Interview on Iran’s Press TV discussing the brouhaha over several UNRWA employees’ involvement in the Hamas attacks of 7 October
As those of you who have watched mainstream television today are aware, Israeli allegations that several employees of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) participated in the 7 October Hamas attacks have taken prime position on the news bulletins.
In a discussion of these developments with Iran’s Press TV earlier today, I was given the opportunity to identify the attention being given to this scandal as intentional distraction away from the real news of the day which continues to be the genocidal activities of Israel in Gaza, with another 165 civilians reportedly murdered yesterday. This is not to say that those guilty of betraying their UN mission and aiding the Hamas attack should not be held accountable and punished. But their misdeeds must not take the world’s eye off the ball, which is to ensure the implementation of the judgment against Israel over its genocidal intentions in Gaza issued by the International Court of Justice in The Hague on Friday, and in particular to expand many times over the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians with immediate effect.
As I further mentioned in the interview, on this weekend we have marked three anniversaries that have great relevance to the tragedy now playing out in Palestine. First, Remembrance Day for the original Holocaust, meaning the genocidal destruction of European Jewry by Nazi Germany. Second, the ending of the blockade of Leningrad in WWII, which was, of course, one aspect of Germany’s genocidal policies with regard to Russia and caused the death of more than one million Russian civilians. Third, and unnamed in this interview, was the anniversary of the liberation of the detainees of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Red Army. These anniversaries are a strong reminder that Netanyahu and his government are abusing the memory of genocide to provide cover for their own present day atrocities.
See https://www.urmedium.net/c/presstv/128354
©Gilbert Doctorow, 2024
Postscript, 29 January: As several readers have commented, the decision by the United States, the U.K. and a number of other states to suspend contributions to UNRWA over Israeli allegations that 12 staff participated in the 7 October Hamas attacks out of a total employee headcount of 13,000 had significantly greater impact than stealing the headlines on yesterday’s news programs. The economic impact of these suspensions has been to virtually cut in half the funds available for the UNRWA activities not only in Gaza but in the broader region. It now appears that more than two million Palestinian refugees in Jordan, for example, will face hardship due to the funding suspension since they also are cared for by the same UNRWA programs.
Put another way, the Israeli accusations have been magnified by the USA and the vassals into a cruel punishment against Palestinians wherever they may be in revenge for the ruling last Friday of the International Court of Justice finding Israel guilty of intent to commit genocide in Gaza. That ruling, if implemented, would assure greater flows of aid to the Gaza Strip population. Now it may have the opposite effect of exposing them to still greater misery.