Foreign Secretary announces UK will restore UNRWA funding

David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, has announced that the UK will restore funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

Under the previous government, funding was halted in January this year, following allegations that some UNRWA staff were involved with the Hamas terrorist organisation.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This is a deeply regressive and dangerous step. The UN and its agencies like UNRWA do not recognise Hamas as a terrorist organisation, which means that they are less inhibited in their activities and their hiring processes than they would be if they had to operate under UK law, which rightly does recognise Hamas as the antisemitic genocidal terror group that it is.

“UNRWA’s official educational curricula have promoted antisemitism and violence, referring to the Jewish state as the ‘enemy,’ teaching mathematics by counting ‘martyred’ terrorists, using phrases like “Jihad is one of the doors to Paradise” in grammar lessons, and more.

“UNRWA teachers have glorified terrorism and some UNRWA personnel have been found to be members of Hamas, and UNRWA schools and premises have been used as storage facilities for munitions and launching pads for rockets.

“UNRWA prefers to downplay its failures rather than address them, the body lacks proper oversight and has constantly faced allegations of corruption. If one wants to know how Gazan society became radicalised, start with its schools. They are run by UNRWA.

“It is not only disappointing but dangerous that David Lammy and the FCDO have chosen to restore funding to this nefarious organisation.”