looks like the ignore list is going to get another addition.

Carry on then with your delusional reality.

[Firebot]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Like I said originally, if there are sources other than those from the Western global minority countries and media that can show that more than 0.04% of the UNRWA's workforce were part of unacceptable practices such as those that have been presented, then I 100% agree with pausing of the funding, but I have yet to read that more than the 12 people of a 30,000 person large organization were involved. We're talking about cutting funding from a group that provides relief to countries that need it the most, which yes, I know some don't agree, includes Palestinian CITIZENS (not the Hamas terrorists there) who suffer from constant terror and bombing in Gaza.

Good grief.

Have you ever looked at the UNRWA donation list?

https://www.unrwa.org/how-you-can-he...funding-trends

TOP 20 GOVERNMENT DONORS IN 2022*
Donor Contribution US$ *
USA
343,937,718

Germany
202,054,285

EU
114,199,150

Sweden
60,969,987

Norway
34,180,677

Japan
30,152,202

France

28,909,838

Saudi Arabia

27,000,000

Switzerland

25,534,028

Turkey
25,199,080

Canada
23,713,560

Netherlands

21,189,038

UK
21,158,281

Italy
18,033,970

Denmark
15,885,970

Australia

13,797,995
Spain (including Regional Governments) **

13,592,803
Belgium (including Government of Flanders)

12,558,653
Kuwait (including Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development)

12,000,000
Qatar 10,500,000

Bolded and in red are countries that have suspended funding. Switzerland is still contemplating, the other countries have either continued support or have not made a statement yet (or one I could find). The UNRWA does not function without these funds.

Yet you are still clinging to the bad apple narrative this far in and using terms like the 'western global minority' What's your angle here?

Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

[blankall]

At this point I'm actually quite shocked that the response from the international community and the UN hasn't been harsher against Israel. The ICJ stated that Israel has a right to continue their military campaign. Countries like Finland, Iceland, Japan, Italy and the Netherlands have pulled their funding from the UNRWA.

It seems like there must be some nasty stuff from the October 7 attacks they haven't made public. The evidence against the UNRWA must also be pretty bad. It sounds like the EU and other organizations had been on the UNRWA's case for a while to clean up its act, and this may have been the final straw.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Western global minority countries and media...

What does that even mean?

[Bagor]

Meanwhile. The genocide continues.

We are dying slowly:’ Palestinians are eating grass and drinking polluted water as famine looms across Gaza

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/30/middl...ntl/index.html

[Zevo]

Fully on Hamas at this point. Could have seen a two month ceasefire but nope.

[Bagor]

Thats another great defence for the ICJ.

[Azure]

Pretty damning. 70 years of indoctrination.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1752493498576576969

[Fuzz]

Weiss said at the conference she's confident Gaza will soon be open for settlement.

"They [Palestinians] will leave. We don't give them food, we don't give them anything. They have to leave," she said in English. "The world will accept them."

Support for Gaza settlement growing fast in Israel

Although leaders of the Israeli left and centre condemned the event, Tel Aviv University's Peace Index poll last Wednesday showed that about 53 per cent of Jewish Israelis are in favour of the idea of settling Gaza — twice the number that support a two-state solution.

Numbers like those in the Peace Index poll suggest such an approach could have electoral success. Gloom about the war's stated goal of annihilating Hamas has led some to argue that the only way to seize victory is to crown the conquest of Gaza with a new plantation of Israeli settlers — that only when Palestinians see Jewish settlers living on the ruins of their former homes will they truly understand that Israel has won and they have lost.

The movement names its proposed settlements Neve Katif, or "New Harvest," in honour of the Gush Katif or "Harvest Bloc" settlements that Israel evacuated from southern coastal Gaza in 2005.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/isr...099090?cmp=rss

https://twitter.com/user/status/1747014832052711900


Looks like they are moving toward a sort of final solution here.

[Leondros]

Yikes, it feels like the direction this is going is that this is okay because "Hamas" and the pervasive nature of Hamas and how entrenched it is within the Palestinian people. Israelis will use this as a crutch to justify settling into Gaza and pushing Palestinians out. Pretty gross.

[Fuzz]

It's sad that Israel and their supporters can at the same time agree that young Palestinians are indoctrinated to hate, yet at the same time use collective punishment as the solution. These human beings don't stand a chance. So sad.

[Firebot]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/isr...099090?cmp=rss

https://twitter.com/user/status/1747014832052711900


Looks like they are moving toward a sort of final solution here.

Although leaders of the Israeli left and centre condemned the event, Tel Aviv University's Peace Index poll last Wednesday showed that about 53 per cent of Jewish Israelis are in favour of the idea of settling Gaza — twice the number that support a two-state solution.

It was a seminal moment for young settler radicals in Israel and some were ready to go to extremes. Israel's Shin Bet security service arrested and jailed four young radical settlers for allegedly plotting attacks on infrastructure.

One of those four detained settlers, Bezalel Smotrich, is today Israel's minister of finance.

I maintain that the population play a significant part in their government and bear responsibility. Netenyahu is in power today because more Israelis voted for the Likud party and other far right parties, Religious Zionist party (yes that's the actual name with Bezalel Smotrich as leader), Shas, United Torah Judaism, which make up the current government. Even the National Unity party joined the coalition in October

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

It's sad that Israel and their supporters can at the same time agree that young Palestinians are indoctrinated to hate, yet at the same time use collective punishment as the solution. These human beings don't stand a chance. So sad.

I don't agree with the policy of settling Gaza or any of the settlements that are happening, or the Zionist movement, or really any far right fundamental Israeli policies, parties or government actions, but I said on Oct 8 that the 2 state solution is no longer going to be a viable option as far as Israel is concerned and it no longer will just be the 'far right' who will think like that.

This is the price that will be paid because of a lack of proper oversight and accountability over what has happened in Gaza for the past 70 years.

Obviously there are many people at fault, but the entities that have poured money into Gaza through UNRWA while openly admitting that they knew it was going into the hands of Hamas, are who are really to blame here.

This has never been about helping the people of Gaza.

It has been about manipulation to enrich and enpower Hamas, whose primary purpose for existence is NOT to help the people of Gaza.

And that is one of the primary reasons the situation is as it is right now.

You are right, it is sad. And those that are responsible will never be held, responsible.