Earlier this month UN Watch, a Geneva-based NGO that monitors the United Nations (UN), released a report edited by Hillel Neuer, titled “Beyond the Textbooks: a Report Exposing UNRWA Teachers’ Incitement to Antisemitism and Terrorism.” The report documents 22 cases of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff promotion of terror and incitement against Jews and Israel in violation of the UN’s own policies. Following the release of the report, UN Watch called for UNRWA’s major funders, which includes the U.S., to pressure the organization to adhere to its own “zero tolerance” policy for racism, discrimination or anti-Semitism. The report is particularly timely because the Biden administration recently restored $240 million in aid to the agency, overturning a freeze on U.S. funding that had been in effect since 2018. The UN created UNRWA to provide humanitarian aid and services like public schooling to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza and the West Bank. The new report details 113 separate instances of UNRWA teachers and staff celebrating and promoting violence. Because the incidents were compiled only from what could be gathered on employees’ public Facebook pages, the number of UNRWA’s 30,000 employees who engage in incitement is estimated to be far larger. The instances listed in the report include an UNRWA teacher in the West Bank sharing a post to his Facebook page claiming Jews created COVID-19, control world finances, and seek to destroy Islam. In another example a math teacher in Gaza posted a photo of Hitler along with some of his “inspirational quotes” in order to “enlighten and enrich” her friends’ minds. In an agreement signed between UNRWA and the U.S. in July 2021 called the “Framework for Cooperation,” UNRWA condemned incitement to violence and anti-Semitism. It also committed not to support terrorism even indirectly and affirmed that per the UN’s Neutrality Framework its staff “cannot take sides in hostilities or engage in controversies of a political, racial or religious or ideological nature,” including on social media. The breaches of these frameworks documented in the UN Watch report could implicate future U.S. funding of UNRWA. The State Department’s FY22 budget proposal, which covers funding for UNRWA, includes provisions meant to prevent U.S. funds from being misappropriated by the agency. Before releasing UNRWA funds, the budget requires the State Department to report to the Senate Appropriations Committee on whether UNRWA is “acting promptly to address any staff…violations of…neutrality and impartiality.” In response to UN Watch’s report, UNRWA announced that it is investigating 10 UNRWA employees. The UN agency also suggested that in the past it has censured up to 40 employees for incitement. But UN Watch’s latest allegations in its report implicate more than 100 UNRWA employees. It is still to be seen whether UNRWA’s latest response will be enough to adequately address the longstanding, systemic problems within the agency concerning staff support for anti-Semitism and terrorism, and whether the agency will secure continued U.S. funding. Read the full report here.