Members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) teaching and administrative staff celebrated Hamas’ massacre of 1400 Israelis and abductions on October 7th. UN Watch, a human rights organization that monitors the United Nations’ compliance with the principles of its own Charter, has just issued a blistering report exposing this scandalous endorsement of the actions of genocidal terrorists
For example, an UNRWA principal, Iman Hassan, praised the massacre for “restoring rights” and “redressing” Palestinian “grievances.”
An UNRWA teacher, Osama Ahmad, posted, “Allah is Great, Allah is Great, reality surpasses our wildest dreams” on the morning of October 7th as news of the genocidal attacks was spreading,
An UNRWA English teacher, Asmaa Rafiq Kuheil, posted, “7th, October, 2023! Sculpture the date!” To make sure that nobody missed the point, this Hamas supporter added a heart emoji to his post.
Another UNRWA English teacher, Mohammed A. Adwan, justified Hamas’ deliberate slaughter of the most Jews on a single day since the Holocaust as “resistance, regaining our rights and defending our land.” He propagated the blood libel that Israeli Jews are European colonizers who “occupy” the Palestinians’ homes and “displace our ancestors with massacres.” According to this false victimhood narrative, the Jewish people who live in Israel today have no historical connection to the land of Israel, the Jewish homeland where Jews have lived continuously for nearly 4000 years. This false narrative also castigates the Jewish inhabitants as white European “colonialists” – a racist accusation that ignores Israel’s actual demographics. A higher percentage of Israeli Jews today are categorized as Mizrahi (descendants of African and Middle Eastern Jews) than Ashkenazi (descendants of European Jews). Mizrahim, who were welcomed to reside in Israel and became Israeli citizens, were often fleeing persecution of Jews in the Arab lands where their families had lived for centuries. Arab countries, on the other hand, have been far less hospitable to so-called Palestinian “refugees.”
Mohammed Al-Shaikh Ali, who has identified himself as an UNRWA employee, posted an ominous warning on October 10th to any Gazans thinking of escaping Gaza to Egypt: “Anyone who talks about taking refuge in Sinai is a traitor, and such people, along with anyone who tries to flee to the south, should be treated the way we ought to treat traitors.”
An UNRWA Gaza psychological school counselor, Niveen Afana, posted her prayer the day after Hamas’ savage attacks on Israeli civilians: “Allah, have mercy on our martyrs, heal our wounded, free our prisoners, strengthen our mujahideen (holy warriors), and grant them victory over the unbelievers.”
These examples and others that UN Watch’s report describes of UNRWA staff’s hate speech, blood libel against Jews, and support for the Hamas terrorists are sickening but not unexpected, given UNRWA’s anti-Semitic track record. But this evil phenomenon is spreading throughout the world, including across America.
Even in New York City, home to the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel, public school teachers are spouting the same hate speech and demonization of Israel as the pro-Hamas UNRWA teachers do.
A Manhattan pre-K teacher, Siriana Abboud, for example, “offers social-media guides on how to talk to 4-year-olds about ‘land theft, displacement and ethnic cleansing,’” the New York Post reported. “She proselytized online that ‘teaching can never be radical or revolutionary, so long as you deny the ongoing and violent colonization of Palestine by Zionism’ and that early education can be a ‘tool for liberation.’” Abboud called Israel a “fascist ethnostate.”
New York’s Department of Education rewarded Ms. Abboud earlier this year with the Big Apple Award for 2023-2024 as a “liberation-inspired educator” who advocates “global consciousness.” The only “consciousness” she possesses is her hatred of Jews. The award entitles this anti-Semite to engage with the School Chancellor’s Teacher Advisory Council where she will have the opportunity to advocate for incorporating her blood libel against the Jewish State of Israel in citywide education policies and programs.
Ms. Abboud should not be anywhere near pre-K children with her poisonous ideas, let alone being in a position to influence any citywide education policies and programs. She should be required to forfeit her award and be kicked out of the School Chancellor’s Teacher Advisory Council.
