As the United States ends funding for the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Germany is boosting the aid for the organization. Germany plans to pay a ‘substantial’ amount to offset the shortfall of estimated $217 million created by cutting of the aid by the U.S., German weekly Der Spiegel reports.
According to Der Spiegel, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has ordered “additional funds of substantial amount” to be allocated to bailout the troubled UN agency. He also urged the European Union and other countries to raise their contributions in order to build “a sustainable finance basis for the organization.”
On Friday, the State Department announced an end to all funding for the UN agency, saying the U.S. “was no longer willing to shoulder the very disproportionate share.” Describing the UNRWA as an “irredeemably flawed operation,” the department accused the organization of “endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries”, thus making it “simply unsustainable.”
Earlier this week, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, had slammed the Palestinian leaders for their hypocrisy. “The Palestinians continue to bash America,” Haley said, while “they have their hand out wanting UNRWA money.”
The UNRWA spends over $1 billion annually and the U.S. contributed nearly 30 percent of that budget. In January, President Donald Trump announced his decision to allocate $60 million this year, significantly less than $360 million Obama administration gave in 2016.
Weekly Der Spiegel reported the Merkel’s government decision to boost the UN Palestinian agency’s funding:
In January, the United States ended the funding for the UN’s Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Additionally, the White House is reportedly considering to deny the refugee status to millions of Palestinians. The German government wants to support the Palestinian aid agency in a significant way.As inferred from the communique of the German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (Social Democrat), “additional funds of substantial amount” are being arranged. And as it would not be sufficient to fill the deficit of $217 million, or €186 million, the European Union should undertake further action.According to Maas, the UNRWA plays a critical more in providing for people and is of great significance for the stability in the region. The breakdown of the organisation could trigger an “uncontrollable chain reaction.”Germany has already set aside €81 million for UNRWA, Maas confirmed. The communique of the Social Democratic politician did not specify how much more money would be allocated. [Translated by the author]
The Trump administration had tied the aid to much-needed reform of the UNRWA. The UN agency has been accused of allowing its facilities and resources to be used to indoctrinate Palestinian children in ideologies of Islamic terrorism and antisemitism.
“UNRWA has proven time and again to be an agency that misuses the humanitarian aid of the international community and instead supports anti-Israel propaganda, perpetuates the plight of Palestinian refugees and encourages hate,” Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said earlier this year. “Just over the last year alone, UNRWA officials were elected to the leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, UNRWA schools denied the existence of Israel, and terror tunnels were dug under UNRWA facilities. It is time for this absurdity to end and for humanitarian funds to be directed toward their intended purpose – the welfare of refugees.”
The German decision to bankroll the fledgling UN Palestinian agency is not an isolated response but is part of a new strategy to form a ‘counterweight’ to the United States. Last week, Foreign Minister Maas unveiled an ambitious plan to challenge the U.S. at the world stage.
With Chancellor Angela Merkel at the helm, Germany has become the patron saint of lost causes. From aiding migrant traffickers by dispatching German ‘rescue’ ships to the Mediterranean to spearheading the diplomatic effort to save the Iran nuclear deal, German Chancellor has been using German economic and political muscle to pursue a globalist agenda.
Meanwhile, poverty in Germany is hitting record highs and the elderly Germans are among the worst hit. Nearly 20 percent of Germans are “threatened by poverty,” German Federal Statistical Office revealed earlier this year. Social programs are funneling money to provide welfare benefits to young immigrants, as nearly 2 million of them are now on the dole–another record achieved under Merkel.
If the German Chancellor wants to help the poor and needy, she could consider starting closer to home.
Video: Is UNRWA a scam? (Courtesy StandWithUS)
[Cover image via YouTube]
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