The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has placed six employees on administrative leave following an NGO report implicating them in inciting violence against Jews, Israel Hayom learned Thursday.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
A recent review of UNRWA operations in Palestinian schools funded by donor states to the agency by UN Watch found that six teachers had repeatedly and publicly called to murder Jews.
The Geneva-based NGO, the stated mission of which is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter," demanded the six be fired.
"Teachers who call to murder Jews must be barred from the classroom for life," UN Watch chief Hillel Neuer said in a statement. "These temporary suspensions are just a slap on the wrist."
"UNRWA is trying to pretend they solved the problem, even as they signal to their staff – and to terrorist organizations like Islamic Jihad which pressed UNRWA to reject the UN Watch report – that they don't really object to the virulent antisemitism of their teachers, which UNRWA and its donors know pervades the agency," Neuer said.
"We have now exposed more than 120 UNRWA teachers and other staff who praise Hitler, glorify terrorism and spread antisemitism, and UNRWA has not given the name of a single one who has been fired," he added.
UNRWA's first reaction was to try to discredit UN Watch, calling in a "politically motivated organization" that tries to "delegitimize the work of the agency. UNRWA is an agency fully committed to upholding United Nations principles and values and has a zero tolerance to hate speech and incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence."
The agency's Deputy Commissioner-General Leni Stenseth added, "The actions of this organization and the coordinated comments by satellite organizations, demonstrate yet again the real intent. They seek to destroy, not build, to invite conflict, not build a lasting peace."
In a statement published on its website, UNRWA said that its senior executives briefed donor states about "allegations of hate-speech recently levied against several Agency staff members" which it said "were timed to disrupt the annual UNRWA pledging conference at United Nations headquarters in New York."
According to UN Watch, the suspensions sparked outrage from Palestinian groups.
A coalition that includes the PA, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, known as the Joint Committee for Palestinian Refugees, called on UNRWA "to immediately rescind its procedure of suspending six employees, and not to respond to US-Israeli pressures and dictates."
Walid Al-Awad, head of the Palestinian National Council's refugee committee, said UNRWA's suspension of six teachers was "unacceptable and must be dropped immediately."
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, Canada and the European Union, demanded the teachers' suspensions be reversed, saying it "will not in any way allow UNRWA's acquiescence to Zionist pressure and incitement."
Israel has been very critical of UNRWA's operations, accusing the agency of anti-Israel bias and of perpetuating the Palestinian refugee narrative.
The agency's data has also come under question, as many studies have found that it is inflating the number of Palestinian refugees worldwide it claims to represent.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
