And if nothing else serves to alert the world to the reality of the UNRWA camps, the steady toll of Palestinian casualties from “work accidents” – mishaps with explosives during the manufacture of terrorist bombs – at these places ought to pierce the illusions of even the most gullible foreign observers.
What should the United States do about this? Let’s start with the fact that the plentiful cash that flows from the United States Treasury to UNRWA (30 percent of the agency’s $400 million budget comes courtesy of American taxpayers) is actually a violation of U.S. law. The U.S. Foreign Assistance Act requires UNRWA to assure that American money does not go to terrorists. That is an assurance that UNRWA cannot credibly give.
Superficial reforms of the group won’t work. Given the almost complete infiltration of UNRWA’s bureaucracy by terrorist supporters, nothing short of a complete overhaul will do.
Can the plug be pulled on UNRWA? Given the current pressure on the Bush administration to mend fences with the Arab world, it’s unlikely. But if this cause gets a bipartisan push from Congress, it might help the White House focus on the way the agency is spending our money on reinforcing terrorist strongholds. Congress must follow up its legislation on aid to the PA with further hearings and action to halt subsidies to UNRWA.
Sadly, it may take another Palestinian terror offensive – in which UNRWA camps will again serve as bases for suicide bombings, shootings and rocket attacks on Israeli civilians – to remind the world of the “humanitarian” fraud it’s been subsidizing. Even then, the Palestinian propaganda machine, of which UNRWA is an integral part, will do its utmost to prevent the truth from being heard.
But Americans have no excuse for continuing to be complicit in this deception. We – the funders of this half-century-old UN fiasco – must face up to the fact that this monster must be decapitated and then rebuilt as a genuine humanitarian group.
That may seem like an impossible task. But if the pain and grief that UNRWA helps inflict on the region is to be stopped, both the White House and Congress must stop buying into the myths perpetuated by UNRWA’s lies.