The U.N.’s War on Israel While the International Court of Justice dignifies a blood libel, Unrwa has to fire staff over Oct. 7.
What a day for the United Nations. Its International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a preliminary ruling Friday in South Africa’s case against Israel that managed to be both outrageous and meaningless. At the same time, its special forever-refugee agency for the Palestinians, Unrwa, had to fire staff accused of involvement in Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre. Our global moral beacon in action.
The ICJ tribunal indulged South Africa’s genocide libel by going ahead with a trial and trashing Israel for self-defense against Hamas. But the justices rejected Pretoria’s request to order Israel to stop the war. The court instead instructed Israel to prevent acts of genocide, punish incitement and facilitate aid to civilians—which Jerusalem is already doing. Israel will have to report back in a month, and the court could take years to decide on the merits.
As law professor Eugene Kontorovich writes, “That’s Jewish joy—they defamed us, treated us like no other democracy, undermined our right to self-defense, put the victim on trial—but it could have been worse!” All true, and an order to halt the war while Hamas holds territory and 136 hostages would have put Israel in a tight spot.
The U.N.’s credibility is also on trial, especially through Unrwa, whose reports the court relied on. After Israel brought evidence that 12 Unrwa employees participated in the Oct. 7 attack, the U.S. State Department announced on Friday a pause in funding to the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee agency pending investigation.
A new U.N. Watch report, to be released and discussed in Congress on Tuesday, shows “how a Telegram group of 3,000 UNRWA teachers in Gaza celebrated the October 7th Hamas massacre.” The message group’s administrators, identified by name and Unrwa contract number, are seen praising Hamas’s “holy warriors” and praying for them to murder Israelis: “O God, tear them apart,” “kill them one by one,” “leave none of them behind,” “execute the first settler on live broadcast.” One urged that Gazans stay in place to help Hamas.
Hamas’s fighters “imbibed jihad and resistance with their mothers’ milk,” an Unrwa elementary-school teacher cheered. And with U.S. tax dollars, he could have added.
Unrwa has kept Palestinians in permanent refugee camps, which have become terrorist-incubators with third- and fourth-generation refugees who are educated to expect a victorious return to take over Israel. The U.N. agency for all other refugees helps them build new lives. Unrwa alone has a mandate to perpetuate refugee status that freezes a conflict in place.
The Biden Administration, which lauded Unrwa last week, may seek to ward off scrutiny with the funding pause. But there’s more to be done. Gaza will never be a peaceful refuge as long as its friends at the U.N. keep using it for anti-Israel purposes. Unrwa as it currently works doesn’t deserve U.S. support.
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