A group of Republican Congressmen penned a letter to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.), Minority House Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), calling for the end of American funding for UNRWA, the UN organization that takes care of teh descendants of Palestinian Arab refugees.
The letter by nine Congressmen states, "As Congress works to pass government funding legislation, we write to encourage any appropriations bill that's to be considered for Fiscal Year 2025 to include a prohibition on funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency."
The letter cited the "disturbing number of UNRWA employees" who have been "proven to be Hamas operatives, family of Hamas operatives, or otherwise affiliated with Hamas or other terrorist organizations such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad."
It accused UNRWA of failing to "take any meaningful action" after evidence of many of its employees' terrorist ties was presented to it and of ignoring American legislation and warnings that it must "change its practices" and no longer continue "to allow the infiltration of terror into its ranks."
The letter concludes, "Unfotrunately, terror is woven into the fabric of UNRWA, and there is no hope for peace in the Middle East if UNRWA is allowed to continue to operate, which is why we call for a continued prohibition on providing federal funding for UNRWA in any upcoming Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bill."
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who initiated the letter, stated, “UNRWA, which had numerous employees participate in the horrific Oct. 7 attack on Israel, is more interested in fueling terror and supporting Hamas than it is in helping innocent civilians. The United States cannot be subsidizing an entity that unapologetically supports terrorist organizations like Hamas and works to destroy Israel.”