Free Republic

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Tuesday appeared to question the world body’s count of Palestinian refugees, the latest in a series of steps by the Trump administration challenging how relief aid is delivered to the Palestinians. In remarks at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank often sympathetic to Israel, Haley agreed with a questioner who suggested that the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA), which helps Palestinian refugees, overcounts their number. The United States earlier this year cut its aid to UNWRA to $60 million from a promised $350 million for the...

The Palestinians have been playing the long con with the "right of return" issue, which was always more of a fantasy than reality. They conned the UN for years about the number of "refugees," when in fact, the vast majority of Palestinians in refugee camps have no "right" to return to anything. Many were urged to leave by Arab leaders in 1948, others were abroad and never lived in Israel. the number of individuals considered Palestinian refugees today is a matter of intense debate. UNRWA, classifies Palestinian refugees as those who left Israel in 1948; those who left the West...

Workers have seized partial control of the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian Arab refugees and their descendants in Hamas-run Gaza, its head said Wednesday, accusing their union of "mutiny" over job cuts. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced last month more than 250 staff in Gaza and Judea and Samaria would lose their jobs, after a $300 million cut in annual funding from the United States. The redundancies have prompted daily protests by the agency's labour union in the enclave, which UNRWA's Gaza head said have led to security concerns. "They have taken over the...

Imagine being cut off from the world – for your whole life. That’s reality for children like Aya. The blockade of Gaza began when she was a baby, the occupation in the West Bank before her parents were born. Now she is eleven, and the blockade goes on. Aya’s childhood memories are of conflict and hardship, walls she cannot escape, and the fear that the only home she knows, however tiny, could be gone when she returns from school. This Ramadan, please help support children like Aya who have known nothing but conflict and hardship. Donate here: http://buff.ly/2qgsP0Y#forPalestinerefugees Yet neither...

After President Obama greased the wheels for the U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israel’s settlements policy, President-elect Trump tweeted that “things will be different after January 20th.” I didn’t vote for Trump, but for the sake of restoring some sanity to America’s Middle East policies, I fervently hope he fulfills that promise. To make a real difference, our next president needs to understand how the United Nations’ hostility to the Jewish state is rooted in perverse institutions that have been abetted by previous U.S. administrations. The most glaring example of this is the inaptly named United Nations Relief and Works...

The U.S. is the largest donor (pdf.) to The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), contributing $380 million in 2015.We previously have reported how UNRWA indoctrinates Palestinian children to hate Jews and incites violence, VIDEO – How UN Refugee agency teaches children to hate and attack Jews: We recently showed a video about how Palestinian incitement to violence is generated both top-down from the Palestinian Authority, and bottom-up through social media, VIDEO: No truly “Lone Wolves” in the Palestinian Knife IntifadaA newly released video expands on the problem of incitement.The United...

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' office claimed that White House Adviser Jared Kushner's reported efforts to limit UNRWA activities are "a continuation of the subversive plots to eliminate the Palestinian problem." A statement from Abbas' office emphasized the need to "oppose" and "foil" the US plan. It is believed that US President Donald Trump's proposed peace plan will remove the question of PA "refugees" from the negotiating table. The peace plan, the contents of which have not yet been revealed, was by the PA as "aiming to eliminate the Palestinian problem and negate all of the Palestinian nation's legitimate...

The UN special envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov on Tuesday urged U.S. President Donald Trump to resume funding he had cut to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN agency which assists “Palestinian refugees”. Addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East and quoted by Haaretz, Mladenov said that "UNRWA’s financial crisis remains a very serious concern. At present, UNRWA needs some $217 million to sustain its work in 2018. I urge the swift mobilization of support to enable the continuity of assistance and a maintenance of stability on the ground in the region."...

Colonel Richard Kemp: UN Encourages Terrorism Against Israel By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem, Israel — May 21, 2018 … Speech made by Colonel Richard Kemp at the emergency session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the deteriorating situation in Gaza on 18 May 2018. Col. Kemp, decorated for his bravery with the UN Protection Force in Bosnia, tells the United Nations Human Rights Council: “Your failure to admit Hamas is responsible for every drop of blood spilt encourages their violence and use of human shields, makes you complicit in further bloodshed.” VIDEO CAN BE VIEWED AT: http://israelnewsagency.com/un-terrorism-gaza-hamas-iran-jihad-human-rights-israel-idf/...

Classified report will bust myth that millions of Palestinians need UNRWA, sources say Congress is pressuring the State Department to release a long classified report on Palestinian refugees that insiders say could change the calculus on how the United States approaches the situation and allocates millions in taxpayer funds to a key United Nations agency, according to sources and a congressional letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Dozens of members of Congress have already signed on to an effort to force the release of this State Department publication, which sources say was originally classified by the Obama administration in...

The British government last year gave £20 million to Palestinian schools teaching a curriculum that a watchdog group says embraces jihad, omits references to peace agreements with Israel, and encourages martyrdom, the Sunday Times reported. A review by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) found that study material from the Palestinian Authority textbooks “exerts pressure over young Palestinians to acts of violence.” Among the ideas taught to pupils are the physics behind slingshots used to hurl rocks at Israel soldiers, the glorification of martyrs, and images that infuse ideas of war. “The curriculum exerts...

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for an "independent and transparent investigation" after 16 Gazans were killed and hundreds more wounded during clashes with the Israeli military, a spokesman said. The IDF has confirmed that at least ten of the 16 were terrorists. Guterres' call came as the UN Security Council heard fears of a further escalation in the violence in the Gaza during emergency talks. "The Secretary-General calls for an independent and transparent investigation into these incidents," said a statement by Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, which also reaffirmed "the readiness" of the world body to...

The Hamas-affiliated newspaper Felesteen reported that the head of the UNRWA workers’ union in Gaza, Amir al-Mishal, said in his speech to the demonstrators that “the people who gathered here came to express their right to return.” He added that “rights are not received with supplication, but must be obtained by force.” Mishal called on the international community to assume its legal, moral and humanitarian responsibility for UNRWA until the return of refugees to their land, homeland and homes. He praised the Palestinian Arabs who will participate in “peaceful” demonstrations on Friday and in the so-called large-scale “March of the...

The European Union (EU) on Friday issued a sharply worded statement in which it criticized the law that was approved this week in the Knesset, which allows the permanent residency of terrorists to be revoked. “This week, the Israeli Knesset adopted legislation which empowers the Israeli Minister of Interior to revoke the permanent residency status of persons involved in terrorism, treason or espionage,” the statement said. While the EU stressed it “rejects terrorism in all its forms”, it warned that “the new law could make the residency status of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a protected population under International Humanitarian Law,...

Hundreds of tents are to be erected near the Gaza-Israel border for a six-week protest, officials said Thursday, in what may stir fresh tensions with Israeli forces. Gaza families are to set up hundreds of tents -- possibly thousands - for the protests running from March 30 to May 15, organizers said. Protesters plan to call for the granting of a right of return for millions of so-called “Palestinian refugees” across the Middle East. Organizers said the families could stay in the tents for prolonged periods, with youth and community activities planned. The demonstration has the backing of all political...

Canadians urge government to halt funding of UN charity, following reports claiming money was diverted to anti-Israel organizations.Canadian citizens issued a call to their government to stop funding the United Nations charity, UNICEF, after it was reported that donations intended for educational purposes were instead given to BDS organization and activists around the world. The Canadian citizens signing the petition hail from Toronto, Mississauga, Niagara, and other areas of Canada. They are supporters and members of the ‘Lev HaOlam’ Organization which works to fight the BDS movement and the boycott on products from Judea and Samaria. The petition highlights how...

Israel is currently holding talks with 10 different nations over the possible relocation of their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely revealed Thursday... Hotovely told American Jewish leaders that Israel is currently engaged in talks with 10 different countries regarding the relocation of their embassies... Hotovely also discussed the politicization of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the Palestinian Authority leadership's use of what Hotovely termed "fake refugees" as a political weapon against Israel. "For the first time, the Israeli leadership is no longer willing...

President Trump hasn’t been pleased with the Palestinians’ refusal to consider compromises to achieve Middle East peace. So he’s decided to withhold tens of millions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer funding from the Palestinian Authority. And what answer does he get? The threat of terrorism. Bloomberg reported the recent threat to the United Nations Security Council from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who also demanded that Trump designate Jerusalem, which the president recognized in December as Israel’s capital, as a capital for “Palestine.” Abbas, who renewed a demand for a conference this year to seek a Mideast accord, has warned...

What’s today – Sunday? That’s the day Mahmoud Abbas threatened to cut off all ties with Israel. On Friday, he threatened to cut off all ties with the United States. On Thursday, he threatened to go to the Security Council to have Israel and the United States cut off from the United Nations. On Wednesday, he threatened to go before the ICC, International Criminal Court to have everybody cut off and arrested. On Tuesday, through his propaganda minister Saeb Erekat who told her to “shut up,” Abbas threatened to cut off all ties with Nikki Haley. On Monday, he threatened...

Unless Trump intends to humiliate himself and America and sell Israel down the river like his predecessors did, the peace process will not be resuscitated. On Tuesday in Bethlehem, the Palestinians demonstrated the choice the Americans now face in their dealings with Fatah – the supposedly moderate PLO faction that controls the Palestinian Authority and the PLO. President Donald Trump and his advisers can play by Fatah’s rules or they can walk away. On Tuesday a delegation of diplomats from the US Consulate in Jerusalem came to Bethlehem to participate in a meeting of the local chamber of commerce. When...