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Israelis Defend UNRWA Ban Amid US Rebuke, Say School Kids Better Off Without Agency’s ‘Poisonous Influence’
Security personnel work at the UNRWA headquarters, in Jerusalem, May 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Israel’s decision to ban the United Nations agency responsible for Palestinian refugees and their descendants from operating in the country was necessary given the organization’s ties to the Hamas terror group and “poisonous influence” in the Middle East, according to an expert and Israeli officials, who argued that concerns over the move are overblown.
The US blasted its ally Israel for passing legislation on Monday that bans the the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating within Israeli territory and prohibits any Israeli authority from engaging with the agency.
The two laws passed overwhelmingly in Israel’s parliament, known as the Knesset, amid mounting revelations of UNRWA staff involvement in the Hamas-led massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The legislation will close UNRWA’s operations in Jerusalem, where it services hundreds of thousands of Palestinians with education, health, and other aid. It will also limit the agency’s operations in Gaza and the West Bank, which relies on cooperation from Israeli authorities.
The Biden administration said it was “deeply troubled” by the move.
“Implementing the legislation risks catastrophe for the more than 3 million Palestinians who rely on UNRWA for essential services, including health care, and primary and secondary education,” the US State Department said. “We urge the government of Israel to pause and further consider implementation of this legislation to ensure UNRWA can effectively carry out its mission and facilitate humanitarian assistance.”
Marcus Sheff — CEO of the NGO IMPACT-se, which examines anti-Jewish and anti-Israel content in UNRWA’s educational materials — noted that numerous UNRWA-employed teachers were directly involved in the Oct. 7 massacre, while many others “openly celebrated it.” He cited a Wall Street Journal report from earlier this year that found that 23 percent of UNRWA’s male employees have ties to Hamas, a higher percentage than the average of 15 percent for adult males in Gaza. A further 10 percent of UNRWA’s school principals in Gaza and their deputies were leaders in Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group.
“These are not a few bad apples but representative of the whole rotten barrel,” Sheff told The Algemeiner.
Sheff downplayed the Biden administration’s warnings about potential “catastrophe” from shutting down the agency.
“Fifteen million refugee children are in school today around the world and 97 percent are being educated without the help of UNRWA. Even UNRWA head [Philippe] Lazzarini acknowledged that other aid agencies could replace UNRWA, but that the Palestinians refuse. So what can UNRWA possibly offer the next generation of Palestinians? More poisonous textbooks taught too often by extremist teachers?”
Sheff testified to a US congressional committee in January that textbooks supplied by UNRWA “teach that Jews are liars and fraudsters that spread corruption, which will lead to their annihilation. Students are taught about cutting the necks of the enemy, that a fire massacre of Jews on a bus is celebrated as a barbecue party.”
Fleur Hassan Nahoum, special envoy for Israel’s foreign ministry, assailed UNRWA’s “poisonous influence” in the Middle East.
“Eighty percent of the terrorists that committed the massacre on Oct. 7 were educated in UNRWA schools. And so not only do they not have legitimacy to do the work that they’re doing, they have actually been a poisonous influence in our region,” she told The Algemeiner.
Hassan Nahoum, who also served as deputy mayor of Jerusalem, said that the curtailing of UNRWA’s operations in the Israeli capital had already shown positive signs.
“In Jerusalem, by offering better opportunities with the Arab-Israeli curriculum, we have managed to move the needle by 20 percent of kids now abandoning the UNRWA school system and learning a curriculum of hope and opportunity,” she said.
UNRWA on Thursday confirmed that a Hamas Nukbha force commander killed in an Israeli strike a day earlier was a staffer. Muhammad Abu Attawi led the killing and abducting of hostages, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, from a roadside bomb shelter near the site of the Nova party in Re’im in southern Israel.
Attawi’s name appeared in a July letter that Israel sent to the Palestinian refugee agency, listing more than 100 staff members affiliated with terror groups, including Hamas. An Israeli foreign ministry official said the list was a “small fraction” of the total number of terrorists employed by the UN agency, but that the full list could not be disclosed out of security considerations.
CCTV footage captured the body of Yonatan Samerano, who was murdered by terrorists on Oct. 7, being dragged by an UNRWA social worker, Faisal Ali Musalem al-Naami, and eventually stuffed into an UNRWA marked vehicle.
Last month, Hamas confirmed that Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amin, the chairman of UNRWA’s Teachers’ Association, served as its commander in Lebanon.
In a recording released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) earlier this year, UNRWA teacher Youssef Zidan Suleiman al-Hawajara is heard bragging to a friend: “We have female hostages; I captured one!”
Following the Oct. 7 attack, 18 countries suspended their funding to UNRWA, including the US, which contributes about a third of the agency’s budget, but resumed the flow of money again in March.
In 2018, the Trump administration cut all funding to UNRWA, calling the agency “irredeemably flawed,” a decision reversed by the Biden administration soon after taking office.
Israel has long called for permanently shuttering UNRWA, citing the agency’s ties to terrorism as well as its mandate, which according to Israeli officials perpetuates the conflict. Palestinian refugees are unique in that they pass their status to descendants, regardless of their age and country of residency, a practice Israel claims fuels demands for a “right of return.” The return of over 5 million Palestinians to Israel would destroy the Jewish state by demographic means, critics argue.
UNRWA faced scrutiny in 2019 when a leaked report accused its leadership of corruption, sexual misconduct, and mismanagement. The agency’s own report found that Palestinian terror groups had stored weapons in several empty UNRWA schools in Gaza and that rockets were “probably” fired at Israel from two of these schools during the 2014 Israel-Hamas conflict.
Speaking ahead of a Security Council meeting on Monday, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said, “There is no longer any plausible deniability regarding UNRWA’s infiltration by terrorists. Nor are there any excuses left.”
The post Israelis Defend UNRWA Ban Amid US Rebuke, Say School Kids Better Off Without Agency’s ‘Poisonous Influence’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Alleged NYC terror plotter moved to Montreal detention pending extradition hearing
Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, the 20-year-old Pakistani national who was arrested by the RCMP in Quebec on Sept. 4 about 20 kilometres from the U.S. border while allegedly en route to conduct an attack on Jews in New York City, has been moved to a prison in Montreal.
Khan is alleged to have devised a plot for the large-scale murder of Jews on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel and on Yom Kippur, in support of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) terrorist group. According to U.S. Justice Department documents, Khan communicated to undercover agents that “if we succeed with our plan this would be the largest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.”
Khan, also known as Shazeb Jadoon, was arrested and detained in Rimouski, 550 km east of Montreal, until his Dec. 19 transfer. The Mississauga, Ont., resident speaks no French, and his lawyer said he could not work with his client while he was held there, where he could not help him understand government documents, and the suspect could not communicate with French-speaking prison guards.
He appeared briefly at the Montreal courthouse Friday morning and will return to Superior Court on Jan. 17, when a date will be set for an extradition hearing. Ottawa agreed to a U.S. extradition request for Khan to stand trial in the Southern District of New York on charges of attempting to provide material support and resources to a foreign terrorist organization. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Khan arrived in Canada in June 2023 on a student visa, Immigration Minister Marc Miller confirmed a week after the arrest, which was pursuant to section 495 of Canada’s Criminal Code: attempting to leave Canada to commit an offence for a terrorist group, participating in the activities of a terrorist group, and conspiracy to commit an offence by violating United States immigration law.
He was then re-arrested on a provisional warrant under the Extradition Act as Canadian authorities were uncertain whether they could detain him based on existing evidence.
“The news of threats to the Jewish community is alarming,” read an RCMP statement. “We will not tolerate any form of threats, harassment or violence targeting Jewish communities. The RCMP continues to work in collaboration with our domestic and international partners to detect, investigate and disrupt criminal acts that are targeting Jewish communities.
“With the strong partnership between Canada and the U.S. we can reassure the public that as his actions escalated, at no point in time was Khan an immediate threat prior to his arrest.”
According to the U.S. Justice Department complaint drawn up by an FBI counterterrorism agent, Khan planned to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons to carry out a mass shooting at Chabad locations. Authorities say he began posting on social media and communicating with others around November 2023 on an encrypted messaging application about his support for ISIS, when he allegedly distributed ISIS propaganda videos and literature.
He then began communicating with two undercover law enforcement officers, the complaint reads. “During those conversations, Khan confirmed that he and a U.S.-based ISIS supporter had been planning to carry out an attack in a particular U.S. city. Among other things, Khan said that he had been actively attempting to create ‘a real offline cell’ of ISIS supporters to carry out a ‘coordinated assault’ using AR-style rifles to “target Israeli Jewish chabads… scattered all around” the city.
According to the document, Khan envisioned teams launching three attacks simultaneously “on diff[erent] locations maximizing casualty count” and repeatedly instructed undercover agents to obtain assault rifles, ammunition and “some good hunting [knives] so we can slit their throats,” identifying specific locations where attacks would take place.
He also instructed them to acquire burner cell phones and allegedly provided details about how he would cross into the United States. During conversations with the agents, he allegedly emphasized that Oct. 7 and 11 were the best days for targeting Jews “because ‘Oct 7 they will surely have some protests and Oct 11 is yom kippur’.”
The complaint alleges that, just a few weeks after the Hamas attack in Israel, he was posting support for jihad and images of weapons. The FBI also says Khan boasted that New York is perfect to target Jews because it has the “largest Jewish population In america” and, therefore, “even if we dont attack a event [sic], we could rack up easily a lot of jews.” Khan then allegedly proclaimed, “We are going to nyc to slaughter them,” and sent a photograph of the area he envisioned for the attack.
Khan attempted to reach the U.S-Canada border using three separate cars before being apprehended in Ormstown, after officers from different police forces followed him from the Toronto area.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland thanked Canadian law enforcement for their assistance, adding “Jewish communities—like all communities in this country—should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fueled terrorist attack.”
The post Alleged NYC terror plotter moved to Montreal detention pending extradition hearing appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Israel for First Time Claims Responsibility for Killing of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran
Iranians attend the funeral procession of assassinated Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 1, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Monday acknowledged for the first time that Israel killed Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
“These days, when the Houthi terrorist organization is firing missiles at Israel, I want to convey a clear message to them at the beginning of my remarks: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran’s defense systems and damaged the production systems, we have toppled the Assad regime in Syria, we have dealt a severe blow to the axis of evil, and we will also deal a severe blow to the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen, which remains the last to stand,” Katz said during an event honoring defense ministry personnel.
Israel will “damage their strategic infrastructure, and we will behead their leaders. Just as we did to Haniyeh, [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar, and [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon [respectively] — we will do it in Hodeidah and Sana’a,” Katz continued. “Whoever raises a hand against Israel will have their hand cut off, and the long arm of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will strike them and settle the score.”
Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis are all internationally designated terrorist organizations backed by Iran. Katz’s comments came after the Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv over the weekend. The Houthis have also been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea for more than a year, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and will prevent all ships from heading to Israeli ports.
Haniyeh, the exiled political chief of Hamas, was killed in an explosion in Iran’s capital city on July 31. Iran had accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and vowed revenge; however, for months the Israeli government had neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Haniyeh’s death.
Haniyeh was based in Qatar and had been the face of Hamas’s during the Israel-Hamas war, which the Palestinian terroris group launched with its invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7.
Following Haniyeh’s death, Sinwar was named the terrorist group’s overall leader after being its top official in Gaza. Sinwar, who masterminded the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in October.
The post Israel for First Time Claims Responsibility for Killing of Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Should Scare Every American’: Top Trump Adviser Mike Waltz Explains Dangers of Iran Getting Nuclear Weapons
US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) speaks on Day 1 of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, July 15, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mike Segar
US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), who was recently tapped to serve as the White House national security adviser for the incoming Trump administration, outlined in a new interview why Iran’s nuclear program could pose a major threat to the United States and must be stopped.
During an interview with Daily Wire co-founder and conservative podcast host Ben Shapiro, Waltz said that his constituents often do not understand how Iran’s nuclear ambitions impact American interests. The lawmaker explained that Iran obtaining nuclear weapons could kick-start an arms race and geopolitical firestorm in the Middle East, potentially forcing the US to become more involved in the region militarily.
“No. 1, if Iran gets a nuke, the Saudis are going to want a nuke, the Turks are going to want a nuke, and the Middle East exploding, not literally but figuratively, in a nuclear arms race should scare every American,” Waltz said.
Though Waltz conceded that nuclear proliferation in the Middle East would not necessarily result in “World War III,” he asserted that it would be “catastrophic for the world.”
The lawmaker added that a nuclear-armed Iran would endanger Israel, which he described as America’s “critical ally, morally and historically and geopolitically,” and that the US should take threats by Iranian leadership to eliminate Israel seriously.
“We should believe [Iran’s so-called ‘supreme leader,’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] who intends to wipe Israel off the face of the earth if they have nukes,” Waltz said.
Waltz also praised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for “exposing Iran’s air defenses so that they literally are naked right now and on their back foot.” He appeared to be referring to Israel’s precision airstrikes on Iranian military and air defense sites in October which devastated the regime’s air-defense system and ballistic missile program. The strikes were in response to Iran’s ballistic missile barrage against Israel weeks earlier.
Waltz went on to say that the incoming Trump administration plans on “hitting” Iran’s finances throughout the Middle East and stopping the flow of money “out of Tehran into Beirut and into [Iran’s] proxies in Syria.”
Iran has supported several terrorist proxies throughout the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon — both of which have been devastated by Israeli military operations in recent months. The Iranian regime also backed the recently ousted Assad regime in Syria, where Israel launched limited operations to ensure security at its northeastern amid uncertainty about Syria’s future.
“I hope that all of this has Hamas so isolated. They really thought the cavalry was coming from the north with Hezbollah. Now, that has been shown not to be true; Hamas has every exit blocked except one, and that is to release our hostages if you want to live,” Waltz said.
Harsh US sanctions levied on Iran under the Trump administration from 2017-2021 crippled the Iranian economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. US President-elect Donald Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.
US intelligence agencies have for years labeled Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, noting it devotes significant sums of money and weapons each year to supporting proxies across the Middle East such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
The post ‘Should Scare Every American’: Top Trump Adviser Mike Waltz Explains Dangers of Iran Getting Nuclear Weapons first appeared on Algemeiner.com.