Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and a group of her fellow Republicans are trying to stop the United States from continuing to provide funding to a U.N. group in the Gaza Strip whose staff has incited violence against Jewish people, after that the Biden administration has already channeled more than $730 million to the organization.
Senate Republicans this week introduced a bill to block funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has been accused of creating anti-Semitic school curricula for students in the Palestinian territories of Gaza and West Bank, as well as ignoring terrorists. activities at their facilities.
The funding would be restored after Iran, the country that supports and finances Hamas, is “expelled from the UN and investigated for violations of the genocide convention,” Blackburn said earlier this week.
“All this money should be blocked,” Blackburn told The Post in an interview during which he criticized Biden’s decision to unfreeze billions in Iranian assets as part of a prisoner swap last month.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Republican senators seek to stop U.S. funding to a U.N. group in the Gaza Strip that has hired staff who have incited violence against Jewish people.Getty Images
“The $6 billion should be blocked. Sanctions should be implemented,” Blackburn said. “Even last week we saw aid arriving in Gaza. Who ended up with that help? “It was Hamas.”
The Tennessee Republican also referenced that UNRWA had “hired people affiliated with Hamas” and had allowed its facilities to be “used to store weapons and ammunition” for the jihadists, who killed more than 1,400 people on October 7. in a surprise attack in southern Israel.
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, the Hamas massacre was also the worst attack against Israel in its 75-year history, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war on the terrorist group.
Senate Republicans this week introduced a bill to block funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which has been accused of harboring terrorist activities. AFP via Getty Images
UNRWA has hired educators who “regularly call for the murder of Jews” and teach from textbooks “that glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis and incite anti-Semitism,” according to a March report by the non-governmental organization UN Watch and the Israeli nonprofit organization. Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education.
Since the United States cannot legally fund the Palestinian Authority or Hamas, the Biden administration has given most of its funding to UNRWA, which serves millions of refugees in the West Bank and Gaza.
The Trump administration defunded the group in 2018, calling it a “hopelessly flawed operation.”
“All this money should be blocked,” Blackburn told The Post in an interview, while also criticizing Biden’s decisions to unfreeze billions in Iranian assets as part of a prisoner exchange.
But Biden reversed that decision, opting to funnel hundreds of millions to the organization through his administration since taking office in 2021.
“You would think he would have kept in place the things he [former President Donald] “Trump had implemented measures that were really working on the global stage,” Blackburn also told The Post. “Not only did he re-fund them after Trump stopped that money, but he also increased that money.”
“I think what you have in this administration are people who are sympathetic to some of these organizations,” he said. “They believe that some of these terrorist organizations can be appeased. “You can’t negotiate with them.”
UNRWA has hired educators who “regularly call for the murder of Jews” and teach from textbooks “that glorify terrorism, encourage martyrdom, demonize Israelis and incite anti-Semitism.”
“If you invest money in some of these organizations like UNRWA, that money will end up in the hands of Hamas. Hamas is not there to provide humanitarian aid to the inhabitants of Gaza, Hamas has in its charter its goal to destroy Israel,” according to Blackburn.
Biden’s State Department approved grants to UNRWA and other organizations in the Palestinian territories, raising concerns among experts who told The Post that there are few “guardrails” to prevent money from getting into the wrong hands.
A 2021 State Department memo also shows that U.S. officials were aware that there was “a high risk that Hamas could derive indirect and inadvertent benefits from U.S. assistance to Gaza,” the Washington Free Beacon previously reported.
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, the Hamas massacre was also the worst attack against Israel in its 75-year history, prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war.
In a speech Thursday night in the Oval Office, Biden called on Congress to approve $14 billion in emergency funding for Israel amid its war with Hamas, along with $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine as it The Russian invasion of that country is approaching its second anniversary.
The president said “time is of the essence” to approve the request, calling it “a smart investment that will pay dividends for American security for generations.”
Blackburn said Biden’s comments “were insufficient for the challenge ahead.”
“The $6 billion should be blocked. Sanctions should be implemented,” Blackburn said. “Even last week we saw aid arriving in Gaza. Who ended up with that help? “It was Hamas.” Republican Senate
“Getting aid to Israel should be a priority,” Blackburn said. “I think it was also disappointing, listening to her speech, that she never drew attention to Iran.”
“It did not persecute them for being the largest State sponsor of terrorism,” he continued. “He did not denounce Hamas or Hezbollah or these terrorist organizations that are proxies for Iran.”
“He did not implement oil sanctions on Iran, which would prevent Iran from accessing money to finance terrorism and the buildup of nuclear weapons.”
Republican Sens. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Marco Rubio of Florida, Katie Britt of Alabama, Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah are also calling on Biden to stop funding the U.N. group. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock
Republican Sens. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Marco Rubio of Florida, Katie Britt of Alabama, Rick Scott of Florida and Mike Lee of Utah have joined Blackburn in calling for an end to funding for the U.N. group.
He stressed that members were seeking to “build bipartisan support” for the bill, as well as greater aid to Israel.
In a separate letter with 19 other Republicans, Blackburn also calls on the Biden administration to ensure that the $6 billion in Iranian assets are retained.
The Treasury Department tried to reassure Blackburn and other lawmakers earlier this week by telling them that Qatari officials, who are currently in possession of the funds, would not let the assets out of their control.
Republican lawmakers are not the only ones calling for defunding UNRWA. Republican presidential candidates Doug Burgum and Nikki Haley have also advocated for the Biden administration stop sending funds to the organization that “fuels hatred against Israel.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn