A Palestinian woman wears a Hamas scarf outside UNRWA Gaza Headquarters. (AP/Khalil Hamra)

UNRWA has a rich history of anti-Israel activities, including the recent exposure of incitement in school textbooks.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Danny Danon condemned the denial of Israel’s Jewish character in textbooks used by UN-operated Palestinian schools.

According to a new report from Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, textbooks used in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) removed references to Jewish municipalities in Israel, described Zionism as a foreign “colonial movement” and denied the historical and religious connections between Jews and Israel.

“This is just the latest example of anti-Israel incitement under the auspices of the United Nations,” Danon said of the UNRWA textbooks. “These textbooks refer to Tel Aviv as ‘Tel al-Rabia’ and the holy Western Wall and the Cave of the Patriarchs are portrayed as Muslim sites that the Jewish people are seeking to take control of. This is not how you make peace in the Middle East. This is how you raise another generation full of hatred and ready to use violence.”

Rich History of Anti-Israel Activities

The Israeli government and pro-Israel activists have long accused UNRWA of anti-Israel bias and, at times, open anti-Semitism.

A recent example of Jew hatred and incitement to violence was found on the social media threads of teachers employed by the international body.

Zia al Talouli, a teacher for UNRWA at Beit Hanoun Elementary School in Gaza, posted on his Facebook page a cartoon of a terrorist – whose face is masked with a keffiyeh – playing with a knife as though it were a violin, using a key (the Palestinian symbol for returning to their “homes” in the entire state of Israel) as a bow. The post was alongside a photo of Taloul with a group of young students, engaged in outdoor exercise.

UN Watch has published reports documenting social media posts by UNRWA employees calling for violence. Palestinian human rights activist and political analyst Bassem Eid has been warning for a long time about UNRWA’s dangerous connections to terror.

UNRWA was accused of working with Hamas during Operation Protective Edge, including using its schools for launching rockets at Israel.

By: JNS.org and United with Israel Staff