Labor’s funding boost to UN’s Gaza ‘fanatics’ slammed

Teachers and principals working for an agency funded by Australia to the tune of $20 million have been accused of radicalism after social media posts emerged of them celebrating the October 7 massacres.

Exclusive: The Albanese government’s decision to increase funding to a UN relief agency working in Gaza has been slammed by a former Labor MP for “exacerbating fanaticism” after it was revealed that teachers working for the group had celebrated the October 7 attacks on Israel online.

According to a report released by UN Watch, a Geneva-based group that monitors UN spending, at least 20 teachers and staff members employed by the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) celebrated the massacres.

One Gaza teacher employed by UNRWA posted “Allah is Great, Allah is Great, reality surpasses our wildest dreams” as the massacre was taking place.

Another justified the massacre as “restoring rights” and “redressing” Palestinian “grievances.”

Others praised “martyrdom” and justified last month’s attacks, which killed between 1200 and 1400 civilians and saw around 200 more taken hostage, as “resistance”.

According to UN Watch’s analysis, which follows on previous reports detailing anti-Semitism and extremism by UNRWA workers, “it can reasonably be estimated that thousands of UNRWA employees would be implicated in supporting hate or violence.

A woman among thousands at a New York Stands With Israel vigil and rally. Picture: Getty Images

UN Watch also noted that UNRWA schools have for decades preached violence against Israel and have produced a number of notorious terrorists including Mohamed Deif, the commander of Hamas’s Al Qassem Brigades who is believed to have planned the October 7 attacks.

In 2022, Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced Australia’s annual contribution to UNRWA was doubling to $20 million.

Penny Wong oversaw Australia’s contribution to UNRWA doubling to $20m in 2022. Picture: NewsWire

At the time a spokesman said “UNRWA contributes to stability in a volatile region.”

In 2020, Australia’s contribution was slashed to $10m by the Morrison government.

Former Labor MP Michael Danby said “UNRWA was a UN agency whose existence perpetuates rather than eases Palestinian problems.”

“Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese are torching taxpayers’ money and exacerbating the problem of inciting fanaticism by blindly financing UNRWA,” he said.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said the Coalition had “regularly raised concerns” about the funding “given international concerns about the way programs it funds influence attitudes towards terrorism and Israel.”

“We have repeatedly, both before and after the Hamas attacks of 7 October, asked Labor to guarantee no Australian contribution to UNRWA has supported terrorist groups, promoted or celebrated attacks on Israel, or cultivated attitudes of anti-Semitism.

“Until the proper use of Australian taxpayer funding can be guaranteed the Coalition believes any funding should instead be directed into purely humanitarian assistance,” he said.

Colin Rubinstein, executive director of the Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, said: “There has long been ample evidence UNRWA is an organisation that employs terrorists, incites violence and educates towards hatred rather than tolerance.”

“The Australian Government’s decision in 2022 to double our annual contribution to it to $20 million dollars, without preconditions, was thus a counter-productive own-goal, as the last few weeks have demonstrated yet again.”

A spokesman for Senator Wong said, “UNRWA is the only UN body with the mandate to provide relief and social services to Palestinian refugees in the region.”
Australia’s Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territories has raised these latest allegations directly with UNRWA’s leadership, including our expectation for a prompt investigation.”