Asaf Romirowsky and Alex Joffe
Pundicity, Oct. 3, 2024
“UNRWA’s ties to terror go back decades, as do denials.”
There are few constants in American foreign policy. One of them is deference to UNRWA, the internationally funded welfare agency for Palestinians. This organization is implicated in terrorism. The news that Fateh Sherif Abu el-Amin, head of UNRWA’s teachers union in Lebanon and Hamas liaison to Hezbollah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut, is just the latest example.
As we approach the anniversary of Hamas’ horrific Oct. 7 massacre, things have gone from bad to worse. In an official document filed in a U.S. court, the UN — with support from the Department of Justice — has argued that UNRWA employees involved in 10/7 enjoy absolute immunity from prosecution, and the lawsuit should be dismissed.”
The U.S. has long followed the international community in placing UNRWA in a different and higher category, with untouchable funding, unvettable employees, and senior managers who illegally lobby in the U.S. for support. Now it argues that actual murderers should be immune from prosecution.
The U.S. has defined Hamas as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since Oct. 8, 1997. The Department of Justice’s new assertion that UNRWA employees have “absolute immunity” violates common sense and elevates international organizations above American law.
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