UNRWA\u2019s conduct in Gaza severely undermines the UN’s neutrality and credibility, and also violates the principles and spirit of UN Security Council Resolution 1373, Article 2 (ratified September 2001, shortly after the horrific September 11th attacks), that stipulates that all States shall: \u201c(A) Refrain from providing any form of support, active or passive, to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts, including by suppressing recruitment of members of terrorist groups and eliminating the supply of weapons to terrorists\u2026 (C) Deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts, or provide safe havens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0This refers to states, and surely also applies to UN agencies funded by the same states who supported this resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Matters are not so simple, as UN employees enjoys legal immunity. So in point of fact, Israel cannot prosecute them as of now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Article II Section 2 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations (1946): \u201cThe United Nations, its property and assets wherever located and by whomever held, shall enjoy immunity from every form of legal process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel could demand that the UN Secretary General exercise his authority to waive this immunity, or provide appropriate alternative modes by which to rectify the harm caused by UNRWA and compensate the families and civilians that were hurt by missiles fired at them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel could claim that the secretary general must waive UNRWA’s immunity on the grounds that the 1946 Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations (Article V Section 20) also states:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPrivileges and immunities are granted to officials in the interest of the United Nations\u2026 The Secretary General shall have the right and the duty to waive the immunity of any official in any case where, in his opinion, the immunity would impede the course of justice and can be waived without prejudice to the interests of the United Nations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0Giving safe haven to terrorists, it goes without saying, impedes the course of justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Israel could also claim UNRWA doesn\u00b4t enjoy immunity at all, as under Article 105(2) of the UN Charter, UN officials possess \u201csuch privileges and immunity as are necessary for the independent exercise of their function in connection with the Organization.\u201d In other words, this immunity is granted to them while they\u00b4re doing their job and not while they\u00b4re doing something else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some might believe that UNRWA’s role is to assist Hamas fight Israel and shoot missiles at civilians, but in fact, UNRWA\u2019s mandate as defined by UN General Assembly Resolution 302 (December 1949) is formulated thus: \u201cto prevent conditions of starvation and distress among Palestine refugees and to further conditions of peace and stability\u2026\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0UNRWA employees enjoy immunity only while doing their job according to the mandate granted to them by the UN General Assembly. We need to ask: Does this mandate include brainwashing children about the right of return? Does it include teaching boys and girls that Israel has no right to exist? Does it include demonizing Jews in general and Israel in particular ? It certainly doesn\u00b4t include handing over weapons to Hamas and targeting Israeli civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These criminals should be prosecuted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When dealing with UNRWA we need to remember that some employees of this UN agency are in fact war criminals. They assisted terrorists in targeting israeli civilians and they should be prosecuted. This is not only Israel\u00b4s interest, it is also the UN\u00b4s interest as UNRWA\u2019s conduct severely undermines the neutrality and credibility of the United Nations and endangers its future work.","protected":false},"featured_media":9313,"template":"","article-category":[527,525],"custom-tags":[538,593],"ppma_author":[49],"class_list":["post-9312","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article-category-kohelet-channel","article-category-publications","custom-tags-israeli-palestinian-conflict","custom-tags-unrwa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n