Germany freezes aid for UNRWA operations in Gaza, amid internal review
The wide German support for freezing funds came in light of findings that Palestinian learning materials were used to teach hate, glorify jihad and antisemitism
The German Development Ministry announced its entire aid budget to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) operations in Gaza will continue to be frozen, until further notice, as a result of its internal review of its Palestinian aid portfolio.
Germany has been the largest UNRWA donor over the last 5 years, the cross-party support for its cessation came in light of findings that Palestinian learning materials were used to teach hate, glorify jihad and antisemitism.
“With these conditions that urgently need to be changed, UNRWA is not making a contribution to a peaceful solution,” Human rights-focused politician Max Lucks, from the Greens party, stated, adding “Not a single cent from Germany should reach teachers who glorify the terror of Hamas.”
IMPACT-se led multiple policy meetings with the German government and legislature to raise this issue, presenting reports which showed Palestinian Authority (PA) schools celebrating the October 7 massacres, including UNRWA teachers and staff, in addition to learning material branded with the agency's logo that glorifies violent jihad, antisemitism and violence against Jews.
“The UNRWA system has ultimately failed because too little help reaches the people and too much terror against the Palestinians and Israel has become possible. We urgently need other ways to ensure that the help reaches those who deserve it for a better life prospect,” the human rights policy spokesman for Germany’s second largest party, Christian Democrat Union (CDU, Michael Brand said in the press release statement.
In addition to UNRWA, Germany funds a general operating budget for the PA’s Education Ministry which drafted its curriculum with hateful content. The funding is contributed alongside Norway, Finland and Ireland. The funding through a combined program of EU member states amounts to roughly $158 million annually.
“In my opinion, after the fighting has ended, a new initiative should be started that, on the one hand, guarantees Israel's security, but on the other hand also gives the Palestinians a real future. Such a new organization – whether with a UN or without – must also be accepted by states in the region and offer real alternatives. In my opinion, there cannot be a status quo ante with UNRWA,” German lawmaker Falko Drossman, from the largest Social Democratic Party (SDP), concluded in the statement.
The IMPACT-se report presented to the German government found “over 100 UNRWA graduates are Hamas terrorists who killed Israelis. At least 14 teachers and staff at UNRWA schools have publicly celebrated the October 7 massacre and other Hamas attacks on their social media accounts.”
The second report “documented how at least 11 schools predominantly run by the PA in the West Bank are openly and publicly celebrating the horrors of the October 7 massacre.”
“Germany is a key player in ending Palestinian hate education. The largest funder in its combined aid budget after the US, it has been reluctant until now to take this step. IMPACT-se warned for years that the result of Palestinian hate education, funded by the international community, will be disastrous. Sadly, this was the case. Now, all decent people need to make sure the hate teaching ends,” IMPACT-se CEO, Marcus Sheff, concluded.